Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1878-10-17
AN AWFUL WARNING TO SERVANTS.
Experience of Maid Who Tried to Light
Her Fire With Kerosene.
Burlin gton HawkeyC

A man out on South Hill had reason
to believe that his superintendent of
| cuisine was in the habit of using kero-
sene to start the morning fires. He
placed his suspicious in the form of a
charge. which was Indignantly denied,
and proof demanded. He wasn't ready
with his testimony, and the case was
dismissed for want of evidence. But
his suspicious increased, and he ordered
q secret investigation and appointed
himself 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 servant down stairs at q careful
and respectful distance and hid him-
self 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 lightwood was sue
ceeded by hasty steps towards the
closet in the cellar way. Then he heard
the gurgling of a liquid, as though it
was gurgling out of small tin spout.
He heard the Can set down and then the
scrape of match
Him." he heard Ethe maid-serYant
remark. Then another match snap
ped, and barely audible fzzle sue
ceeded. Grimly smiled the silent man
by the outer door.
"Hm," remarked the maid-servant
little petulantly. Another match
snapped and blazed up; another sound
as OF sizzling. The smile on the face
of the man deepened into grin.
"Well, | never did p came from the
kitchen, and there was heard the sound
of more pouring on the ightwood.
Another match and more silence.
"Weli, did you eyer?' queried the
queen of the range, evidently anxious
| to obtain testimony c0rroborative Of
her own experience, as set forth in her
previous statement that she never did.
The man sitting outside the door throt-
tied 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 corner of the door-frame In a
frenzied effort TO smother hollow
groan.
"The old scratch is in the oil, | do
| DCHGfS, lIOliDISu fOlCC- III lllS
kitchen, and more pouring ensued.
Another match, another, another. And
the man crawled off behind the cistern
box and hugged his knees with many
insane expressions and silent demon
strations of interest, when he heard the
angry voice inside the kitchen say:
plague on such oil! I'd like to
pour it all down VIII Darling's back p
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
lightwood out into the yard and kicked
an oil can after it. The smiling man
crept back up stairs unseen. Break
fast was late that morning. and when
the queen of the kitchen was asked the
cause thereof, she said somebody had
left the shed door open and ali the
| ightwood was damp. And no man
that ever filled an oil can with non-ex-
plosiye cistern water ever looked half
so innocent as the man who sat at the
head of the table, choking over Gra-
ham muffin.