Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1893-01-06
KICKED BY A LEG OF MUTTON.
A Butcher Boy Badly Scared by the PranS
of q Live Wire.


A Butcher Boy Badly Scared by the PranS
of Live Wire.
An amusing incident, in which leg
of mutton, festive butcher boy and Q
wandering current of electricity figured,
took place at a Yesler avenue meat
market, not many steps away from the
police station, the other afternoon. The
market in question is a one-story build
ing with an iron front, and over its roof
pass many electric wires, certain OF
which are, by means of insulators, of
course, attached directly to the iron
front. One of these wires, which con-
veys the subtle fluid by which the mar
ket is lighted, became detached from it's
insulator on the afternoon in question,
and thus came in contact with the iron
front of the building. From a steel
hook on one of the iron door posts there
depended the aforesaid leg of mutton,
as tender and inviting as though it
were section of Mary's little lamb it.
self, when, after being fed chiefly on
kindness and good advice by Mary and
her teacher, it had reached maturity
and the butcher after the manner of
its kind. This particular leg was in
tended to become a piece de resistance
at which local epicures are won't to
congregate. 1t was, however, to be
taken to its destination at late hour
in the afternoon or early in the even
ing. Thereby hangs the tale of this
particular sheep and the butcher boy.
The day was ''cold and dark and
dreary-it rained," and at an early
hour the shades Of night came on
apace. When these shades came, as
usual, the electric current whereby the
city is illuminated, and following-less
rapidly, however-come to the butcher
boy for the mutton. When the current
reached the market where the wire was
detached it spread itself in great shape,
and though the proprietors do cash
business this wandering current took
the opportunity of charging the entire
front of the building and the NUT
ton depending from it, which had
probably been charged enough
for before. The butcher boy
came when this overcharging had
been accomplished and, advancing
with outstretched arms, prepared to
deposit the mutton in his cart. He
grasped the leg, but instantaneously
change came DER his spirit, for he gave
one wild, weird yell that outwhooped
all the Sioux and Pawnees combined,
and then began executing a 'ghost
dance" all by himself which paralyzed
passers-by who had never seen mutton
served with such capers before and
caused Crock" and "Rowdy" to kick
impatiently in their stalls in the police
station stables under the impression
that riot was in progress and the
I hurry wagon" was in urgent request.
At last when through with his gym
nastics the butcher-boy was able to ex-
plain that the seemingly harmless leg
of mutton had given him a kick that
nearly precipitated him into the center
of the subsequent week and would
have been regarded as the browning eff
fort of his career if it had been executed
by government mule. At first he was
scoffed at by the other employees but no
gibes or ieers would induce him to touch
the muscular mutton again, and finally
it was necessary to bring in the assist
ance of pike pole before it could be
removed from it's position and taken to
it's destination. Then lineman was
summoned and the detached wires fun
was over.-Seattle Telegraph.