Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1885-03-05

NO, sir, / don't want any churcn-IdlI
Lottery tickets" replied the little tailor,
as he paused in his work and waxed his
thread.
"Why not?" urged the solicitor. "You
are member of our church, and you
know we need money"
NO." responded the tailor, resolutely,
81 guess don't want any"
"You had better take just one chance,
persisted the solicitor. You may win
8 piano or house and lot.
NO." replied the tailor, decisively,
"Pve made up my mind to it. All my
trouble came along of buying a lottery
ticket"
"Yes, but this is only church"
stop, young man, let me finish. That
was a church lottery, too. l was young
then, and foolish. was urged to take
a chance in religious lottery, and in
weak moment listened TO the tempter
and yielded. The chief prize was sill
yer watch. 1 won it. Every one said l
was lucky. The ticket cost me 81, and
L had to pay out S4 more before / could
get away from the boys after the show
was over. The next day the watch
stopped. took it to a jeweler. He
fixed it. That cost me 81 more. In
three weeks it became wearied again,
and l paid out 81 so more in repairs.
Then l began to get tired, too, and took
it to pawnbroker to get a loan on IT.,
and at the same time to give it chance
to have long rest. Iasked for So 80 on
it. He examined it carefully and told
me that if 1 would give him So as col
lateral he would advance the money.
That ended the watch. L traded it to a
fellow Christian for another lottery
ticket, and resolved to try my luck again
This time shotgun was the principal
prize, and, as luck would have it, L Won
it.
81 didn't have the gun more than a
week when l was invided by friend to
go into the country and hunt ducks. 1
was overjoyed at the opportunity. The
first flock of ducks we saw my friend
nudged me to shoot. l reached for my
gun to pull it toward me, and before L
could be checked the trigger was accl-
dentally pulled, and L received the charge
in my leg. That is the reason l limp
now. The boat was overturned,
and it was with difficulty that my life
was saved. As it was, l was out OF
employment for nearly six months, and
walked on crutches for over two years.
THAT rather discouraged me with lot
teries of all sorts,and during the ensuing
two years let them religiously alone,
although was many times importuned
to break my resolution. Finally 1 al
lowed myself to be persuaded against
my will to buy ticket in aid of some
suffering parish. did not attend this
drawing, but was notified the next day
by livery stable keeper, who was the
assistant superintendent of the Sunday
school, that he had handsome roam
horse for me at his stable, and wanted to
know what l would have done with it.
s'If he had told me that he had white
elephant of mine he would not have as+
tonished me more. | asked him in
amazement where L had got it. He told
me at the church fair, and asked me if l
hadn't heard of it before. l had Rot, nor,
to tell the truth, was l particularly
pleased with it then. l had no more use
for horse than dog with two tails.
But owned it, and L must take care of
it. So l ordered him to harness it to a
buggy and drive it around to my shop.
ut was delightful sunny afternoon
in the middle of September,and turned
my horses nose in the direction of Bank
er Peterson's house. | know his daugh-
ter and loved her dearly. She, too, was
not Indifferent to mt. She was at home,
and would be charmed to 60 with me. l
had succeeded in claspiDg one of her
hands in mile, and was telling her how
madly loved her. when the horse stop
ped stock still. In vain urged it to
go, pushed en- the reins, and piled it with
the whip. It was obstinacy itself. l
got out of the buggy and examined the
harness. That appeared to be all right
to my inexperienced eye. Then L at
tempted to lead the animal by the bit,
but this only increased its stubbornness.
"Finally a bright idea struck me. ]
had heard that horses often followed
oats or grass. So 1 jumped over the
fence and gathered up handful of
grass, while the bankers daughter held
the lines. AS my back was turned l
heard clatter in the road, accompanied
bv wild shrek, and looked up to see
Miss Peterson and the horse going down
the road at breakneek speed. While l
was gazing with open-eyed amazement,
the vehicle grew smaller in the distance,
and finally disappeared around bend
in the road. All l could do was to fol-
Ow.
This 1 did carefully questioning all the
men l met regarding the Tunaways. By
persistent questioning, and after walk
ing nearly six miles, found that the
h horse. becoming ambitious, had left the
road about a mile further on,and broken
its mech in a foolish attempt to climb a
stone WALL The buggy had been broken
into splinters, and the young lady had
been carried into a neighbor's house.
Here betook myself as sNrapidly as my
tired legs would carry me, and found
that it was all as had been related, The
girl, however, was uninjured save by
the shock. Everything was complete