The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1885-02-04
NJ ssr.n
Bill Nse Tells OF an Accident That Bcfsll
Him In n Youthful Game.

Dear reader, says Mr.. William Nye, do
you remember the boy of your school who
did the heavy falling through the ice, and
was always about to break his neck, but
managed to live through it oil Do you
call to mind the youth who never allowed
anybody else to fall out of tree and break
his collar bone when he could attend to it
himself?
Every school has to secure the services of
such boy before il can succeed, and so our
school had one. When l entered the school
| saw at glance that the board had neg
leoted to provide itself with boy whose
duty it was to nearly kill himself every few
days in order to keep up the interest, 80
applied for the position. / secured it with
out any trouble whatever. The board un-
derstood at once from my bearing that
would succeed. Aud did not betray the
trust they had reposed in me.
Before the first term was over had tried
TO climb two trees of once, and been carried
home on stretcher been pulled out of
the river with my lungs full of water, and
/ :
ed around over the north half of the county
by fractious horse whose halter had tied
to my leg, and which leg is now three inch.
es longer than the other, together with
various other little early eccentricities which
cannot at this moment call to mind. My
parents at last got 30 that along about two
o'clock p. M. they would look anxiously out
| of the window and say:
Isn't it about time for the boys to get
here with Williams remains They gener-
ally get here before two O'clock"
One day five or six of us were playing
~ spy" around our barn. Everybody
knows how to play 81 spy" One shuts his
eyes and counts one hundred, for instance,
while the others hide. Then he must find
the rest and soy az spy" so-and-so, and
touch the "goal before they do. II any
body beats him to the goal the victim has
to " blind |" over again.
Well, knew the ground pretty we'll
and could drop twenty feet out of the barn
window and strike on pile of straw 30 as
to land near the goal touch 1t, and let the
crowd in free without getting found out.
did this several times, and got the binder,
James Bang, pretty mad. After boy has
counted five or six hundred, and worked
hard to gather in the crowd, only to get
ieered and laughed at by the boys, he loses
his temper. 1t was so with James Cicero
Bang. knew that he almost hated me,
and yet went on. Finally, in the fifth
ballot saw a good chance 10 slide dowr
and let the crowd in again as had done on
former OCCASIONS l slipped out of tho win
dow and down the side of the barn about
two feet whom | was detained unavoidably.
There was "batten" ON the barn that was
loose at tho upper end. think was wear
ing my fathers vest on that day, rs he was
away from the house, and frequently
wore his clothes when he WAS absent. Any
how, the vest was too large, and when l
slid down, that loose board ran up between
the vest and my person in such way as TO
suspend mo about eighteen feet from the
ground in a prominent but very uncomfor.
table position.
l remember it yot quite distinctly jaime.
| G. Bang came around where he could SCI
me- He snid
~ spy Billy Nye, and touch tho goal be.
fore him N
No one came TO remove the barn. No
one seemed to sympathize with me in my
sorrow and isolation. Every little while
James @. Bang would come around the cor.
ner and say
80, ] see vel You needn't think you're
out of sight up there. l can see you real
plain. You better come down and blind.
San see ye up thero!"
tried to unbutton my vest and get
down there and lick James, but Il was of no
use.
1t was very trying time. I can remem.
Der how tried to kick myself loose, but
failed. Sometimes would kick the barn,
and sometimes would kick largo hole
in the horizon. Finally was rescued by
o neighbor, who said he didn't want to SEQ
q good barn kicked into chaos just to save
q ng-leggcd boy that wasn't worth over
six bits
IL affords me great pleasure to add that
while am looked up to and madly lovod
by every one that does not know mo, James
O. Bang Ia the brevet president Of fractured
bank, taking lonely bridal tour by him
self in Europe, and waiting for the deposit
tors to die of old age.
The mills OF tho gods grind slowly, but
they most generally got there with both
feet. adapted from the French, by por-
mission)