River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1892-12-15
JARED SPARKS DIVORCE
He Got Instead a New Dress for
His Wife.

His Wife.
Jared Sparks came over 70 my house
early that morn ny. Jared is my
neighbOr and goOt man to know. if
he IS a little peculiar. lie owns a com
Portable little farm and he aud mis- wife,
Mehitable. have lived on it ever since
was born. for they are as old as nv
parents. They never ba I any children.
and ike all married people who are
50 unfortunate. they have got some
what soured and, sometimes, show a
lack of human sympathy that leads
them into finding faa : with each
other l have great sympathy for
people who have no children to plan
for and vOrry about, To- they get into
a habit of being selfish and fault-fi id
ing to a degree that makes them, as
usual thing. MOI the pleasantest people
in the world "a n-s with. So IL hap
pened that Jared aud Mehitable had al
occasional difference of opinion, and
as neither of them could turn to the
children for sympathy. they had a
fashion of e.liag their troubles to the
neighbors As 1 am the nearest one
they have. arm the recipient of good
many Of their sorrows.
Jared IS the most OmnIvorOus reader
ever knew. lie exhausted nv library
long ago. and my new books. whatever
they NAV treat of, are read by him
with avidity. Anything Jared sees in
print he takes to be the gospel truth,
or else an unmitigated falsehOOd. There
is no middle ground with him, and his
judgment is his only criterion With
him Robinson CrusOe is history. for, he
argues, no man could tell lie and
have it sound so much like the truth,
and DIR. SalmOn's Investigations of the
swine plague are a tissue of fabrica-
tiOns. because. he says, they don't
stand to reason" A consular report
or the statistics of Ohio ara Just as
greedily read as the latest novel. and
anything in print Jared devours with a
patient and conscientious diligence
that is interesting. / don't know why
he puts so much faith in my opinion
unless it Is because he thinks anyone
who has writ things that has been
printed into the papers" is infalli5le,
but the fact remains that he eOnsults
me on every occasion, from the plant
ing Of potatoes TO the proper way TO
vote.
From this it will be seen that the
appearance Of Jared at nv house at
any time of the day was not thing to
cause remark. | was out by The stable
feeding some chickens when he came
up and gave me greeting. | knew as
soon as | saw him that there was some
thug of an extraordinary nature on
hand. bat wa careful not 10 belrsy
my knowledge. for Jared is inclined 10
be queer, and ! never anticipate when
he is around. for usually the thing
expect is not the one he has IN mind;
SO merely said: Good morning"
One evidence that something out of
the usual course of affairs had brought
Jared over To see me, was his appear
ance. Tie was dressed in his best suit
1 think il was his wedding suit.
though I never asked him about il. but
I know he never wears il except TO go
20 meeting. Jared Is not church
member, but il has been the rule of mis-
life to 60 10 the quarterly meetings of
the Methodist church in the neigh Dor
hood. and have the elder home with
him to dinner after the Sunday serv-
ices. If the elder comes he gives liber-
ally when the contribution IS taken up.
If he goes with some one else, Jared
cuts down the appropriation. AS the
best suit is only brought into use once
in three months and is laid of before
anything else is done when he gets
home. It shows but little signs of wear
more than il did when. as boy, won
I -. - -,
IN as princely array rs his The silk
hat that goes with this suit has been in
style a number Of times since / can re-
member aud it is good for several
more cycles Of the mutations of fash
ION. The long-skirted broadclOth coat
and pantaloons 10 match are still
black. but are beginning 10 get some
what shiny at the seams. aud the
square-tOed ealf-skin boots are free
from patches. though they show the eff
fects of age
Jared returned my greeting in
rather constrained manner and f1geted
around as Il not knowing wha- % say.
1t is wonderful how chickens grow
when they git start, amt it?" he said
at last.
SAAA II WIS., AAAA VI uNA ~
give hin chance TO pull himself to-
gether. for ! well knew he did not come
over 10 talk about chickens.
''GOin' 10 set out any Strawberries
this falI2" was his next remark.
mo. I shall wait till next spring. as
End they do better. on INV clay ground.
when started in the spring. Are you
going to set some?"
II dunno" he answered. as If in
doubt i hail calkilated on settin' n
few down by the ditch where the
ground don't heave with the frost. but
tie way things is goin' l don't know
who would tend 'em, an l guess III
give IT mp"
He was getting around 70 the sub
jeet on hand now, and began to won
der If he was thinking of selling his
farm.
DO yO- think of going away?" I
asked
Yes he hesitated; ''Iguess I'll go
wsst"
If be had said he guessed" he would
take trip TO Europe l should not
havs been more surprised. for looked
upon him Is fixture in the neighbOr-
hood