River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1877-09-20

l For once IlcN uhQ no scent.
Because one dav the Queen OF Love
Who to Adonis went,
Brushed them with heavenly feet
7aet made the roses SWEET
Obituary Oddities.
froIa he GALAXY.
\ ScotchmaD, watching BIZ the bedsid,
of his dying wife, became impatient at the
poor woman's anxiety to express her last
wishes and civil lily requested her TO ''get
on WI her deeing" The essay embel.
lishea bv this little story. was one in the
/ FoHHighfly Reeie,c ON 'Euthanasia oil
the modern proposition for seriously car
ryiug out a plan which a writer once
Somewhat fiippantly suggested, of having
old and imbeeile persons shot by The bish-
/ OPP of the diocese. Mr.. Williams, of the
/ Birmingham Speculative club. once sug-
gested that persons dying of incurable
| diseases should he riercifullv put out of
/ the way, just az we shoot a favorite dog
or horse under similar circumstances; but
passage cited from the . Utopian of Sir
| Thomas More shows that this philosopher
/ had found an attraction in the same idea.
and his imaginary Wears spurred up their
Practitioners to peform this sad but affec-
ticnHte duty The SGtsrdcg Retie,s sttg-
geSted that future novelists will have to
paint the white haired vicar. summoned
from his repose at dead of night, not. in
order to soothe the dying hours of his
parishioners. by spiritual consultations,
but to kill them off-hand; and that when
a little more enlightened we shall per-
haps prime mankind as we would prune
a garden. Among the poorer classes,
where the Inconvenience inflicted by peO-
pie Eh5 take 6ii pEcShscionable time in
dying is necessarily felt much mofe keen
ly than with people in different rank,
il is to be feared that this delicate hint is
frequently followed up by some practi-
sal tefn.'Hsttanees, They pinched his
nose beneath the clothes, as Bafliam says
on the authority of a real occurrence, and
the poor, dear soul went off like a
lamb.
The number of Scotch stories extant on
this head breeds a suspicion that there
mas DC something national in this i'm
patience over too deliberate form of
diving. The wife Of a small farmer IN
Aberdeehshire; having been long confn.
ed ID her bed before the time when her
last moment Approached, the husband
who was Of very niegafdly disposition;
at length grudged TO let her have so much
as light BIZ the side of her bed. One
night, when in this dark condition, she
exclaimed: "0h. isna this an unco thing
that puir body can get nae LIGHT to see
to dee wiz The husband instantly rose,
lighted a candle, and bringing it forward
hastily to the bottom of the bed, said
"Therc dee uowr'
The painful abfuptness OF this husband
only sets off to advantage the far Eentlefj
if not less suggestive hint dropped by d
faithful wife to her aged spouse. The
story goes that, as an old man by the
name of Michael Young, who lived at the
bottom of West Lomond hill, in Fife, was
breathing his last, his wife, somewhat
tired with her long vigils over his final
illness, breathed the following affection
ate hints into his ear: "Be wearin',
Michaelie; be wearin' (going). We ken
the candles wastin' and the folks weary
in. BE wearin', Michaelie, my mon."
A laconic letter is recorded as written
by clergyman to his curate, which ran
as follows: Il do not like your terms
my wife is very i'll; and please God she
but die. I'll do the duty myself! An in
eident that came within the present writ
er's knowledge a short time ago has its
conical aspect. 4 respected and yener-
able lady died il the clearinghouse OF a
city not far from New York. Her sick
ness had been chronic, and her demise
was expected several days before the one
on which it actually occurred, which was
Monday. The Thursday previous the
niece of this good lady requested gen
+ tleman, q fellow boarder, to unhinge q
+ door for her. so that il should be ready
+ to lay out her aunt upon as soon as she
/ had breathed her last. This door thus
remained off its hinges several days be-
/ fore it was called into requisition. 1t
! should be added that the thoughtful
I young lady had previously examined the
ironing-board with great care, but did
( not find it suitable for her purpose.
Prudence on such occasions may some
times be carried too far. English papers
narrated some time since that an inquest
was held at Castleford on the body of a
pork butcher, who destroyed himself
owing to distress of mind produced by an
unfounded rumor that he had killed some
pigs suffering from fooT-and-mouth dis
ease. One Saturday, after getting his
/ dinner, he went into an clubhouse, while
his wife was up stairs, and hanged him
self. When his wife came down stairs
she found him hanging, but instead of
giving any alarm or cutting him down,
+ She went into the house, put on her shawl,
walked to NormantOn, and then took a
cab to Wakefield. where she informed a
+ friend of the melancholy occurrence.
The friend Immediately drove over to
/ Castleford, and told the police, who at
/ once cut the body down. The Pau Nal
Gazette. discussing this display of delib-
Grafton under trying circumstances, re-
marked that it almost equaled that of the
4 old maiden lady who, after seeing her
/ sister. with whom she lived, consumed &C
cidentally by the fire in the parlor, mere
/ IN rang the bell, aud when the servant
appeared said, sweep up these ashes,
/ Jane. and we shall only want one roll fol
/ breakfast tomorrow morning"
We must mention the touching tribute
which French gravestone cutter is said
to have paid to his wife, in the form OF
an epitaph worked by his own hand. \
Milton writing "Lycidas.n or a Tenny.
son penning " In Memoriam,r does not
furnish a more striking image of the
mourner's art pressed into the service OF
his affection.
Ci-git
Madame IeOyal