Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1882-01-28
Such a Getting Up Stairs.

There Is q man in the Seventh Ward
that is probably the meanest man in this
country: He had rather play joke on
bus family than to pay note. His peo-
pie, the women folks, are as afraid as
death OF firearms, and when there was
50 much talk about toy pistols killing
children, they worried their lives out
nearly, for fear the little five-year-old
would get hold of one of them and blow
. lot of his thumbs off. The family was
away for week or two, leaving this
mean man and the little boy at home,
and from all reports the man and the
boy bad healthy old time. This mean
man ls great sportsman, and he has a
neat little revolver that he can kill rat
with four times out of five. While the
family was away he got lot OF blank
cartridges for t.rSss, goiver. eshe and
tailish " rig hopefd53 used g 90 down In
the basement and fire blank cartridges
at the furnace door. The little fellow
got SO he could shoot blank cartridges
like hero, and he promised not to tell
anybody that papa had been teaching
him to shoot, though he was as proud of
his proficiency as could be. The family
got back, and one evening there were
two or three ladies in to spend the even
ing.
The party missed the mean man and
the little boy. The mean man loaded
the revolver with blank cartridges and
told the little fellow they would have
some fun. He fixed the little fellow up
like an Indian, and told him to take the
revolver and go in the sitting-room and
yell, "whoop," and fire the whole seven
cartridges. 1t was picnic for the little
fellow. He came up out of the base
ment, opened the door and "whooped,"
and began to fire. They were talking
about trimming night gowns, or some
such innocent pastime, when the firing
The mother of the child
recognized him, and started to take the
away, but he pointed at her and
fred a second shot and got behind
rocking chair and kept blazing away.
The mother thought she was killed and
fell over hassock and rolled under a
table. One of the lady callers got up
on a sofa and pulled up her skirts so #
there had been bullets in the revolver
every one of them would have hit her.
Another got behind the stove and held
an evening paper up before her, and
they all yelled murder. The grandfather
was sewing oarpet-rags, and at the first
fire he dropped a stitch and fell over a
cuspidore and began to say his prayers.
An old lady who had come in to borrow
some goose oil, run up stairs and got
INTO the bathroom and locked herself
in. As the last shot was fired at the cat,
which was trying to get under the stove,
she mean man came in, and calling the
boy by name said, "Hello, having some
tun with the visitors, eh ?" and he coolly
ook the revolver and put it in his pocket
nd asked if any of them were hit. They
III said they were hit, and, do you know,
hat mean man actually pretended he
hought they were wounded, and went
probing around for the bullets. Then
ne told them it was only lot of blank |
cartridges, and that he and the boy had
leen practicing for two weeks, and then
he women went at him and came near
,ulling all the hair out of his head, be-
ause he was mean enough to search |
hem for bullets. Some men, who have
lever run for Office even, are meaner
han Pusley.-Peck's San