The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1884-11-25
MRS. BLINKINS,
And How She Polled q Ballot.

0Ao hO" Su6 1O1kSO D o5llObs
Mrs. Blinkins is progressive woman-s
woman who, had she lived In the time
when Boadices led her armies to victory
! would probably have tried 70 emulate her
example.
During the late political campaign, she
felt called upon to take an active part, and
IS soon as she got out of bed in the morn
ing, which is always the moment she wakes,
her busy mind began to 60 over the ground.
She would take of her nightcap, fold it
into q square, and as she slipped it back
under the pillow, her busy imagination
would see in it ballot, and she would be-
gin TO draw off her night robe In u sort of q
proud way as If she really had been to the
polls and like "her Jonathan" voted for
his favorite candidate. Before she would
get her petticoats more than half on. how
ever, she would come back to real life and
with sigh she would remember she was
not at the polls but right in her own bed
room at No. - Fourth street dressing
for the day and il was slfeady time the
coffee pot was on boiling and the ham
sizzling for breakfast.
When her breakfast was finally prepared
and disposed of her mind would again re-
vert to the great questions of the day sEd
she would lean on the broom handle and
forget to feed the canary while she Pom
dered whether it would be best for her to
vote for Blaine or Cleveland. Blaine, she
thought, was family nan, and as she had
no faith in those shot gun stories, perhaps
he would make the best man for the place,
but on the other hand Johnathan was q
"dimocrst," and had voted the straight
ticket ever since Jackson's time, and It
would probably tickle him nightly ii she
should throw her influence on his side of
the questiOn-for il had come to that at
last-she "meant to vote, She would show
women that they had rights, yes, twenty
rights, or even patent rights, if they want
ed 'em, and she was going straight to the
polls and she was going to vote" and when
Mrs. B. makes up her mind, by former ex-
perience, We all know tits as good as done.
The night before the election she could
hardly sleep for thinking of the important
event and several times she raked her toe
nails across her husbands shins for the
purpose of waking him that she might ask
if il "wssn't most time to get up" He
got mad at last and he told her that
eff she walked him another time
before morning there would be a picnic
she wouldn't forget" Mrs. B. didn't retort
as was her wont. Her mind was full Of
ideas far beyond trifes, but at the first
glimpse of dawn, she sprang out of bed
and In Just thirty minutes called her hus-
band to breakfast AT er breakfast Mr.. B.
said she guessed he'd 60 down town" and no
sooner had he started than Mrs. B. put on
her black alpaca dress and her best bonnet
"a new one, by the bye, bought since she
attended the exposition, made of black vel
vet with three red plumes directly on top
and taking her reticule en- her arm she
started on her important mission.
AS she went along, she felt good and no.
bic, but when a little boy ran out of
yard yelling "'rah for Cleveland" and
another little boy across the street yelled
"'rah for Blaine" she frowned and set her
lips so tightly together that nothing but a
grayish line showed beneath her rather
long lose.
When she reached the corner of Fourth
and Ohio street she saw groups of men
standing around, but she paid no attention
until st last she found herself being carried
along with the crowd directly toward the
polling place. She was near the door, a
trife out OF breath, tbs true, but still deter
mined, in spite Of the many curious
glances and laughing comments which had
been her portion, to cast her ballot.
Just then = broad faced Irishman whose
hair was very red, said TO her, ''hello ould
womsn and is i; yourself that is afther
voting
"None OF your business, you impudent
paddy, what l am going 10 do" bravely
answered Mrs. B.
"Fsith I'm not paddy" mum" spoke
the man Grossly, "nayther is it yourself
that's Teddy" Get out'u my way this
minute you bog trotting, whisky dri hiking
spalpeeu you," said Mrs. 3. in shrili voice
or l'il show you that Pm free born
American woman II Pun not a lady.
Still the man held his ground impudent-
ly leering into Mrs. BIS. excited face and
then he slowly said:
"Yez had bitter be at home mindin' the
childers, We Ould Omadhoun', instid Of
quarrelin' wild honest min like myself Yez
can't vote for the president at all, at all and
divil bit Of good wull it do yez hangin'
aroundl +"
Mrs. B. had borne nearly all she was
going to and once more she said, 'are you
going to ct out of my way 2"
But the man did not move save to stoop
down and breathe directly in her face, a
blast, which seemed TO her, was made up
of equal parts of sssafoedita and decsyed
eggs and with quick motion, she swung
her umbrella-which it will be remembered
she always csrried-on high and brought
it down with a resounding "whack" on the
red-haired Irishman's head.
The man yelled "murther % but would
probably have planted his ugly fist in Mrs.
BIS face had not several men sprang for
ward aud hustled him around the corner,
swearing as he went. Mrs. B. triumph
sntly pursued her way, and, slipping her
hand under the arm of a tall man in
front of her, she dropped neatly folded
slip of paper into the ballot box, and be.
fore anyone discovered what she had done,
was threading her way back through the
crowd.
An overgrown boy "sassed" her. q big