The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1885-02-04

t5tr hired msn dropped the reius aud 10 .
owed her up To the door, staggering under
NE weight Of graf eartherD jar.
~ The minister opeicd he do0f aid We
|5oUmtd Mrs Archibald, while the hired
k3psu Supp d ibsid. and put the big jar on
E4he floor.
III 'Pye brought Yen some qnirce preserves"
1 10 Mrs. Archibald 81 Nj Gsssfi,ys.,
t1Ibey've Just begun 80 turn, but If you
neet them over tbey'll be all right agaib'
IfS ''ThaBk yon," said the minister's wife,
With Is much warmth : ehe could muster
opder the T. fiction that veither she nor
10y mrmber Of her family could tolerate
Qninces.
The two ladies' went through into the
gperlOr, ard the minister tugged and pni..d
the great jar through into the panty aud
4Dwn the cellar stairs. just then Trustee
Jsckson drove up with his wife and xix
gre pumpkins. "Th.m'- awful good
pgmpkiDs," sad the Trustee, as he set he
1OideD globes ON the step. aud Grove away
| aging be had got Ia 90 down 10 the mill
40 wouid De back by and by. The iniui =
| " carried the pumpkins down into the
e9llor and got back iu time to meet Mr..
Higgins, the blacksmith, who brought his
wife and a set Of very heavy topgs, shovel
aud poker, which he ASSURE d the minister
| he had hammered out himself Mrs Hig-
| gins had tin pan full Of caraway-s
cookies. paper bag full OF pickles and a
frosted cake. She also had her two chill
dren, one of when, she told Mrs. Craw-
ford, was probably cOr9ing down with III"
measles. The other child narrowly es-
capped falling DOM the cellar sips, dis
aster which Mrs. ayford ind sed from
Mrs. Higgins manner, she wUuid have been
held responsible for.
Mrs. Simmons, the grocer's wife, arrived
next, carrying a tep-pouud package %.
brown sugar, the swcetenii < power of
which her husband had said was unusually
great. she had also worked a iidy Tor
Mrs. Ciawfords rocking chair, aud Was
| quite surprised 10 find out thai Mrs Craw-
| lord had some Tides already. Mr.. WIut"r,
| the hardware merchant. walked OVER with
his wife, who had brought some loave, OF
| liesn bi cad and another frosted cake. Mr..
Winter himself had large package Of t, n
penny nails aud Il jackkniie with eiInlct
and button hook attached. Trustee Hg.
Doe unloaded five more pumpkins which
the minister carried down to the cellar.
| One of them rolled against a dry goods
box upon which the jar of quiuce pre-
serves was standing. The jar slid off and
rolled over the stones and most of the pre- :
serves ran out on the ground Deacon
Wiley came in next with some celery,
which he had told the minister he had uu
derstoud was excellent for building ~ the
nervous system. Mrs. Wiley had a brace
of chickens already cooked, which she said
would do tor the supper. Deacon Hiram
Blodgett brought bushe! OF Spi'zenberg
apples, aud his eldest son, lad of Is mad
bushe of black walnu,s. Mrs. BIodgett
han some raised biscuits ana pan of seed
cakes. Mrs. Martha Richards brought a
cougle of fiat irons which were too heavy
she said, for her use, and her daughter had
10 q han n . knI ffsrf for Ia,
irons off the stove when they were hot.
Mrs. Richards said her brother-in-law
Michael would bring some pumpkins and
another squash or TWO, and just then Mr..
Richards arrived. When Mr.. Crawford
carried the squash down to the cellar he
slipped upon he spilled preserves, aud in
falling slightly sprained his wrist. Mr..
Richards wife had embroidered pair OF
slippers for the minister, which wtre found
to be too small. Her daughter had made a
chiniz covered Chair cushion, stuff.d with
corn husks, aud this WIS too large for any
chair in the house.
The druggists wife had an electric belt
for the minister, which her husband war
ranttd to cure auy liver trouble known.
Other ladies brought various good things
for the >uppr and the gentlemen when
they arrived later had also a great variety
OF gifts. Among them was a horsewhip. II
Shhouth u CpIu Oh 4 lObl WOOD, winch
was dumped out in The street for the mil =
i>ter to carry to the woudshed; lot o:
seed cord tied together by the husks, a
peck OF dried apples, Il II Ill which Was rec
commended as being untqualled for thra> b.
lug ont beans, two home made boot acks, u
curry comb and brush, "a pounding barrel"
Tor washing clothes aud ponnder, gal
Ion ut soft soa and more pumpkins. Some
OF the ladies brought strips of rag carpet,
some of which We're more or less worn,
and one OF item had a dozen balls Of cat
pet rags and five pounds of warp. There
were also some newspapers with scalloped
edges, which were suitable for pantry
shelves.
But the most striking gift of all was that
OF Deacon Thomas } lltrs. 1t was after
dark when the Deacon arrived and the
house was crowded. Mr. Crawford heard
him shouting out in the street and went
ont bareheaded The Deacon WAS holding
the reius to his team with one hand and
rope attached to a COW with the other.
"There Elder" said the Deacon, "ihere'S
II COW | brought you. She's an awful good
COW; been in our family more than 20
years. My father gave her 10 me when |
was married. Shes farrow aud don't give
any milk, but she's an awful good COW.
''I'm very mach Obliged, Tn sure, Dea
con, said Mr.. Crawford. Then he took
the rope and wading through the SNOW, led
the cow around TO the woud>hed and tied
her up there. The Pastor hardly knew
what to do with the COW, which had hu
one horn aud seemed uncummonly Ticiou>
for one of her age and good bringing up.
The supper was great success. There
yere several little article ssuch eggs AMI
spices wanting among the CUTS, bur these
Mrs. Craw ord supplied from her own
store. After supper the spi'z nberg apples
were eaten aud so were the black waluuts.
The Pastor and his wife were very tired
when their party was over, AMI went d.
rectly to bed. When they arose in the
morning they fouud their dry wo I'D had al
been burned up the night before in an et-
fort to keep the house warm. S1ow had
fallen and after the wood whicl lay III the
street had been cut up by the minister, it
was found d tiicult to make 1t burn. The
COW manifested a desire for something To
eat by frequent appalling sounds, and the
minister, after Tying her with the dried
apples which she rejected, meanwhile en-
deavoring To hook him with her one horn,
gave her a couple of the twenty odd pump.
kins in the cellar. Every atiicl of cooked
food in the house, was gone, and the stores
were closed. The brown sugar still re-
maine d, and there were the winter squash
es, aud all the articles which could not be
eaten. Mrs. Crawford cooked some of the
squash, and with few of the raist d bis
cults which had been overlooked, they
made breakfast, The pastor preached
very good Christmas sermon, alihoush
some wbat hoarse. After the sermon he
was told by number of persons that the
donation wss considered the most success
full held in years.
Tnree months later there was another
gathering at the parsonage. The Rev.
EleaZer Crawford was dead.
''Caught cold sometime during the win
ter, aud never got over it," said Trustee
I Higbee. Consumption, l guess"
81 don't think was ever strong enough