New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1885-08-26
bolted? Whorang the bells and banged
the doors? Who so persistently mixed
m the wearing apparel?

up the wearing apparel?
The most aggravating feature OF the
whole remarkable business was the
stealing or the hiding of valuable arti-
cles, for the invisible thief or thieves
always returned the things that were
taken. One was never certain that an
article of dress could be found unless
it was on the body of the owner.
Cloaks, shawls, dresses, hats, gloves,
in broad daylight, under ones very
eyes, would suddenly disappear. and
no amount of hunting would bring
them to light. Soft cameto pass that
the ladies were frequently obliged to
borrow clothes from each other. and
neither knew III the morning what de-
scription OF dry goods would be worn
in the afternoon. The invisible pres
ences were especially partial to black
hair. It was never disturbed on the
head, but on the dressing case orwhen
hung over gas fixture, or when lying
in drawer, it was certain to walk
off. Indeed the only way to in
sure the presence OF the necessary
black hair was to keep it pinned IN
ones pocket, or buttoned in ones
dress while the natural hair on ones
head was being combed.
One morning one of the ladies forgot
to be cautious, and left her valuable
back hair on the dressing case for a
moment. She was entirely alone IN
her room, with her door bolted. 81
turned around" she said, "and as |
did SO Immediately bethought myself
OF the switch. l turned back again
and the thing had gone y
| A pair of six and half gloves could
be worn by a five hand; and a cloak
! for small person could be stretched
to do service for a larger one, but a
| black switch could hardly be worn on
blonde head In other words, it
| was notan easy matterto borrow one.
To go to New York to ones place of
business minus switch was hard, but
this bread-winner was game, and,
moreover f,uiously angry. She made
up her mind that she would not be
| bluffed. In place of the good sized and
| symmetrical French twist which usual
! ly-adorned her intellectual skull was a
nondescript bunch that gave it a
strange ancient appearance. "For
| mercy's sake" she remarked to her
friends as she walked out of thehouse,
| with flashing eyes and a scarlet face,
| edo let's move away from this hor-
rible place. Fhave borne everything
before this. Ihave worn other folks
clothes, l have been out of this house
many Il time with old boots on, and
once I went to report Beecher with
one boot on OF my own and one shoe
of somebody else's, but to have to 60
to New York without my back hair is
a little too much"
Such walls were constant. Occasion
ally coaxing and entreaty would avail,
but only occasionally. To beg some
| invisible power to return the boots or
the hat or the dress which were to be
worn on a business engagement Was
rather an uncanny piece OF business,
but WAS sometimes successful.
| At these times the articles would be
| literally fired at the owners head.
They would come from the corner OF
the room or from the ceiling, but how
or by whom was an impenetrable
mystery unsolved to this day.
It was in those days that the ladies
regularly reported the sermons OF
Henry Ward Beecher. They sat to-
gether at a small table Immediately in
front OF the pulpit. One morning,
when busy with their work, very dis
tinct raps were heard upon the table,
continuing for five minutes or more,
when the table began to lurch and
pitch about, and finally slammed it
self violently against the platform.
| The bread-winning reporters were
forced to finish their work on hymn
books in their laps.
At the evening service the table was
like any other well-behaved piece of
furniture. Not a sound was heard.
But on the following Sunday morning
it was again alive and full of mischief.
AS soon as the first demonstration
occurred the bread-winners very quiet
! ly removed their work to their laps
again
| But this made no difference.
Without q hand nearit this aninrat-
ed piece of wood went THOUGHTS Won
derful gyrations, and with as mach
apparent method as q soldier at dgill.
An unusually stirring remark from 6he
desk was sure to be Immediately ap-
preciated and applauded. Up and
! NoN1l, OI6hWIIu anu 1OINCIIO, the
lively table would jump and tilt, strik-
ing occasionally against the platform,
with a series OF whacks that could be
heard all over the church.
These manifestations continued un-
til they attracted as much attention
as the minister This was little too
much publicity for the bread-winners,
and the table was finally relegated
| to privacy, and the backs of hymn
books were used in place OF the, mis-
behaved piece of furniture.
AS in the case of Solomon and the
Queen sf Sheba, the half has not been
told; bat these Incidents are vouehed
by the, bread-winners to be literally
true.