West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1878-03-30
kINGWOOD PRESTON COUNTYWV VA. SATURDAY. MARCH 80
Mrs. Simmons Loses a Good Neighbor.


tBreakfs., Tablet
"Speakin' of neighbors, Mrs. ttotch
kiss,' remarked Mrs Simmons, afte
placing a fresh coal on her pipe, "'
don't think there ever was another Jus
such woman as Mrs. Raxley. VIII,
moved out of this house, as | was ,
tellin' you, the week afore YOU moveC
in"
Was she good neighbour askeC
Mrs. Hotchkiss, as she paused in hel
work OF kneading dough for the week
baking.
Deed she WAS, one o. the best 1 eve
knowed, an she was such cheerful
little body, too why, bless you, the sigh
OF her face, always on the grin, wa
bettern ardent sperits TO liven bod,
up If they was feelin' any ways down
She used To drop in of mornin' iust
as reg lar as dishwashin', an | would get
out my box of cut-an-dried, an W,
would set over our pipes for an hour
maybe, while File was doin' up the
work, talkin' about the neighbors. and
swappin' our little troubles with one
another"
" She must have been n great deal OF
company To you," remarked Mrs. H.,
greasing the pans.
Deed she WAS that, an tell YOU.
mann, II was a real comfort to hear her
talk, she was so well informed. don't
b'lieve there was ever new stitch come
into the Paradise that she didn't
know all about it, even to the price an
the color of the trimmins afore il was
made up, an If there had been any
fightin' or drinkin' the night afore, or II
anybody was in the lookup, she knowed
all about it, an could tell IL all, word for
word, just how it happened, to the last
iota"
She must a. been a gifted woman.
for fact" said the woman of the house
Deed she was that, an | couldn't
begin to tell you the half, whenever n
baby had n new tooth, / was ALWAYS sure
to hear il first from her, an II S'manth
Snyder, or jess Trownsey, or Sake
Fletcher, or any of the other girls around
here caught new beau, she could tell all
about him, from the shop he got shaved
at up to how much he got week. Oh,
she was company for lonesome body,
mind tell you, now; an don't s'pose
we shall ever see her likes agin' in this
part of the fat"
And Mrs. Simmons wiped her eyes
with the corner of erapron, and puffed
dreamily as she ruminated over the
many virtues of her late friend and
neighbor.
"Where did she move TO ?' asked the
new acquaintance, putting her bread
into the oven.
"They went up to Pendleton. Her
man got a job up there in the street-car
stables, an it was too fur away for him
TO come home, so they had to move.
she didn't want to go, an couldn't n
took on worse if she'd a been my own
sister. The last two days she was here
we both done nothin' else but set around
an cry, an make promises that we would
never forget one another, an that she
was to come down her can was TO go up
there just as often as we could, an that
if any big piece o news was TO happen,
like Sam Ackley gettin' into the work
house agin, or Suse Tiggins findin' her
breastpin, j was to let her know the first
Sunday afterwards, by putin personal
in the paper about it, an she was to do
the same with me if Jasper-which is her
ouDgest-showed any more sympshuns
of Group, or if Matilda AIMS tizzick
should happen To take turn for the
worse. | helped her do the tearin' down
an packin' up, an both of our hearts
was 80 heavy that when we come TO
takin' the bedstid apart il wasn't no
comfort at all TO scrunch the bugs, an
we overhauled the whole lot Of bottles
with but very seldom onstoppin' one 10
smell of itran' wonder what under the
sun could a. been in it,"
"You must have felt very bad" said
Mrs. g., with much sympathy.
Deed we did, man, an don't know
which Of us felt the worst; but life il
made up Of meetin's and partin's an we
must try TO bear our crosses with forti-
tude-excuse me, but ! think ! smell
your bread a. burnin' She always had
the same trouble with her stove / think
it must be in the chimbley. Well. AS
/ was sayin', she give me a lowered tea
pot with a broken spout an one of
Jasper's socks, with a small hole i'm the
toe, that she'd lost the mate Of-to re-
member her by; an / gave her lust a
lovely Jerusalem cherry in an oyster can
that I'd raised from the seed, an a
night-cap that / wore when J was mar.
ried, an an onfailin' receipt for worms.
that ] bought from a Swiss fortune teller
when Flic was baby.
But there must go, hear F7lic a
hollerin' for me, an / expect that i'm.
pudent Dutchman Dan bought the
pertaturs Of has come dunnin' for his
money agin, an / must 90 an keen him
out o the house or he may seize on tie
clock"