Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1890-01-25

the lodge. Up to that time we had sup
posed that the meetings of the !. O. OF
G. T. were to be open TO all Of US, and
that We were going to have sort OF
weekly singing-school that would be
perpetual. OF course, In winter we al
ways had singing-school, but this lodge
was to meet every Wednesday night Of
the year, and we had counted on having
lots Of fun. But alasi the fourteen
year clause barred us out II, however,
we were barred out of the temperance
lodge, we speedily recovered from the
blow and organized lodge Of our own.
OF course we had great facilities for
this, because our lodge met at the same
time as the other lodge, and, as our IA
Tiers and mothers were all absent at the
real lodge, we had no difficulty in carry
ing on dozen different kinds OF villainy
unmolested during the absence OF our
respected parents.
l shall not give in detail all the
idiotic things we did during the meet
ing Of the secret conclave. i remember
one frightfully cold winter night when
some lunatic proposed that we should
have o foot race, and that every one
should take of his shoes and stockings
and race barefoot in the freezing snow.
The race was to be Of duration rather
than for any particular distance, and we
were to see which boy could stand it
or run 1.-THE longest in the snow with
his bare feet. We all started off in
great spirits, and nobody liked to give
up. Every body forgot that the further
we went the further we would have to
walk back.
BY the time we got q quarter Of .
mile from the village two Of the boys
were crying quietly and every body's feet
were red and half frozen. Then some
body suggested that perhaps we had bet,
ter turn back, and turn back we did.
The disastrous march Of Napoleon from
Moscow was nothing compared to
that horrible tramp back to the viii
lage. 1t is q wonder to me tolthis day
that amputation was not necessary for
the legs of half the boys in the vii
lnge. Our feet were so swollen when
we got back that it was impossible to
put on our shoes, although most Of US
managed to draw on our stockings, and
in that way we limped of to our several
homes. .,.t.
That, however, must say to the credit
Of the boys, was about the only joke
they ever played on themselves during
the meeting of the secret conclave.
After that the jokes were on the other
people. One of the most successful Of
these was the robbery Of cellar that
belonged to the father of one Of our
boys. The son of his father assisted
manfully during this crime and, in fact,
it was through his intervention that we
managed to bring the thing to. such
successful conclusion. This man had
the largest apple orchard that was any
where near the village, and during the
winter there was stored in the cellar any
amount of fine apples. lido not remem-
Der who it was that first thought Of the
robbery. The boy said that there were
lots of apples in his fathers cellar and
he proposed that we should all go up and
have as many as we could eat. This
was at once assented to, and we were
eating the apples in the cellar when the
thought of robbing the ranch occurred
to somebody. Near the house Of the
owner of the apples there lived man
who had been elected chaplain Of the
lodge Of Good Templars. He was seri-
ous-minded man and he owned cellar.
So it was at once proposed that we should
at once transfer the apples from the one
cellar into the other. We got couple
of bushel baskets that two boys could
carry between them, and every one set
to work with will. In those days there
were no fears Of robbers in the village,
and it was quite easy to get inSo any
house in the place.
Somebody entered the. .chsplain's
house and opened the cellar dobrt and
then we worked with vim that we
would never have shown If the labor had
been legitimate. After about an hour
OF hard labor we transferred every
apple from the one cellar into another,
closed thingstup as they were before
and made for our respective homes. The
wonder Of this thing was that, SO many
of the boys being engaged IN it, the
truth of the matter was never discov-
cred to this day. There was an awful
row raised about the robbery, and the
matter was put in the hands Of aeon
stable. We had constable in that viii
lage who, represented the law, and he
80 rkod ouk 80 Aud thu V,arvo tra fora ~
the vile deed. and began by arrebting
various innocent persons who bore bad
regulations and who lived on the out
skirts of the village.
When. the chaplain discovered that
somebody had left wagon load or so Of
apples IN his cellar, the good man
thought at first that 1t was q donation
party, but when the news Of the apple
robbery got around he came to the orig
n A 4. u Al L l..