Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1877-08-31
m iss wilson's Leg.

Miss wilson's Leg.
Tweniy-seven years ngD Miss Wilson Of
Pineville, n. c., lost her right leg. Sic
was then young and pretty, and had she
merely mislaid her leg every chivalrous
Caroluiau in the county would have join
ed in the search for it. Unfortunately her
loss was an irrevocabe one. Having uu-
Intentionally inserted her Les under the
wheel Of heavily loaded wagon, she found
that the once shapely limb was so COM
pletely ruined that she consented to have it
cut of and thrown away. Its place was in
time supplied with cork leg, and Miss
Wilson sorrowfully resigned herself 10
limping through loveless life to solitary
grave.
There never has been any active demand
for women with wooden legs. A man with
a wooden leg suffers a certain amount of
Inconvenience, but he loses nothing in char
acter or popularity, whereas wooden-leg-
ged woman is, whether justly or unjustly,
under a social ban. IN fact, for woman
TO lose Il leg is ordinarily TO lose all hope of
marriage. \ man who is about 10 marry
wife TO one partially made Of cork-espe-
caly as the former costs no more than the
latter. \ superficial thinker might, per-
haps, fancy that a husband whose wife had
but one original leg would save fily per
| cent. in the price Of striped stockings and
kid shoes but little reflection will show
that a cork leg requires just as much cloth
ing as the usual style Of leg, and hence is
not an economical contrivance. OF course
| 1t is mean and selfish in man TO permit
the presence or absence of mere trifle of
leg to affect his feelings toward an estima-
bic woman; but human nature is weak,
and he would be bold man who could
calmly look forward to marrying a woman
who mig ht some morning Interrupt him
while shaving by ssking-"James, would
| you mind handing me my leg? think
you'll lind it behind that rocking chair"
1t is alleged by Miss Wilson's neighbofs
that as she grew older she grew hard aud
cynical. This was, perhaps, TO have been
expected. She saw herself ignored by all
marrying men, while girls with half her
beauty, and whose sole superiority consist
ed in larger number OF legs, captured hus-
| DduuS NluOul any ulhSulbS' p'oNu"''y
she became embiitered against her bi-pedal
fellow creatures, and the local Baptist min
| lister was probably right when he character
| lied her as a hard-hearted, worldly woman.
| One day, however, Miss Wilson attended a
camp meeting, and was softened by The
eloquence of the preacher and the shouts of
the worshippers, and soon after Pineville
was surprised and pleased by the an
nouncement that on next Sunday sister
Wilson would be baptized.
Now the public performance of the rite
of baptism by Rev. Mr.. Waters, OF the Pine
vile Eeventh-Day Baptist church, always
drew a large audience. That powerful and
agile preacher was admitted TO be without
rival as a rapid and effective baptizer. On
one occasion, when a Presbyterian minis
ter preaching against baptism by INNER
sion showed that St. John the Baptist had
once baptized a multitude Of persons at the
| rate of two men and a half per minute, ana
that hence he could not have immersed
them, Mr.. Waters publicly baptized twen-
ty-five persons in eight minutes, thus beat
ing St. Johns best time by two full minutes
and completely overthrowing the Presby-
terian's argument. With all his unequaled
rapidity of execution, he was never careless
or ineonsidsrate. There was rival Bap-
tist minister in the next county who would
sometimes become carried away by his
emotions, and would sing an entire verse
of long metre hymn while holding con-
vert under the water; and although stall
wart teamster who was thus treated once
fell from grace, and upsetling his minister
in the water held him under until he was
nearly drowned, the reverend enthusiast
was not cured of his careless habit. When,
therefore, Miss Wilson consented to be
baptized by the Pineville minister, she
knew that she would be treated in consid-
crate and skillful manner; and The public
knew that the spectacle would be well
worth witnessing.
II is very easy to say, now that the anair
is over, that Miss Wilson ought to have
left her cork leg at home. In that case,
however. she would have been compelled
either to limp TO the water on crutches or TO
be carried thither by self-sacrificing dea-
cons. Moreover her appearance In pubic
without her customary leg would have ex-
cited great deal of remark, which would
not only have shocked her sensitive feel
inqs. but would have detraeted from the
solemnlty of the scene. When, in addition
to these facts, we remember that she was q
woman residing in a country town, 10
which champagne baskets rarely penetrat-
ed, and was hence presumably ignorant OF
the scientific fact that cork is light and
buoyant, her neglect to remove her cork
leg prior to baptism seems entirely exeusa'
BILE.
So long as the water was only two feel
deep, Miss Wilson, who weighed fully two