The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1889-04-06

struggle Of a year or two they gave II up ana
went to their present quarters.
Wheeler and Wilson, OF sewing machine
fame, next moved into the great, gloomy
store, but they could not escape the evil fate,
their business suffered, and after period OF
some seasons they quilted the i'll omened
building. At present the spell seems broken.
The Dairy Kitchen has been in possession for
some time, and whether the music OF the
band has exercised the evil spirits, or the
sweets have appeased the hungry ghosts,
can only be guessed, but prosperity seems to
have taken the place of misfortune.
The name Of "Spellbinder," first given to
the enthusiastic speakers of the Republican
party each one of whom came TO headquar-
tiers full of enthusiasm because he had held
his audiences "spellbound," is becoming a
noun of accepted significance in our vocabu-
larry, and the Spellbinders' association is
growing distinguished for quarrels if for
nothing else Only fancy an association OF
spellbindersl that is, of professional takers.
Ii will be claimed hereafter that women
form the silent sex, for all these takers are
men. A good story is told at the expense OF
one of these eloquent gentlemen.
After the campaign was over he delivered
his great speech on the tariff at several points
| as a lecture, and on one occasion caused his
utteranccs to be taken down by phono-
graph. Soon after he invited party OF
friends to his house to hear the speech repro
duced by the instrument They all sat listen
ing attentvely; they could hear not only the
voice of the orator over the applause of the
| a.. ennpH fal with tidal
ity and all went well until in the midst OF a
flowing period the words of two committee
men on the platform were heard in low but
distinct tones.
First CONFERENCE.-The stupid stuff
this isl
Second Committeeman--And a voice like a
buzz saw
| 1t is not fashionable to get married during
Lent, but a crowd of weddings will follow
Easter and the echoes of some of the nuptials
that preceded Ash Wednesday are still in the
air. One independent spirited young lady
insisted upon being married on Friday to
show her freedom from superstition, and IN
one case, instead of the bride changing her
name at the union, the groom changed his.
DR.. Jane NJ. Baker and DR.. Henry W..
| Duszoroski had been associated i'll a private
hospital, and when they decided to unite
their lives as well as their fortunes DR.. Dus-
zoroski, as a preliminary, caused his name to
be legally changed to Baker. So that here
after it will be his bachelor name instead Of
her maiden name that was the changed one.
A curious but probably not unprecedented
occurrence happened to one bridal couple,
whose real titles, for obvious reasons, cannot
be given. We will call them Mr.. and Mrs
Sheldon the young ladys name having been,
we will say, Ramsay. They were duly we'd
ded and were on their travels, coming on the
second day to highly respectable hotel in n
quiet and sedate town. In the afternoon the
lady lay down TO take a nap, and the gentle
man went out for walk. On his return to
the hotel and to their room he did not find
his bride, nor was she to be seen in the par
lors or corridor. In an utterly unnecessary
state of alarm he hurried to the office
"Have you seen Miss Ramsay" he asked
the respectable and elderly clerk.
"Who" demanded the official suspiciously.
"Miss Ramsay" repeated the groom ex-
citedly; 81 can't find her anywhere"
Look here young man." said the clerk
severely. "You registered as man and wife;
if there is anything wrong you will leave this
hotel at once"
ooh, dear: oh, dear; to be sure we were
married on Wednesday," said Mr.. Sheldon,
blushing furiously; 'but was so worried l
forgot
He was so evidently innocent that the
clerk merely growled that it was evident he
was only lust married, as after a few months
he would not probably be in such hurry to
find his wife The story was whispered to a
friend after the bridal couple came home,
and their circles are still laughing at it,
The monthly gatherings of women in union
meetings of different religious denominations
have become a striking feature in city life.
The meetings are held i'll church, are pre-
sided over by a woman and addressed only
by women, the proceedings being always dig
nitied and the speeches often most interesting.
One gentle lady, who has been for some years
a missionary in Africa, recently entertained
her hearers with some of her experiences.
A religion of love was so new thought
among the savages that they were naturally
slow to accept it, and one chief was actually
much alarmed because he had accidentally
eaten a scrap of a leaf Of Testament which
adhered to morsel of fruit. He came to
the missionary in an anxious frame of mind
lest he should have lost all his courage, be-
cause he had assimilated some words of the
gospel of peace Another man became an
earnest convert, but was much troubled when
he was told that if he wanted to be a good
Christian he must give up beating his wife.
He said he was afraid she would behave badly
if he did not castigate her frequently. How
ever, he finally promised to give up his bad
habit After few days he came back, say
ing that his experience was not a success at
all; his wife was very bad very bad indeed,
now that she found he did not beat her. The
good lady, with many pious exhortations,
urged him to persevere in doing right, what
ever might be the consequences, and he again
departed; but matters went from bad to
worse, for he soon returned to say that his
wife had been a good woman for the ten
years they had been married during which
he had beaten her, but that now she was
completely transformed; not only was she
bad and dsobedient, but had lately taken to
beating him
This seemed such sad state Of affairs that
the lady at once went to his wife and remon-
strated with her She was received politely
by the woman, who readily admitted that
the Christian religion was a good religion,
and that she believed in it.
Then said the lady, will you now be-