The weekly Shasta courier. [volume] (Shasta, Calif.) 1872-190?, 1873-04-26
ANECDOTES.

| OLD CHURcHnL--A correspondent of the
Portland Transcript says: Some, and they
are not few, can remember old Churchill,
and his peculiar ways. One day he was
riding on horseback, when he was met BY
an old woman, who had not so many OF
this worlds good things as he had. Taking
out his wallet he handed her quarter Of q
dollar, and rode on -
He had ridden only short distance, when
he began to soliloquize thus:
Now. wouldn't have done better to
have kept that money, and bought myself
something?"
Wheeling his horse round, he rode back
to where the old lady was standing, and
said
Give me that money!"
She handed it to him, wondering what
he meant. Placing it in his wallet, and at
the same time handing her a ive-dollar bill,
he exclaimed:
"There, Self, now I guess you'll wish you
had kept still"
BRTTzER HIS OWN DETECTIvE.-Old Jacob
Britzer kept the village store in Bucksport
We say the village store, because it was the
largest, and, in fact, the only store of any
consequence in the place. Like all country
store-keepers, Jacob kept for sale dry and
moist goods of every description, and both
village and suburban gossips made his place
their centre and fitting ground. To this
the trader did not object, because he was
himself OF social turn, and because these
hangers on were all customers Occasion
ally Jacob missed certain articles from his
shelves and counters which he knew had
not been sold, and he could only imagine
that they had been stolen. This thing con-
tlnued for more than a year, and -Britzer
with all his careful watching, was unable to
detect the thief. There were several whom
he deemed capable Of the deed, but he
could not fix the crime upon either Of them.
AT length, one Monday morning, Jacob
Britzer entered his store; and upon remov-
ing the heavy wooden shutters from the
front windows he discovered that the large
glass-tOp show case, near the main entrance,
had been robbed of nearly all its contents
At least three hundred dollars worth of
fancy goods had been stolen large
amount for the country store-keeper to lose.
Jacob had locked up his store on Saturday
night, and had not visited it since until now,
nor had the keys been out of his keeping.
For blief space he was thunder-struck-
then, for another brief space, he collected
his thoughts, and reflected. His course of
action was resolved upon. His first decided
movement was to lock the door by which
he had entered, and draw the curtains over
the windows. Next he replenished the
showcase from fresh stock which he
CHANGED to have ON hand, making it look SO
nearly as it looked on Saturday evening
that not even his clerk was likely to detect
any change. Thus the matter, so far as he
and his store were concerned, was locked
in his own breast, and 30 he meant to keep
it. Having ascertained that the thief had
gained entrance by rear cellar window,
and having SO covered the tracks of the
guilty one that his clerk would not observe
them, he opened his store, and prepared for
business. Half an hour later the clerk came,
and detected nothing out of the way.
This clerk, we may remark, was Jacobs
own SOM.
The day passed customers came and
went as usual-the gossips chatted over
their beer and cheese, while old Jacob was
attentive and affable, never betraying by
word or sign that anything had happened
amiss. In the evening Peter Hawks came
in. This Peter Hawks was a farmer, own
ing quite place near the outskirts Of the
village, who had of late been leading life
rather aimless and thriftless. 1t had been
Peters custom to spend good part Of the
day in the store, but on this Monday he had
not put in an appearance until after tea /;
and even when he did come he failed to
talk with his usual volubility, but remained
for the most part silent, watching what 9th
ers had to say.
At length the hour grew late, and one by
one the gossips dropped away until Peter
was left alone with Jacob and his son. The
solitary customer arose from his chair, and
after little nervous hesitation he approach
ed the storekeeper with r
"Ah, Jacob, that was quite a loss you
met with. Have ye any idee who did it 4"
WHO did what?" asked Jacob, dropping
the piece of cloth which he was folding,
and looking up.
"Who robbed yer showcase last night"
"Yes," answered Jacob, with stern
promptness-"I know exactly who did it?"
= "Eh, whol"
- You did i'll" ..e.
Mel" gasped Peter, quiveringly.
Aye-you ana IT, L fnotc you dfd 1t !;
and thus far the secret is entirely between
you and me. You are the only other Iiv-
ing man besides myself who knows that l
have been robbed at all J"
And then Jacob went on to explain to
his customer how he had managed to detect
the thief. Peter Hawks was forced to own
up; and in consideration of his returning
the goods last stolen, and paying for those
stolen on previous occasions, and also prom
Using to steal no more, he was let off, But
he did not remain much longer in Bucksport.
Having settled with Jacob Britzer, he made
all haste to sell his farm and remove to
parts where the story of his shortcomings
was not known,
The cheerful Turkey red plaid and fig
ured table cloths for breakfast and tea