The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1883-01-18
Three Good Stories.

OOO~
\ New York Correspondent gives the
following sketches of life in the metropo-
lis:
At lunch yesterday a gentleman told
the following story of Metropolitan life:
In happy New England where the people
| religously attend to their neighbours
business as well as to their own such
life is impossible, but here in wicked
Gotham, where every man attends to his
own affairs and cares not tig for those
OF bis neighbors, such a life is possible.
Here is the story Some thirty years
ago young Greek came to this city and
entered into business. He had rooms in
business block and was supposed to be
unmarried. A few months since he died,
leaving property TO the amount of ST.
200, 600 His lawyer found among his
papers an informal will written 10y him
self, W hereby he gave this property to his
four wives in equal parts.
Attached to the will was an eXplala-
tory paper to the effect that desiring
vigorous and healthy offspring and being
in doubt in regard to the national blood
which would form the best admiXture
with his own, he had married four wives
English, French, German and Spanish.
and was raising a family by each wife.
He requested the lawyer to call these
wives together after his death and tell
them the true story OF his life and divide
the property equally between them.
L pom looking into the matter it was
found that the four marriages were intOr-
NAL and by contract and that each con
tract bore the same date. to wit : p. NJ,
Nov. IL. 1870. Each wife told the same
story OF her marriage, Each said that She
was engaged to the Greek and one even
ng when he was about leaving the city
for few weeks he sent for her t. come
10 the hotel where he then lived. She
went. lie came into the room Whert she
was with the written contract ii bis hand
and both signed it, after which he hastily
left 1or TIE train as she supposed. When
be returned TO the city they commenced
housekeeping and lie spent such time
with her as his business would permit,
which was about one evening and night
in a week.
You see he wrote four marriage con
tracts OF the same date. Then be had the
four girls come to his hotel at the same
hour. He hastily stepped into the room
Of each girl and signed the contract with !
each, 50 that il the coming years neither
wife could claim priority OF marriage 1t
WAS also found that IN naming these
wives in his viii and the explanatory
paper he wrote them alphabetically and |
called attention to the fact that he did |
sH.
After the husbands DEATH when the
four wives met in the lawyers office and
!,
husband, and examined each others mar |
rlagc contract, their astonishment can be |
imagined. Neither could claim priority of |
marriage. Neither could claim to be the |
one legal wife. Fortunately all We're SEN
olble women and they readily agreed to
divide the property equally and avoid all |
publicity. Each took the $500, 600 and !
went her way quietly
It is said that the widows, who as be- |
fore said are excellent women, have be- !
come friends and have agreed TO regard |
themselves as the widows Of four brothers, |
and to rear their children as cousins un-
til they are old enough to be told of the
true relationship. An unsafe thing to do, |
for what if some Of them should become |
lovers But where in all the wide world |
outside Of New York could such con-
dition Of things exist without exposure
New York is great city. If you get rich |
nobody cares: if you get poor nobody
cares: if you are well nobody cares, and
if you are sick and suffering nobody
cares: If you marry a wife nobody cares,
ana II you marry ten wives and they make |
no fuss about it NOBODY cares.
hen the lunch eater had finished the |
above story, one eyed man who had
been eating corned- beef and cabbage,
laid down his knife and fork and after
wlplng his mouth, sententiously remark |
ed: "There's some mighty curis folks in
this city if We only knowed um." He then
told the following story
Some years since one of our larger
merchants had a severe fever during
which he conceived the idea that he had
swallowed a live rabbit and that the rab-
bit was living in bis stomach
He recovered his health and is now
prosecuting his business as successfully
as before his illness, but oddly enough he
yet believes that there is live rabbit
within him. At first he had whim that
the rabbit was female with young, and
knowing the rapidty with which these
little creatures multiply he believed that
he should soon become walking rabbit
warren. In time however he dropped
that notion and now believes he contains
ole rabbit only.
And the rabbit has become a sort of
pet with him. Regularly three times per
day be eats raw cabbage for the abbiI. If
he goes away from home Oh business he
takes cabbage with him for the rabbit.
# hls stomach gets little out of order
he thinks there is trouble with the rabbit
and forthwith stuffS himself with cabbage
He avoids all crowds through fear that
lis rabbit may get jammed and hurt, and
he keeps away from all noises SO that his
rabbit may not get frightened. Ana all
the time he is successfully carrying or a
down town business and is as sane as any
man in New York. IL tell yc there's some
burned curis folks round,' repeated the
0neeyed man as he assaulted an alleged
pumpkin pie
The other member of our lunch table
OF four was nice young man with hair
parted in the middle, a diamond pin,
pointed shoes, and trOwsers 50 tight to
bis legs that one would expect to see him
pound his legs as boys do the bark Of a
bass wood whistle in order to get them
off He said that his father had an old
clerk who was one of the most reliable
accountants in the State, so reliable that
he had many times been called as an expert
in important cases before the courts. For
upwards Of thirty years this old clerk has
never taken seat at any table without
first sprinkling few grains Of salt upon
the chair in which he is to sit He always
carries salt in his right side vest pocket
and before sitting down he slyly drops a
few grains into the chair He thinks that
so long as he does that he will live, and