Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-09-19

/ AA40A0 U3 oAF0 NOWS ~ ASAAN02VO0
che case 81 poor Miss Hszisham, d
Dickens story, who was so overcome b,
her lovers failure to appear at the we'd
ding that she ordered everything h th,
house to be kept unchanged, as it hae
been placed on that hapless day. Year,
went by, the wedding feast remained
set out on the table, the rich cakes nodded
and were eaten by mice, while the poor
half-demented lady fitted in and GU
of the deserted rooms of the house likt
q ghost, always wearing the white dress
and veil which she had put on to wei
come the faithless lover who neve,
came. A similar case to this was thai
of q lady of high rank in England, who
being Tilted by her lover, went to bed
and vowed she would never get W
again; and kept her word for twenty-si1
years. A less excusable case than this
was that of a man in Pennsylvania, who,
finding that his wife was disposed to de.
mand too much physical exertion from
him, took to his bed with the avowed
determination to stay there. And fol
twenty-five years this worthless old
scamp stayed between the sheets, while
his wife waited upon him and fed him
with q persistent devotion that exasper.
ated all her neighbors, who rightly
judged that the application of q large
birch rod would soon relieve the hus-
band from keeping his selfish and un-
principled vow.
Vows of perpetual silence are numer.
our. the only trouble being that these
who need this VOW most do not take 1t.
Probably Miss Caroline Brewer OF
Portland, Me-, who in 1910 vowed she
would never speak another word to|any
human being, because she had a quarrel
with her lover, did so with the idea that
she might thus do penance for her hasty
speech. Her penance was long and eff
fectual. For thirty-fve years, till the
day of her death, she was never known
to utter a word. In New England
some years ago three sisters lived to-
gether. Two of them quarreled and
vowed never to speak to each other
again. They did not speak for over
twenty years. when of them died,
the other refusing to speak to her even
on her death bed. Very soon after the
quarrel the third sister had died. She
wa a delicate, gentle woman, and it
was thought that her death was fastened
by her fruitless efforts to effect a rec
on%ciliation between her angry sisters,
and her unhappiness concerning their
wicked vow. There is a family in Ken
lucky, consisting of father, mother and
several children, who, it is said, have
not for years exchanged a syllable.
Any member will converse with outside
parties freely enough, but in the pres
cnce of another of his family will not
speak a word.
One of the most remarkable instances
of the dumb spirit occurred in Glaston-
burg, England, during the present gen.
Grafton. This strange case was fully
attested by a physician, and reported to
the London Lancet, essentially as fol
lows:
Before the birth of Eli H., his father
made a vow that should his wife bring
him another girl-he had now had
three daughters in successlon-he would
never speak to the child as long as he
lived. The expected infant proved to
be a boy, but this son manifested from
infancy the most pronounced antipathy
toward his father. He never spoke to
him, nor rs long as this parent lived
would he utter a word to any one save
to his mother and sisters. When Eli
was tbirty-fve years old his father died,
and after that the young mans tongue
was loosed to every one, he becoming
indeed, quite loquacious, as though to
make up for his long silence. Chicago
Inter Ocean.