Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1873-02-07

By MAX ADELER.

Bishop Potts, of Salt Lake City, wa.
Z the husband of three wives, and the
happy fatherof fifteen interesting child
rem. Early In the Winter the Bishop
determined that his little ones shouf6
have good time on Christmas, so he
concluded to take trip down to lSan
Francisco to see what he could find in
the shape of toys with which to CRAFTY
! and amuse them The good BishoI
d packed his carpet-bag, embraced Mrs.
Potts one by one, and kissed each OF
her affectionately and started upon his
Journey.
He was gone little more than "a
week, when he came back with fifteen
beautiful mouth organs in his valise
for his darlings. He got out of the
train at Salt Lake, thinking how Joy
ous and exllilarating it would be at
home on Christmas mor7ir Z when the
whole fifteen of those mouth organs
should be in n:operation upon different
fumes at the same moment. But Just
as he entered the depot he saw greup
/ of women standing in'the ladies' room,
apparently waiting for him. As soon
AS he approached. the whole twenty of
them rushed up, threw their arms about
his neck and kissed him, exclaimins:. =
Oh, Theodore, we are so--eiad YOU
have come back /; Welcome home =
Welcome, dear, dear Theodore. We'll
come once more tu the bosom of your
family :" and then the entire score of
them fell upon his neck and cried over
his shirt front and mussed him. i,
The Bishop seemed surprised and
embarrassed. Struggling to iIiscngaCn
: himself he blushed and said: ..-i .r-
Really, ladies, this kind of thing is
well cnongh--it is interesting and all
that: but there must be some kind of
! a-that is, an awkward sort Of a-ex-
cuse me, lmdies, bEt there seems to be-
as it were. slight misunderstanding
about the am Bishop Potts ....
1--WE know it, We know it. dearest, y
they exclaimed in chorus. land we are
! SO glad to sec yorl safe, safe at home
We have all been right well while YOU
! were away, love. .t..
. '' 1t Sratitics me- remarked the
! Bishop, ''to learn that none of you
have been a prey to disease. [ am
filled with blissfuI serenity when con-
template the fact; but really L do not
understand why vou shonld rush into
this railway station and hug me be
cause yonr livcrs arc active and your
digestion good. The. c.preccdent is bad :;
it is dangerous .f ..
"Ob, but we didn't" they exclaimed
/ in chorus. I'VE came here to well
come YOU because You arc our hus-
band. ..... ...... q
Pardon Inc, but there must he some
httlc-that is to say, as it were, I
should think not. Women, you have
mist AIKEN your mani!
"Oh, no, dearest" they shouted,
"we were married to you while you
were away" ....
What exclaimed the Bishop,
''yoi don't mean to say that"
''Yes, love. Our husband, William
Brown, died Oh Monday, and on
Thursday Brigham had il vision in
which he was directed to seal us to YOU;
aud SO he performed the ceremony at
once by proxy"
"Th-th- .h-th-thu-under, observed
the Bishop, in a general sort of way.
'And, darling, we are all living with
you now-we and the dear children"
9 Children children v' exclaimed
Bishop Potts, turning pale; ''you don't
mean to say that there is a. pack of
children, too ?" -
.' Yes, love; but only one hundred
and twenty-five, not counting the eight
twins and the triplets."
Observation-Disclosures d. you say ?"
gasped the bishop, in cold perspira-
ton: lone hundred and twenty-five!
One hundred and twenty-five children
and twenty more wives, 1t is too much
it is awful" and the bishop sat down
and groaned, while the late Mrs. Brown.
the bride, stood around in n semi-cir-
tplN 4 S.,> 4 L., l.,
all except the red-haired one. and she.
. in her trepi,lation made futile effort
to fan him with the coal-scuttle
But after awhile the Bishop became
reconciled to his new alliance, knowing
we'll that protests would be unavailing;
so !,c walked home, holding as many
of the little hands of the bride as he
could conveniently grasp in his, while
the rcd-haIred woman carried his UNI
brcll, and marched i'll front of the
parade to remove distractions and tn
scare OFF small boys.
When the Bishop reached tho house
he went round among the cradles
which filled the back parlor and the
two second-storv rooms, and attempted
with such carnestness to become ac-
anainted with new sons and daughters
that he set the whole ono hundred and
twenty-five and the twins to CRYING,
while his own original fifteen stood
around and joined i'll the chorus
Then the Bishop went out and sat on
the garden fence to whittle n stick and
solcmnly think. while Mrs. Potts dis
tributcd herself around III twenty
three places and soothcd the children.
1t occurred TO the Bishop while he
unused. out there on the fence, that he
had not enough mouth organs to so
around among the children as the
family now stood and so, rather than
seem to be partial, he determined TO
90 back to San Francisco for one hun
dred and forty-four more.
So the Bishop rcpacked his carpet
bag and began again to bid farewell TO
his family. He tenlcrly kissed all of
. Mrs. Potts who were at home. and
started for the depot, while Mrs. Potts
stood Mt the various windows and wav-
ed her handkerchiefs a him-all ex-
ccpt the woman with the warm hair,
and she, i'll, Il state of abscntminded-
ness, held one the twins by the leg and
brandished it at Potts as he fed down
the streets.
The Bishop reached San Francisco,
completed his purchases, and was Just
about to get Oh the train with his one
hundred and forty-four mouth organs,
when telegram was handed him. 1t
/ contained information to the effect
that the authenticated Mrs. Potts had
| just had II daughter. This induced
the Bishop TO return to the city for the
| purpose purchasing the additional
! organ. L.. -..r.#.l -.-s -...- 8.
On. the following Saturday he re-
turned home. As he approached his
house. Il swarm of young children flew
out OF the front gate and ran toward
him, shouting: There's pa. Here
comes pa, Oh, pa, but we're glad to
see you! Bully for pa" etc, etc.
The Bishop looked at the children
as they fiocked around him and chung
to his legs and coat, and was astonished
to perceive that they were neither his
nor the late Browns. He said: "Yor.
youngsters have made mistake; 1 am
not your father and the Bishop
! smiled good-naturedly. ..-a.-.t -
SsDl, x,o,, aro