The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1876-03-30
A Miners Hat.

One night during the recent troubles
in the Pennsylvania coal regions, Judge
Potts brother, Thomas Potts, was round
at meeting of mine owners, and after
the adjournment he stepped in at a
tavern. While there he met some friends,
and in the course of an hour or two he
became. very intoxicated. On his way
home he lost his hat, and miner who
knew him, feeling compassion for him,
clapped on his head a miners hat, and,
in order to make the dark street look
brighter, he lighted the little lamp in
front of the hat. When Potts reached
his house his wife had gone to bed, and
the lights were out, but Potts felt GER
tain the lamp was burning in the hall,
but he couldn't for the life of him tell
where it was.
He looked at the regular lamp, and
that seemed to be out; then he hunted
in every direction for the light, bat was
unable to find it, although it seemed to
shine brightly wherever he went. Pres
emily he happened to stop in front of
the mirror in the hat.rack, and then he
saw precisely where the lamp was. Af-
ter a brief Objurgation upon Mrs. Potts
for leaving light in such a preposterous
place, he went up to the mirror and tried
to blow it out. He blew and blew, but
somehow the flame burned as steadily as
before.
That" said Potts, lis one of the moz
extraor'nary lamps ever been my mis-
fortune t'encounter."
Then he took of his coat, and, holding
it in front of him, crept cautiously up to
the mirror and tried to throw the coat
over the lamp, which still burned
brightly. He said:
"That's cer'inly very extro'nary! moz
'stonishin' circumstanz ever come un'er
my observation. Dom no how t'count
for it,"
1t occurred to him that perhaps he
might smash the lamp with his umbrella.
Selling the weapon, he went up to the
hatrack, and, aiming terrible blow at
the light, he brought the umbrella down.
He missed and smashed his Sunday hat
into chaos. He took aim again, and
caught the umbrella in the lamp over
head, bringing it down with a crash.
Then ne tried third time, and plunged
the ferule of the umbrella through the
mirror and smashed it to atoms; he felt
exultant for moment, as the light dis
appeared from his vision, but he was per-
picked to find there was another light
somewhere, he did not know exactly
where. So he sat down on the stairs and
remarked:
"Moz' 'stonishin' cirgumstaz ever
come un'er my observation. Whaten
thunder doz it mean, an'how? Lights
gone, an yet it's shinin'! Perfectly in
compre'nsible. Wish t'gracious Mrs.
Podds wake up an 'splain it. Durn'f l
know what l had better do"
Then Potts took off 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 moment,
until he drank in full conception of the
trouble it had caused him, he suddenly
smashed it down on the floor in rage
and extinguished it, 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
awful miners had broken into the house
the night before, and left one of their
hats with lamp. Potts turned over in
bed so that she could not see his face, and
said if the stern hand of the law wasn't
laid upon those rufiians soon nobody's
life would be safe.