The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1878-09-26
Death in the Oil Ian.

A man out Oh South Hill had reason
to believe that his superintendent of
cuisine was in the habit of using kero-
sen to start the morning fires. He
placed his suspicious in the form ola
charge, which was Indignantly denied,
and proof demanded. He wasn't ready
with his testimony, and the case was
dismissed for lack of evidence. But his
suspicious increased, and he ordered a
secret investigation, and appointed him
self chairman of the committee, with
power to send for persons and papers.
He laid his plans with care, and the
next morning he followed his maid-ser-
want down stairs at a careful and re-
spectful distance, and hid himself near
the kitchen door, where he could not see
nor be seen, while he could hear very
distinctly whatever was said or done.
The rustic of paper and the rattle of dry
Hight wood was succeeded by hasty
steps toward the closet in the cellar way.
Then he heard the gurgling of liquid,
as though it was bubbling out of a
small tin spout. He heard the can set
down and then the scrape of a match.
HIM." he heard the maid-servant
remark. Then another match snapped
and a barely audible fizzle succeeded.
Grimly smiled the silent man by the
outer door.
We'll, 1 never didl' came from the
kitchen, and there was heard the sound
| of more pouring on the light wood.
Another match and more silence.
well, did you ever" queried the
queen of the range, evidently anxious
to. obtain testimony corroborative of her
own experience, as set forth in her pre-.
vious statement that she never did. The
man sitting outside the door throttled
himself with both hands and softly
pounded the ground with his heels.
Something evidently excited him, and
when the next match snapped he caught
himself by the legs and bit fercely into
the door frame in a frenzied effort to
smother a hollow groan.
"The old Scratch is in the oil, I do
believe" said a troubled voice in the
kitchen, and more pouring ensued.
Another match, another, another. And
the man crawled off behind the cistern
box and Rugged his knees with many in
sane expressions and silent demonstra-
tions ofinterest, when he heard the angry
voice inside the kitchen say:
Plague on such oil! I'd like to pour
it all down Will Darling's back!"
Another match, and then a confused
sound of rattling and scraping, and a
fearful woman came to the door and
hurled an armful of soaked paper and
light wood out into the yard and kicked
an oil can after it. The smiling man
crept back up stairs unseen. Breakfast
was late that morning, and when the
queen of the kitchen was asked the
cause wherefore, she said somebody had
left the shed door open and all the light
wood was damp. And no man that
ever filled an oil can with non-explosive
cistern water ever looked half SO limo
cent as the man who sat at the head Of
that table choking over a graham muffin
THE celebrated DIR. Field, during the
ravages of diphtheria in England, a few
years since, used the following infallible
remedy: A t~easpoonful of the flour o.
birthstone, in a wineglass of water
stirred with the finger instead of a spoon
When mixed use as a gargle, and swal
low. In extreme cases, when the fungus
was too nearly closed to allow gargling
+ he blew the sulphur through a quill
:. into the throat, and after this fungus
+ had sufficiently shrunk, then gargled. 1
t the patient cannot gargle sprinkle th,
: -four of birthstone on a live coal, AM
let him inhale the fumes. DR.. Fielc
never lost a. patient from diphtherii
! during all his immense practice. Brim
stone kills all fungus in man, beast an,
plant,