St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1892-08-20
THE sQUlRE's MISTAKE.
N laeiAeae u lAss n the village Na0a
AfDer G0o. Grant.

The SQOuRE'S MISTAKE.
A IaesAsae q lAss N the village Nansa
Af0se Gen. Grant.
II. Zebulon Hawkins memory Is 70
eered in the hamlet Of Grant, N. Y, ~
chat of man Of phenomenal foresight
Zebulon rode into the military post ~
6ackett's Harbor, N. Y, one October
lay back in the fifties, with = fat buck
across his saddles pommeL He sole
the venison for double its value to .
lieutenant Of infantry there stationed
who, in addition to the big price paid.
housed the huntsman over night Zeh
was q bit troubled in conscience over
the big price he had put on the deer,
particularly 80 because Of the lieuten.
ants show of hospitality. So he evened
things mp . year later by naming set
Element that he founded Grant in honor
u his host Years afterward, when the
lieutenant became . lieutenant general.
Zeb told people that he had foreseen
Grants greatness
Grant had one hundred and fifty peo-
pie within its limits when / was born
there thirty years ago, and the census
to-day will show but little change. II
lies in the very heart of the great
''North woods" Of New York. Grant
people to this day tell the city tourists
| who stop there on their way to the
Joe's lake fishing the story of Squire
Harden's internal machine.
II was in the spring Of 1879, and the
arst newspaper that came to Grant
after the snow went out Of the road con-
tained IN account Of the receipt of an
Internal machine BY . New York Judge.
Internal machines were new to Grant
people, and the story was talked over
nightly 1t Deodatus Wells general
store. The machine - described was
about the size of cigar-box and was
wrapped in brown paper.
Squire Harden, Of Grant, was holding
. justice court over In Bethune, q mito
Of . village In our township. when tho
account Of the machine reached ms
Bethune people had rounded up somo
timber thieves and the justice had given
them the limit of the law in fines and
imprisonment. He got back to Grant
Saturday night. Monday noon .
stranger rode into Grant from the di-
rection Of Bethune, and, going straight
to the Harden house. left with Sally
Beecraft, the guides daughter, who
was hired help" 1T the Squire's, .
package done up in brown paper. Tho
stranger then struck out over the rail-
road trail I was . boy Of ten years Of
age It the time, and I had listened
opcn-eared and open-eycd 70 the tale Of
the internal machine. I saw the
stranger deliver the package to Sally;
the New York story with its attendant
horron rushed over me and /
Solted for the squirc's sitting
room. reaching IL before he had
united the string Of the package. I
fairly got on my knees in prayerful ter
ror lest he should open the thing. He
heard my story and was 50 much struck
with It that he backed away from the
package and valiantly called In Sally
70 take it to the yard. She knew moth
ing Of internal machines, and gave the
box . shake that called forth . wall
from me. The package was put out in
the yard close under the caves Of tho
house. and the squire called in tho
neighboEs, who agreed with one accord
that the box was an internal machine
sent by friends Of the men whom the
squire had sentenced at Bethune.
The justice was now swelling with
added importance. 1--WE jurists," he
said to blacksmith Farraday, run
tremendous risks because Of our -devo-
tion to duty"
Every one had . suggestion. Throw.
ing the box into the swift-rushing West
Canado creek was the favorite proposal,
but when the question arose u to who
was to throw il, there were no answers
in the first person.
The miller finally suggested rolling .
heavy stone OF the roof to smash the
thing. Grant people knew nothing OF
dynamite, and explosion by conclusion
was not feared. The idea was acted on
and the squire said that as ! had
warned him first I should have the
honor of smashing the box. So my big
brother sat on my legs while I leaned
over the edge of the roof and dropped .
ten-pound chunk of Trenton Falls sand
stone on to the box. The stone hit it
square. There was . crunch and one
hundred Of the best cigars that ever
found their way into Grant were re-
duced to powder. There was an Inn
porter's blue stamp on the remnant of
the cover and among the ruins were one
hundred red and gold paper bands with
the word "Perfectos" on each.
Ike Masters, who had never smoked
anything but . clay pipe and stem clip
pings, was the maddest man in Grant
He said the squire was . coward and
said this unmindful Of the fact that he
himself had watched the breaking of
the box from the top Of . tall pine.
The 'squire's influence was gone and
he was defeated for reelection the next
tall by George Stearns, who had studied
law for three months in Scoharie.-
Chicago Tribune.
Great Fuo.
Suburban Boy-Pop. won't you get
me . sword, and drum, and . gun, 70
play soldier with?
Pop-rn tell you how we'll nx It.
Wen pretend every blade Of grass on
the lawn is IN armed foe, and then you
charge On them with Gstling swords
- r,< the3r haafas al. Won't that be