, 1890-04-16
TaE MAGIC BOTTLE.


How Daniel sIatt.ry and the Village Of
LAekHb-E Were Upset by 1t.
The ignorance of the average pea.
shnt in Ireland in regard to simple
remedies 10 alleviate pain is dense as a
Newfoundland fog" said a resident of
this city, who has recently returned
from a trip through the southern and
western portions of the Emerald isle.
THE common ills of humanity, " he
continued, such as slight fevers,
colds, rheumatic twinges and head
aches are borne with the stoicism of the
North American Indian. In some
cases a physician has never entered
the matched cottage, even in times of
direst stress. l had been suffering Sc
verely from catarrhal headache. To re
lieve it l bought a small heart shaped
bottle of green glass, with a plated sill
yer top, containing Oncentrated am
monia. l used it very carefully, for
the preparation was strong. nile
seated in my hotel before a turf fire
taking a sniff now and then of the am
monia and experiencing the usual re
lief, a brawny peasant named Daniel
Slattery, from the hamlet of Iacka-
beg, came in. At sight of the bottle
his curiosity was aroused. Said he:
" That's a quare little bottle ye hay,
SIR
oh, it is common in America
replied.
And do we tell me so, exclaimed
Daniel with an accent of surprise.
'Fwhat good is it1'
" 1t will alleviate headache
d" 'Usha, is that thrue2 Shure and if
ye were alin' me, sir, | hav' the head
ache meself1
What kind of a headache is it,
Nervousf
'Divil's the wan ONE knows fwhat
kind Of a headache isit, sir; but shure
as nails is nails | hav' it right under
me hair
THE truth was in all probability
Daniel had never had the headache in
his life. His object was to get hold of
the little bottle. All the time the CON
versation vas going OF he had been
looking longingly at it, and his fingers
were itching to get possession of it.
To prolong his suspense, and also to
give him an exaggerated idea of the
curative powers of the contents of the
bottle, l took a dainty sniff at it, and
then showed signs of lively satisfac-
ton. Daniel sat on nettles. He squirm-
ed with ardent desire to handle the
bottle, and yet his sense of politeness
restrained him from making a direct
request for it. 1t was as good as a play
to watch him. At last he became
reused to such a pitch of desire that
his scruples melted like butter in the
tropics. He blushed like a school girl,
stammered, and then, with an apollo
getic smile, blurted out:
" Akin yeer pardon, sir; but w'u'd
We Civ me IA thriile of a schmell o the
weeny bottle, till | see w'u'd 1t make
me feel any bettherl'
II handed him the bottle and he re
ceived it with dainty touch, MS if it had
been a fragile flower. He held it up
to the light, and looked through the
green glass at its contents.
" 'Eaix,' he exclaimed, ''the sthutf
in the bottle is graneV
He unscrewed the silvcred top and
twirled it around on the end of one of
his calluused fingers. When he had
amused himself for a few minutes like
a child with a new toy, he seized the
bottle between his thumb and fore
finger, raised it to his nostrils, and
drew in u long breath. There was al
most IA vacuum i'll the room after that
inhalation. He was seated when he
made it. The effect was electrical. He
gasped like u dying Goldfish, and rose
to u standing posture. The tears ran
from his eyes The shock was so Sc
we're that his hair almost stood ON end.
He tried to speak, but for nearly a
minute could only utter broken SEN
fences. AS he slowly recovered he
raised his right hand as if about to
strike me. Then he resumed his seat
with a b%ewildered look and exclaimed:
'Begorra, sir, it cured me intoire-
Tyr
by the time he had fully recovered
an idea occurred to him, for his face
frightened ~perceptibly. Suddenly he
jumped t o his feet and ran out of the
door, with the bottle in his hand. He
started for his home in Lackabeg,
three miles away, as fast as his three
m~ile-au-hour donkey could pull the
cart. The subsequent proceedings were
related by n neighbor of Slattery's a
few days later thus;
" That's n quare bottle we are afther
givin' Daniel Slattery, sir. He's afther
playin' thricks wild it all over Lacka-
beg. Divil's the stroke o work ded
he do these three days, sir, but go
around curin' headaches wild it. There
is ne'er n house, sir, but Dan wint in.
Il have a cure, " says he, FOR livery
mortal pain in yeer body, !" says he,
sober like a praist. "All we hay to do
is to sniff the little quare bottle and
the pain is gone from ye like steam
from the kettle" Well, sir, he had
thin fallin' down wild the fright he
gev them, til he came to Michael
O'Brien. Michael was that Jared and
frekened by the shmell he got that he
let the bottle fall on the hearthstone
and it bruk Until a thousand pieces.
And such mournin' as there was in
Lackabeg bekase the bottle was bruk
We niver heerd before, sir. Fax livery
wan of O'Brien's family was on their
two knees on the Hure pickin' up little
bits o. the broken glass. Ie haven't
another wan y the little bottles, hav'
We, siri New York Sun.