The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1883-06-06
MISS TowNER,s CHICKENS.
How She Was Caught in the Trap
She Set for Others.

Miss Towner was of the school
teaching species. She went to North
Carolina soon after the civil war. and
took charge of the Jonesville district
school. She was between forty and
fifty, and her reputation for fearless
ness and decision of character in con-
nection with the kitchen poker made
her a terror to tramps and evil doors
generally. The pleasant little cot.
tage in which Miss T0wner lived
alone, without even q servant, had a
small yard attached to it, which
seemed eminently adaptedt to chicken
culture. Miss TOwner had made
several attempts to keep chickens,
but the magnetism of the colOred
element was altogether too strong,
and she had definitely abandoned
the Undertaking when she read of
the Massachusetts mans trap. 1t
was clear to her that whatever could
be done by q good-for-nothing man,
could be done far better by an intelli-
gent woman, and accordingly she re-
solved to stock her empty chicken
house, and to get a new and original
trap. After much thought, she hit
upon the plan of a moose trap. She
procured a long rope. which she pass
ed through a pulley placed on the
limb Of a tree near the chicken house.
To one end of the rope was attached
a weight of two hundred pounds,
| and to the other end a moose, and the
| weight was so arranged that a slight
| pull on the moose would aus it to
shoot into the air, dragging with it
| the unfortunate colored man whose
| unlawful foot had entered it. One
| afternoon she received a supply of
chickens, which she placed in the
chicken house, making no effort to
| conceal the fact from the colore0
| public. Just before dark she set her
trap and repeatedly tested it by pok-
ing the moose with 3 stick. About
| nine o'clock that evening she fancied
that she heard a noise in the yard,
and it occurred to her that some one
might he prewling about the chicken
house. She therefore laid aside her
| copy of Edwards on the WILL" took
up the poker, and crept stealthily
into the yard. It was a bright moon
| light night, but no one was visible,
and, after making sure that her
chickens were all safe, she was about
to return to her reading, when she
accidently stepped within the fatal
moose. The trap did credit to her in
ventive genius. The moose caught
her by both ankles, aud in an instant
she found herself swinging with her
head Just clear of the ground. With
great presence of mind she put her
hands on the ground, and thus in
some measure relieved her ankles of
her entire weight. 1t was, however,
impossible for her to release herself,
and it was with difficulty that she
could either breathe or see There
was clearly nothing to be done but to
wait until some chicken stealer
should arrive and appeal to him for
aid. Miss Towner did not have long
to wait. By half past nine MI.
Hannible Blue approached the yard
on chickens bent, but of an %unfortun-
ately timorous mind. When he came
in sight of the mysterious and APP
palling spectacle presented by Miss
Towner, he remarked, "Golly!' in
accents of great terror, and flew
away, convinced that he had seen a
ghost, while Miss Towner, with a
! voice stif1ed with emotion and fan
mel, in vain besought him to come
back. Meeting a dozen Of his fellow
citizens, who were on their way to
the chicken house, Mr. Blue explain
ed that he had been driven away by
a peculiarly frightful ghost, dressed
entirely in white and holding both
its arms upright above its head. He
could not, however, induce his
friends to share his fears, and strong
in the consciousness of numbers,
they pursued their way to Miss
rowner's yard. At the first sight OF
the alleged ghost they were undeni-
ably alarmed, but finding that it did
not attack them, they gained courage
and drew nearer In time they re-
~cognized Miss Towner's voice, and
wera able to comprehend that she
had been hoist by her W petard.
that is to say, moose. Some men in
like circumstances would have left
the unhappy chicken proprietor to
pass the night in misery. Not so did
these kindly colored men. They
first carefully removed all the chick
ems, and then Investigated the con-
tents of the kitchen larder and the
smoke-house. Having thus done
their whole Guty, they explained to
Miss TOwner that they would send a
colored lady to release her within the
next half hour, and then babe her a
respectful farewell, confident that ia
the circumstances she could not
identify her benefactors. They kept
their word, and before II O'Clock
Miss Dinah Washington arrived and
lowered Miss Towner carefully to
the ground, uninjured, except by a
few slight bruises and a somewhat
excessive tendency of blood to the
head.-N. Y. I1,ues.