Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-03-24
Curious Condolences.

Not long ago a friend said to me: 81
want to make you acquainted with MI.
X. He can tell you about very curious
experience of his, illustrating the law Of
chances"
The gentleman thus introduced said:
II travel a good deal between New York
and Boston by the Fall River Line of
steamboats,. For the greater part of the
year there are two boats in this line, the
Bristol and the Providence. Each sails
every other night from New. York and
every other night from Fall River. As
each makes seven trips a week, Sunday
being included, its nights of sailing vary
from week to week. For instance, if the
Bristol leaves New York on a Monday
night, the boat on the next Monday
night from New York is the Providence.
| call your attention to this change of
boats on the corresponding nights Of al
ternate weeks because it has an impor-
tant bearing on the case. If the same
boat always sailed on a given night from
q given point, the singular fact of which
[ am going to speak might be partially
explained by considerations outside Of
pure chance.
elm October, 1874" continued Mr.. x,
~ made the trip from Boston to New
York IN the Bristol. There are circum-
stances that enable M to fix beyond all
doubt the date of that trip and the iden-
tity of the boat on which it was made.
Since 1874, although making the journey
from or to New York by this line from
two to eight times a year, and at irregular
intervals, [ have never found myself on
board the Bristol. 1t is always the Prov
idence. More than this, ifa member of my
family goes or comes by the Fall River
Line, it is on the Providence. If 1 see a
friend off by the Fall River Line, or go
to the Fall River pier to meet a friend, it
is invariably the Providence that I en-
counter. So far as goes my personal
knowledge as a frequent passenger blythe
line, only one steamboat has been plying
between New York and Fall River since
the fall of 1874, and that is the Provi-
dence. 1 am losing faith in the exist
ence of the Bristol. If I go to the Office
Of the line to purchase a state-room for
myself or for anybody else, 1 am as sure
beforehand that the booking will be for
the Providence as l am that the steam
boat will go through He'll Gate and not
through Behring's Straits. After an un-
broken experience of eight years, it would
be a rude shock to my sense of the fit
ness of things to find myself on
board of the Bristol. 1t would be very
much like seeing the sun rise in the west
instead of the east"
GLOW many times in succession" I
asked, shave you hit the Providence in
the eight years."
"Well," said Mr.. x, ~ am morally
certain that it has not been less than
forty times in succession. Five times a
year would be a moderate estimate"
cit is unfortunate" said /, "that you
have not kept an accurate account"
81 have kept an accurate account since
1873 or 1879" said he. "You must re-
member that this succession of Provi-
dences would naturally run on for two
or three years before it struck me as
strange. Then, perhaps, it would be a
couple of years longer before the affair
became SO extraordinary as to seem worth
the trouble of recording. When my
growing wonder reached this stage, l
began to put down the dates of my trips
on the Providence, and of my other en-
counters with that boat" He produced
from his pocket-book a slip of paper and
handed it to me. The record showed
seventeen successive Providences.-M Y.
Go, phiI0HeIDLin Press.