Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1876-03-02
"a. POTTS sTozy.
Max Adeler has the following

other day, Icalled on the Potts Mr..
Potts is liableto indulge in extravaganza
in his conversat on, and, as Mrs. Potts
is an extremely conscientious woman
where matters Of fact are concerned.
she's obliged to keep her eye on him.
: Potts was telling me about an incident
that occurred in the town, a few days
before, and this is the way hs related
it:
Potts-"You see old Bradley over
here is perfectly crazy on the subject
of gases and the atmosphere, and such
thidgs-absolutely wild i; and one day
he was d:sputing with Green about how
high up in the air life could be sus
tanned and Bradley said an animal
could live about forty million miles
above the earth, if
Mrs P-"Not forty million, my dear
only forty miles, be said"
P.-"Forty, was it, Thank you.
Well, sir, old Green, you know, said
that was ridiculous and he'd bet Brad-
ley couple of hundred thousand dol-
bars that life couldn't be sustained half
that way up, and So
Mrs p-"William, yoa are wrong
he only offered to bet City dollars.
P.-"Well, any how, Bradley took
him up quickern wink, and they
agreed to send up cat in balloon TO
decide the bet. So what does Bradley
do bat buy balloon about twice as big
as our barn, and begin to-"
Mrs. p at was only about ten
feet in diameter, MIR Adler; William
forgets."
P.-"Begin to initiate her, When
she was filed, it took eighty men to
bold her, and
Mrs. Eighty men, MIR. Potts !!
Why you know Mr.. Bradley held the
balloon himself"
Pile did, did be? O., very well
what's the odds! And when every
thing was ready they brought out
BradI-y's tom-cat, and put it in the bask-
etand tied it in SO that it couldn't jump,
You know. There were abont one
hundred thousand people looking on,
and when they lie. SO yon never heard
such a."
Mrs P-''There were not more than
two hundred there. l counted them
myself"
20, don't bother me! l say
you never heard such a yell as the
balloon was scouting up into the sky,
pretty near out Of sight. Bradley said
she went up about 1000 miles and
now don't interrupt ME, Henrietta |
know what the man said-and that cat,
mind you, q bowling like hundred
fog horns, so you could beard her
from here to Peru. Well, sir, when she
was up SOS she looked as small as pin
head, something or other burst. |
dunno how it was, but pretty soon
down came that balloon a Pickering
towards the earth at the rate Of fifty
miles a minute, and old"
Mrs. P.-"Mr Potts, you know
that the balloon came down as gently
as"
P.-"O, do hush up! Women don't
know anything about such things. And
old Bradley, he had kind of regis~
tering thermometer in the basket along
with the cat. Some sort of patent
machine; cost thousands of dollars, and
he was expecting to examine it, and
Green bad All idea bed lift ont dead
cat, and scoop in the stakes. When all
on sudden as she came peting down
tornado struck her-now, Henrietta,
what in the thunder are you staring at
me in that way for? 1t was tornado
IA regular cyelone-and it struck her
and jalnmed her against the lightnlng>
rod on the Baptist church steeple, and
there she stuck = stuck on the spire
about 800 feet up in the air.
Mrs. Ply on may get just as mad
as you please, but am positively GERS
tain that steeple's not an inch over e5
feet"
P.-"Henrietta, l wish to gracious
you'd go up stairs and look after the
children. Well, about half minute
after she struck, out stepped that old
,om-cat onto the weathercock. 1t
made Green sick. And just then the
hurricane reached the weathercock, and
it began to reyolve SIX hundred OF seven
hundred times minute, the cat howl-
ing until you couldn't hear yourself
speak. Now, Henrietta, you have had
your put, you keep quiet. That cat
staid OH the weathercock about two
months"
Mrs. p" Mr. Potts, that's an
awful story; it only happened last
Tuesday"
P. (con6dentially)- ."Neser mind Der.
Aud on Sunday the way that cat car
fied on, and yowled, with its tail points
ing due east, was so awful that they
couldn't have church. Aud Sunday
afternoon the preacher told Bradley if
he didn't pet that cat down he'd sue