Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1888-02-24
MR.. AND MRS. BOWSBR
by MRS. BowsRR.

The other afternoon an express
man delivered at the house several
strange packages, and when Mr..
Bowser came up in the evening he
explained that they were fire es-
capes.
"What for y
"For the house, of course"
"But we don't need any fire es
capes on our house Mr.. Bowser."
"Don't we1 Well, we shall have
them Just the same. If you want
to be burned | have no objection,
but | propose to die some other
way"
"You never said there WAS any
danger"
"Because | didn't want to make
you nervous. AS a matter OF tact
I haven't felt safe any night for a
year."
"And now the danger will be OBJ
waited y
at will be reduced to the mini
mum, certainly. Even if we wake
and find our bedroom on fire we
shall be able to escape with only a
scOrch."
After supper he carried the
parcels up stairs. There were
several bottles and couple OF wire
racks, a hand hre.extinguisher, and
a rope and pulley and other stuff.
"Where would a fire be likely to
start in the house y | asked Mr-
Bowser as he was fixing "a hook in
the casing of our bedroom window
"Down stairs, probably"
"Well, we have a front and back
stairs, and here are three chamber
windows opening ont on veranda
roofs. Couldn't we escape by some
of these waysi"
"If | thought we could would !
be fool enough to go and throw
away $50 on this apparatus~ he
angrily demanded.
w- l suppose you know best
"Mrs. Bowser, when don't know
best | will resign. Whiley You have
never given the subject of fire
escapes one single thought, | have
devoted years of study it. Take
our wall.eyed darling and 60 down
stairs, and when | want YOU | viii
call.n
In about an hour ho called. lie
was IN great goodnature. He had
the hook firmly in place, and hang
ing TO 1t was a rope and some sort
of harness.
"It isn't much OF an ornament tt
our bedroom" | ventured to ob
serve.
"What has ornament got to dc
with fire-escapes 7 Isn't your lift
worth more to you than the daily
presence of a tea.store chrome
The escape is now ready"
"For what y
"TO escape by, Of course. Herr
is the situation: 1t is midnight
The cook, while rummsging abou
in search of her lost quid Of gum
has dropped lighted matches unde'
the front and back stairs. Th'
flames have been smouldering fol
hours. They now break forth Will
sudden fury, cutting off our escape
from either STAIRS
"And we crawl out on the veran
da roofs"
500 We? Not much We star
to do so, but we find that all th'
verandas have fallen to the ground
the supports having been beave'
out by the FROST"
"Well ~
"Well, we awake with the crackl
of flames in our ears. While yoI
wiring your hands and declare tina
we are lost, calmly secure all tn
money, iewelry and valuable pa
pers and cody make preparation
to escape. | calmly pully dow
the rope and harness, seat you an'
the baby therein, and the mex
moment you are landed on ID
ground. | follow Just as the en-
gines arrives, and the papers OF tn
next morning chronicle my wonder
full self.possesslon in the face o
awful danger"
"And don't they say anythin
about me?'
"Not word, or, if they do, it !
to remark that you were in dea
faint and your feet never looked 8
large"
"And can you go down by tha
, rope and harnessl'
"Can |? Can you chop WOO
y with an axi What is it for excer
. to go down NJ"
3 ~ would almost as soon 0
0 burned up as to try it. | don
Q believe you would dare 90 down o
4 it.n j.
Z "Mrs. Bowser, what a wife b'
!. lieves and what q husband know
I are two different things. Is
=. likely | would purchase this al
3 paratus and put 1t up here If
r didn't dare use III Shove up thf
a window "
r "But | wOnldn't try it. You sI
rather clumsy, you knowi"
3 "Another insult! Shove up :hi
n window y
put up the sash and he seate