The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1889-01-04
MR. eoWseR,s THEORlEs.
Mrs.. Dowser Gives an Account Of His Ex-
perinents.

ten1nce wearing a very important look, anl
tho drst thing he did was 70 bolt up stairs to
our bedroom and lower the window, although
/ had just closed it after airing the room for
two hours lie then camo gathering down %
ask me for pan.
"What on earth do you want Of IA panf' |
asked.
"To save ell our lives1 he answered.
"Howr
"Your bedroom is fun Of poisonous gases,
which must be absorbed 10y an open vessel q
water
"Nonensem
Il expected IT, That's the weapon Of the
ignorantl Mrs. Bowser, if you want 70 die
by poisonous gases poisoning the blood, /
have nothing % say; but / shall save the life
Of our child, II possible have felt strange
lassitude for ssveras days, and sanitary
plumber tells me that We have poisonous air
in the room.n
"Your llsitude couldn't have como from
beng out 10 club aud lodge four successive
nights until T. o'clock, could itN
he seized the pan and hurried up stairs,
and when ho had filed il 40 the lavatory ho
sat it in tho middle Of tho Goor, and came
down, with a relieved look on his face, 10
say:
"see if you don't feel better tomorrow
than you have for a month. It's a wonder
We are not al dead"
"Did the aucients know about these poison
Gus gases| asked
"Not a thing They never gave them
thought"
"And yet the average Of health was II per
cent above that of today and the average Of
mortality that much lowerl How do you
account for iti'
"Oh. vel, if You want TO die go ahead.
I'll even buy rope aud help you 10 hang
yourself Iexpected this, OF course. but ridi-
cule never moves me, Mrs Bowser-neyer."
Two hours later he went up stairs in his
slippers 10 look for paper in another coat,
and. of course, ho sat his foot plump down in
that pan of water There was yell and a
jump, and over went the pan and when got
up there he stood holding up one iaS, a. You
have seen hen do on a wet day What /
said on that occasion kept Mr.. Bowsor very
quiet for q whole week Then he began 10
grow restless again, and one night be brought
home suspicious looking package ami
sneaked il up stairs. After supper he sud-
denly disappeared, and when | looked for
him upstairs he bad something in "A basin aud
was about 20 hold il over a gas burner
Mr.. BOwser, have you got a new theory"
asked
Look here, Mrs. Bowser" be replied, as
he put down tho basin, you havo heard Of
bacteria, presume
YES sir"
"They arc tho germs Of disease floating
about They are alive. II inhaled, cholera,
yellow fever and other dread diseases are the
result. Fumigation kills them"
"And you are going to fumisate this
roomn
lam. am going to kin oG the dreaded
bacteria"
"Wen, youu drive US out Of tho house or
kill u.s."
Iwent down stairs and l., burned a COM
pound OF tar and sulphur. Ia ten minutes
We had 20 open doors and windows, and the
cook came running IN to ask:
SIS it cremation Mr BoRser is trying Oh
usw
Il am simply driving out bacteria he re
piled, coming down the stairs no that mo-
,ranf
And there's bacteria in the house"
"Im afraid so."
"And I've worked here four weeks under
tho noses Of tho dreadful creatures' Mr..
Bowsar, quitsl Iquits now"
Aud quit she did. We had to sleep on the
sitting room loor last night, and three weeks
later every caller could detect that odor II
was hardly gone, however, when Mr. BOwsel
began 20 sniff around again.
ANY more bactoriai ! asked.
"Alrs. Bowser If you want % sit here aud
die have NO objections, but don't propose
70 neglect common sense precautions to pre-
serve my own health
"Is anything wrong now"
81 think So ! think ! can detect an odor
Of sewer gas in the house"
Impossible. / shan't havo no more stun
burned until know it is necessary"
won't youi II there is sewer gas here II
must bo oradicated at once"
For the next week the entire house smelled
Of chloride OF lime until ono could hardly
draw tong breath, but Air. Bowser was not
satisfied.
II have been thinking" ho said to mo one
evening, that | may bring the germs OF
somo terrible disease homo ia my clothes. !
ride on tho car, you know, and | ought 70
take precautions"
"Howp
Garry di-infectant about me to repel the
germs"
1T might be a good idea"
"Now you are talking sense Now You
seem 70 understand the peril which has men
accd us"
lie got something down town the next day
| think some of his friends put up a job on
him. knowing bis craze. IL was a compound
which left him alone on tho street car before
be had ridden three blocks, and he had no
sooner got into the house than we had to re
tire 10 tho back doors Tho cook got snil
of il. and down went the dinner and up went
her hands, and she shouted az Mr.. Bowser:
"a man as will keep skunk under his hous
would beat me out Cf my wages, and III be
gom' this mnutC'
II took soap and water and perfumery and
half a DAYS timo to remove the odor, anc
when declared that it was the last stra"
Mr.. Bowser crossed his hands under his coat
tails and replied.
"Mrs. Bowser, believe this house 10 be
clear of bacteria, owing ID my prudence arc
self sacrifice, and / want 10 keep it so'
81 suppose got en- hereF
"Without a doubt, madam"
"And all this rumpus has been on my ac
c0untF
Exactly. But don't so too far with me
Enough is enough. You must stop right
where you are. / have humored you al ]
propose tor'-Dstroit Free Press.
An incident Of Gen. oneuuans visit 70
Europe during the Franco-Prussian war
is omitted from his article in the Novem-
Der Scrilner's, perhaps, through ignor..
ancc of the facts. When the general
reached Berlin he asked the American
minister to recommend to him some
young American, who could speak Ger
man fucntly, to act as an interpreter.
The minister recommended Mr. Charles
f. MacLean, better known 10 New
/ Workers as a police commissioner than as