Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1876-01-27
A Pennsylvania Amazon.

| A Pennsylvania Amazon.
A letter from Milton, Pa, to the New
| York Sun says:
| AWAY up here In this quiet region lives
| one of The most remarkable psychological
creations OF the nineteenth century. 1t Is
| NO less than a woman who Is woman
only in sex. presenting the peculiarities
which would have entitled her To high
rank among the famous women Of that
| mythical age when Thalestris made love
10 Alexander when Hypolyte fought Her
| cnles for the belt and when Panthesilea
| lost her life In her duel with Achilles.
The person of whom / write lives at
Lcwisburg, on the Susquehanna. Respect
able, dressed in woman's garb, yet as de-
void OF womanly qualities as an iceberg
| IL OF heat, adoring her mother with child
! ish devotion, yet stunning and avoiding
all other women gay, lively, dashlng, cx-
pert, tolcrably well educated, partaking
| OF everything partaken by man In the
shape OF legitimate sport, pastime, 1000
and drink; such, In brief is the weird,
wild creature, but better known over the
whole country side US Johnny
| She Is above the medium height, Is
| fIesly and well formed and weighs about
| 40 pounds. Her black hair hangs loose
| about her shoulders and seal cap hangs
| iauntiy upon one side Of her head. Her
short coat has bread lappels and big cut
| tons and her plain brown dress descends
modcstly 10 pair OF pretty. shaped feet In
heavy morocco boots. A white SILK hand
kcrchief, heavy gold chain and necklace
are about her neck Her hands are rudy
and rough and rarely incased In gloves.
She Is twenty years of age, was born near
| Lcwisburg, and Is from respectable fam
ily. Her father il dead and her guardian
| has some funds belonging 10 her, which
| enables her TO travel about from place To
place, visiting the boys
She can skate, drive, run, play base
ball, bat, catch, bet, talk slang, take q
hand al draw poker or cribbage, smoke,
dance, drink beer, ride horseback, swim
and dive with the best and worst Of men,
vet there Is no person in the village who
for moment thinks Johnny Britton' Ii
very bad girl.
was looking at a photograph repre-
senting her dressed In n base bal >suit
| There seemed TO be shadow OF shame on
her features. i tell you hated the idea
of being wound up in those tags, and
shall never be caught In them again, she
said :" want 10 keep in my own har-
ness, although hate those who wear It,"
| She has Il broad forehead, clear blue
/ eyes, ! prominent nose, finely-curved lips,
pretty teeth, round, dinipled chin, fair
| complexion, rosy checks, and very gen.
ial ard lively disposition. She has taken
several prizes for fine skating and can
outstrip the tieetest young man In the
neighborhood. She seems 10 be particu-
larry fond of ball-playing; throws heavy
| base. ball with great force, swi!tness and
regularity, and can catch swiitly-thrown
| balls with great ease and certainty. On
skates she can Jump fifteen feet and exc
cute the most difficult figures. AT fifty
| yards she can hit man smack in the
| face with ball nearly every time; that
Is, If the ball Is not stopped by the catch
or hands.
She has run 100 yards in thirteen sec
/ onds, which Is good time, even for a man !;
and can saddle and bride horse as well
and as quickly MS any jockey. She Is an
expert rider and driver, brave, almost
| reckless, and no horse can 20 too fast for
her. AT q race or match OF any kind
she'll join the sporting-men, buy pools,
and wager her money with the rest of
them. She will stand at bar, call for
| drinks, swallow liquor, pay for 1t, smoke,
| and talk horse. She detests tobacco.
chewing, rarely INDUCES in profanc Ian
guage, but never in vulgarity. She alb
| hors and looks with contempt upon any
person who dares 10 use indecent lam
guage In her presence. Hence she is
treated with great respect by those who
know her. She Is never seen intoxicated,
and when at home Is rarely out OF the
house after sunset In any athletic sports
she generally leads all her companions;
and when any deviltry Is concocted tina:
she thinks IL not rascally or dishonorable
she Is at all times reddy and willing to
| lend u hand.
She Is an expert marksman with rifle or
pistol. As an off,hand shot her skill Is
simply marvellous. AT quoit-pitching
she shows to good advantage and she can
swim half mile very easily, She de-
tests show and display and says that she
| frequently regrets tina. she Is the OBJ
ject Of 80 much idle curiosity wherever
| she goes.
asked her what induced her TO be-
come SO unwomanly, and she replied that
she always wanted 10 be with the boys.
From her earliest recollection she was
| extremely sorry that she was born n girl.
She remembers having stoutly protested
| against wearing dresses when quite young,
and she vowed then that she would be
man In spite of all of them. There Is
nothing foolish or frivolous about her, but
she appears to be sensible, thoughtful
woman, fully cognizant of what she Is
doing, and at all times ready to defend
her position by argument that Las u
sound ring.
She Is curious creature at best, and
the more she III known the more OF a ptiz-
zle she appears. She lately visited Phila-
delphla 10 attend the Moody and Sankey
meetings, and since her return / am told
that she Is turning over a new leaf, but
that Ii not certain. She always said she
would never marry. She liked men as
companions but she could not think of
being the wife of one.