Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1875-10-14
FATAL VANITY.

GA4A4 VANASAs
An ENGLISH BELLIES EXPERIMENT TO
REMOVE MoLEs-APPLY1Na A DEAD
MANS HAND IN STABLE AT MID.
NIar-IksAK1rY FROM FR1GHT.
An extraordinary story Of gross su-
perstition and ignorant credulity has
been communicated to the Mercury's
London correspondent from dollhouse,
= small town in Cleveland, Yorkshire
England Since she attained woman
hood, three years since, Mis- Sallie
Booth has been reckoned the belle of
the small town. and has been much
courtod and Aattered by young men of
her rank in life.
She was the daughter Of a poor far
mer, and had received . very primitive
education She had gypsy>iooklng
eyes, aquiline nose, brilliant white
teeth, and small hands; but there were
two moles on her upper lip, from.which
coarse black hairs constantly sprung.
Many of her admirers affected to see
no end of beauty in these moles, but
spitefal girls spoke Of Sa!lie Booths
mustache, and the irritated beauty
tried all sorts of quack depilatories to
eradicate..what she thought facial blem,
ishes. Meanwhile Miss Booth captur-
ed an aristocratic lover. He was the
son of Capt. Wharton, Of Shelton Gas.
tie, and had acquired an unenviable re-
putation at Harrow public school for
Irregularities of dissolute type.
Farmer Booth heard something I'M
der Capt. Wharton, and the licentious
young man therefore had easy access
to the girl. While tho girls OF the
place grew green with envy when they
saw sallie Booth walking forth with
the gentleman lover" older heads
predicted that no good would come
out of it. Captain Wharton unvailing-
ly demonstrated with his son, and then
warned Farmer Booth of the unscru-
pulous character of his sons advances
to Sallie. But the farmer was as proud
of thesconnection as his daughter, and
openly boosted Of his son-in-law in the
ale-houses of the place.
Before long Sallie imporuned Harry
to marry her. The request did not
educe the expected enthusiasm yet he
languidly said he had no objection to
marry her if ''those orridssmoles' were
removed from her lip In the spring
and heyday of their Acquaintance he
had pronounced them pretty now their
removal was a sine qua non to matri~
mony.
Fivesand twenty miles from Loft"
house, AZ small village named Seam
er, there resides an old woman reput-
ed to possess supernatural powerful
ways exercised, however, for benef-
cial ends. To old Nanny Hunter Miss
Booth proceeded and submitted her
case. After retiring FOR <prayer and
meditation" the sibyl! Informed her
that there was but one way to obliter-
ate the moles, and that was by touch
ing them with dead mans hand, at
midnight, IN a dark room.--the hand
to be held in contacti with the lips
until it grew warmi 1t was a crucial
operation, yet revolving as it was,
Sallie resolved TO ''go through it" the
first opportunity.
1t was some weeks before dead
man turned up to be experimeted on
by Miss Booth, But on the last night
| of June the body of seaman was
washed ashore of alum works, and the
corpse was conveyed to the stable Of 8
nsighboring public house and locked
up until the inquest. Sallie at once
proceeded to the inn and acquainted
the old ostler with the story of hel
moles and the Seamer wise woman'l
prescriptions, offering him half a SOY
ereign to aid and abet her in applying
the swollen, fabby hands of the I'M
known corpse to her face when mid.
| night came.
"She was as bold as she -lion,' sale
Bob Suggett, the ostler in telling the
story afterwards; "she went right into
the deep darkness of the stable, and
heard her rustling among the straw al
she CROPPED for the dead mans hand,
while l stood, feeling queer like, out.
side the door. 1t might have beer
five, or 1T might have been ten minutes
when she guy screech as might ha
wakened the dead. Then she veil
yell, yelled like a locomotive whistle
and tux to my heels and ran"
Landlord Coulson and his patron,
listened with awe and amazon. ent t.
the ostler's story, and proceeded to thu
stable with lantern. TIE corps sal
bolt upright, white and jelly like as {
new scalded pig, and Sally Booth hello
on to it's shoulders. giggling and grin
ming and Laughing. The spectators
were pierced. with horror. But as they
stood mottoniess and SILENT and saw
the gin embrace the clammy corps and
cry, "Kiss me Harry, darling; the
moles are gone" they became satisfied
that they saw before them gigantic
misfortune that had merged into mad