Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1889-08-09
Nh. AND MRS. RoWsER.
The Old Man Demonstrates His Gre,
ri a IS Presence OF Mind. -. +.

The 0tu Man Demonstrates His Great
Presence OF Mind Z
Mrs Rowser, it Is possible that this house
may take FIRE some time,n observed Mr..
Bowser as he laid aside his paper the other
evening. - E. sss. III
Eyes" .>---~~r, sSs :si n:
IT it takes fire while am at home all
expect Of you Is to take the child aud get out
doors ] shall peril my life to subdue the
confagration, and il find it cannot be done
shall save all the valuables." T@"
Perhaps could help you"
And perhaps you couldn't You'd do
more damage than good if you tried to. / want
you to remember and get right out and stay
out" -
81 have been told that had great presence
of mind. Mr.. Bowser."
"Yes. and you may have been told that you
| were the empress Of Russia. Presence Of
mind There isn't q woman on earth who'd
| have presence Of mind enough in case of a
fire to save her own shoesl All want of you
is to follow my directions"
1t twas singular that the test should come &c
soon. In lighting the gas in the hall up Stair
Mr.. Bowser must have dropped the match
upon rug lying near. We were hardly in
bed before s,nelled smoke. but when men
toned the fact Mr.. Bowser growled:
Nonsense! The cook probably threw some
eg5gshells into the range when she was clear
ing UP her supper dishes. Your nose is al
ways smelling lire or burglars or sewer gas
and it is always wrong"
| He went to sleep and continued to sniff
| that odor. Ten minutes after Mr.. Bowsel
| had uttered his first snore thick cloud oil
| smoke poured into our bedroom all of a sud.
| den, and at the same moment the darkness
was lighted up by a Pickering fame The
house was certainly on fire, and shook Mr..
| Bowser and Informed him Of tho fact.
"W-what is it6" he gasped, as he sat VI
| in bed
''The house is on fire! Can't you see the
| smoke and the blaze?'
| was out on the floor and dressing me
| when he rolled out Of bed, sprang to the doc,
| and shouted at the top Of his voice:
Murder! Police! Firel Weare all on fire
| up herel"
"Well, slip on your clothes and see if YOU
can't put it out. 1t must DO in the back hall.
| "Firel Firel Fire!" he yelled as he sought
| to pull on his pants. "Our house is on fire
| We shall be burned alivel"
| He rushed to the telephone and rang itcon
| tinuously for twenty seconds, and ther
yelled:
Hello, central! Hello, central! Fire
Firel Fire My house is on irel Send ur
the police and three engines right awayl"
| He couldn't wait for an answer, but took
three or four circuits around the sitting
room, made dash into the parlor and oul
by tho front hall, all the time yelling, "Firel'
at the top of his voice, and then it occurred
I to :; frr E,no
the corner Out he rushed, barefooted and
bareheaded, and after trying for half a min
ute to pull the box off the post ho ran to thu
residence where the key was kept His shout:
and yells had aroused everybody within hall
a mile, and the possessor of the key threw w
| his window and called:
! SIS that you, Bowser?'
! Yes, it's mel My house is Oh firel''
! "Surea didn't see any light over there.
"It's on fire from cellar to garrett, and
expect my wife and child have persisted If
| the f1amesl'
''That's awful Here's the key"
Mr.. Bowser not only turned in one alarm
but he kept on sending them in until the frs
steamer arrived, and the driver Of it ordered
him away from the box and called him {
blank fool Five engines came rushing up
and had got the smoke out of the hall ant
was down stairs when dozen firemen dashee
up tho steps to fight the conaagration.
showed them up stairs to investigate. Mr.
Bowser went with them After they 60
through laughing they turned on MI. Bow
ser. They called him by $50 different titles
besides advising him to 60 and sandpape'
and soak his head. They sneered at his ex
cuses and laughed at his explanations, and q
they retired one of them remarked:
Its good thing for you, old bowlegs
that you have got guardianp
| When they had gone and we were left t.
ourselves Mr.. Bowser looked very importan
and Observed:
"Well, made mighty short work Of tina
blaze"
"You! What did you dos" asked.
what did l do7 Mrs. Bowser, do you in
tend to claim any credit for extinguishini
that blaZe?'
II do. But for me the house would hav'
gone. MI. Bowser, you were SO ratified tina
You acted like crazy man."
"What! you put out the fire! I ratified
Mrs. Bowser, this is too much. SEQ through
the conspiracy. On several occasions 20,
have driven me to the limit. This is beyond.
Detroit Free Press