The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1876-07-05
Mr. Potts Looking for "a Light.


One night during the recent trou-
bles in the Pennsylvania coal regions,
Judge Potts brother, Thomas Potts,
was round ut a meeting of the mine
owners, and after the adjournment he
stepped intothe tavern. While there,
he met some friends, and in the course
Of an hour or two he got very intOxi-
Gated. On his way homo lost his hat,
and Il miner who knew him, feeling
compassion for him, clapped on his
head a miners hat; and, in order to
make the dark streets look brighter, he
lighted the lamp attached to the hat.
When Potts reached the house his wife
had gone to bed, and the lights were
out; but Potts felt certain the lamp
was burning in the hall, but he could
not for the life of him tell where it
was.
He looked at the regular lamp and
it seemed to be out; then he hunted in
every direction for the light, but was
unable to find it, although it seemed
to shine brightly wherever he went.
Presently he happened to stop in front
of the mirror in the hat rack, and then
he saw precisely where the light was.
After a brief objugation upon Mrs.
Potts for leaving a light in such a
place, he went to the mirror and tried
to blow it out. He blew and blew,
but somehow the flame burned as stead
lily as before.
"That," said Potts, sis the most ex-
traor'nary lamps ever been my mis-
fortune to encounter"
Then he took off his coat, and hold
ing it up in front of him, crept eau
tiously up to the mirror, and tried to
fcEush the coat over the lamp, which
80 burned brightly, he said:
I "That's cer'nly very eXtraor'ny
MOI 'stOnishin' circumstanz ever come
un'er my observation. DOn'o how to
count for it,"
1t occurred to him that perhaps he
could smash the lamp with an UNI
brella. Selling the weapon hewent up
to the hat rack and aiming a terrible
blow at the light, he brought the UNI
brella down. He missed, and smashed
his Sunday hat into chaos. He took
aim again and caught the umbrella in
the lamp overhead, bringing it down
with q crash. Then he tried a third
time, and plunged the ferrulc of the
umbrella through the mirror, smashing
it to atoms. He felt exultant for o
moment as the light disappeared from
his view, but he was perplexed to find
there was another light somewhere, he
did not know exactly where. So he
sat down OH the stairs and remarked /:
MOI 'stonishing circumstances ever
come un'er my observation. Whatin
the thunder does it mean, anyhow
Lights gone, and vets shinin'! Per-
fectly incomprehensible. Wish to gra-
cious Mrs. POtts'd wake up an 'splain
it. burnt know what l had better
do"
Then Potts took of his hat to scratch
his head, in the hope that he might
scare up an idea, and the truth flashed
upon him. Gazing at the lamp for a
moment, until he drank in full con-
ception of the trouble it had caused
him, he suddenly smashed it down on
the floor in rage and extinguised il
after covering two yards of carpet with
grease. Then he went to bed, and in
the morning Mrs. Potts informed him
that some of those horrible miners had
broken into the house during the night
and left one of their hats with a lamp.
i Potts turned over in bed so that she
could not see his face, and said that il
the stern hand of the law wasn't laid
upon those rufians soon, nObOdy's life