Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1882-03-15
SELECT.
COURTING WITH A GUN.

Over in the wilds of New Jersey,
not far from the outskirts of one of its
most populous and prosperous cities,
well-to-do farmer tills his acres, and
raises fine crops and a fine family. One
daughter, just verging on womanhood,
is the beauty of the farm, not to speak
of the handsome cattle, nor even the
lily and sunfower that adorn the
fields She is comely maiden in the
eyes of the young farmers, who often
met her at the frolics and the feasts
which the country so highly enjoys.
Innocent, amusing, and very ancient
are the pastimes that rural life has cul-
tivated with the soil in all ages, as
history, sacred and profane, doth
record.
Not these only. Her beauty had
captivated youth from neighboring
city, who, in some evil hour, had cross
ed her path, and fell victim to her
unconscious charms. More skilled in
the ways of the world than the less
cultured men who worshipped her at
distance, he boldly marched to the
siege and demanded a quick surrender.
He pressed his suit with ardor, and
began to reckon himself already con-
queror. One day, while she was sit
ting and enjoying his fun and folly, he
seized gun that was standing in the
corner, and pointed it directly toward
the breast of his intended bride He
did not know it was loaded. He did
not think of doing any harm. Proba-
bly, he thought to frighten her, and
then to have amusement over the idea
of lover shooting the object of his af-
fection. A very coarse kind of court
ing this, ofcourse: but there is nothing
in life that is so silly as much that
goes by the name Of fun. We have
all been there, and know how it is our
selves. But of all the ways and means
of pleasing maiden, this courting
with a gun caps the climax of the
curious. The wise man in the Book
of Proverbs said, $500 years ago:
There be three things which are too
wonderful for me, yea, four which /
know not: the way of an eagle in the
air, the way of serpent upon a rock,
the way of ship in the midst OF the
sea, and the way of man with maid
But if Solomon had lived in this our
day, in the State of New Jersey, he
would have seen bigger fool ofa man
than the maids of Judea or the Queen
of Sheba ever dreamed of. The way
of this gallant Jerseyman with the
maid of his affections, was to court her
with gun, and make believe he was
going to shoot her through the heart.
If the men ofJudea, with Jewish maid
ems, had ways of winning them that
were too wonderful for the wisdom of
Solomon, who knew all there is about
it worth knowing, from observation
and very considerable experience, what
would have been the wonder of this
much-married king had he taken a
Paterson newspaper of February, 1882,
and read the trial, conviction and SEN
tence of this .precocious youth, who
sought to win his way into the heart
of maid by pointing at her bosom a
loaded gun !
He did not know it was loaded! He
did not kno,o it was not loaded, but it
aoas More than this, he pulled the
trigger, and, horrible to relate, q tre-
mendous charge ofbuckshot was driven
into her breast from the mouth of the
gun almost against her, and she sank
to the floor as one dead, the life-blood
pouring from the gaping, awful
wound /! Was ever wicked folly car
ried to such frightful end ?
Surgical aid was summoned The
shot were found to have touched no
vital part: some were extracted: the
girls life was spared She awoke at
last after long weeks of suspended life,
and it was soon apparent that the
young man had taken the wrong way
to reach the young lady's heart She
did not cotton to the idea of being
courted with gun. She had favored
his suit, but did not wish him to shoot.
His idiocy lowered him smewh hat in
the eyes of her understanding, and her
heart followed her judgment, as it does
in all sensible women. Her father
took an unfavorsble view of the young
mans fitness to be the husband of his
daughter. The parties all live in New
Jersey: as good State for good men
to live in as there is and the law took
this shooting-courtier by the collar, and
hailed him into another court to answer
for this as criminal offence. The in
dictment was in two counts: the first
charged him with intent to do bodily
harm, and the second simply charging
an assault The prosecuting officer
laid no stress on the first, but insisted
righteously and vigorously that, point
ing a gun at another person, was an
assault, and punishable under the law.
So the court ruled, and so the jury
found, and the suitor and shooter
found himself liable to States prison
and fine. He was brought from Jail
last Monday morning, and placed at
the bar of the court to receive his sem
tence, which / shall give in the words
of the Judge:
"You have been convicted on the