Middletown transcript., 1881-01-07
GETTING WOOD MIXED.

, The greatest sensation was created il
La Crosse on Tuesday morning by thu
explosion of a stove ina dry goods store
The stove was mixed up with the cali
co, one leg resting across box of cor
sets, and pieces everywhere. The the.
ory is that some person had a grudge
against the proprietor, and attempted
to blow him up by putting powder in
his wood, one stick being found with a
hole foot long in it. May be the store
clerk got a stick Of wood off the wrong
pile. 1t sometimes occurs that way.
BY the way, does man named Conant
live next to the store :? What makes
us ask is, that we once had an office
next door to Conan'ts Office, and we
both kept our wood in the same closet.
We burned slabs and Conant burned
round oak wood with the bark on. 1t
beat all, but cord of our slabs would
last as long as two cords Of Conant's
oak wood. We didn't notice it so
much, but Conant often spoke OF it,
and we have spent hours arguing with
him about the superior heat production
of pine slabs over hard oak wood. We
tried to prove to him the economy of
burning slabs, and finally he said he
thought there was economy in it, if a
neighhor had plenty Of oak wood. The
thing went on half the winter, until
Conant got so he was more distant to-
wards us than usual, though as loug
as his wood was not distant we
did not worry. But Conant became
studious. His mind seemed occupied
over some great problem, and he would
occasionally laugh right out loud when
going after an armful of wood. One
day we had a good slab fire il, the Office,
and it was thought that if small stick
of Conant's round oak wood was put
on, the fire would last longer, and as
he had often told us to make Ourself at
home, we took a stick and put it on. In
about six minutes the fire went out
and the place was as cold as a barn.
We looked in the stove and the oak
stick was gone, and there was about
two bushels of wet ashes ia the stove.
We built up another slab fire, and
brought in another stick of Conant's
wood, and just as we shut the door
of the stove Conant came in. How
does your slab wood burn this cold
weather, said he, as he put the toe of
his boot on the stove door to open it.
We told him the slab wood was all
right enough, only it was sort of remit
tent. 1t would get up heat that was
enough to drive us all out doors, and
then all turn into water. Just then
the fire began to go down and Conant
said he thought he could explain it.
He opened the door of the stove, and
the bark had burned off of the big stick
of oak wood, and there was chunk of
ice melting ON our slabs. He had peeled
the bark off of some of his wood, and
filled the cylinder with ice, and left it
for us, and we had caught it. DO
you find that ice helps slab wood any p
said he, as he kicked the fast melting
ice. We told him that we were exper-
imenting on a new patent for burning
ice, and if we could make it work there
would be millions in it, and the fuel
question would be solved, and the poor
would have soft thing. We have al
ways thought, and think so still, that
Conant didn't believe US. Well, we
don't know as Conant would put pow
der in wood, but if he lives next to the
store that was blowed up it might be /
well to see if there was not ice in the
San.