Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1895-07-20

declare his bill highway robbery"
NO"
"Of course not That shows your
interest in your husbands pOcketbOOkl
Ii he had handed in bill of 50 you
wouldn't have said word And now
Mrs. Bowser, how did that pipe come
to leak?'
something caused it to give away.
| suppose
"Exactly-something caused it to
give way, but what? Did some one
20 down cellar and and swing on that
water pipe and seek to pull it loose ?
Did some one strike it with an AK or
iab it with a crowbar?"
Don't be foolish, Mr.. Bowser. /
might as well tell you that the glass
in the back kitchen door was broken
several days ago"
ut was, eh?' gasped Mr.. Bowser as
he sat down on the edge of a chair
and looked at her. ''Some one, in
order to spite her husband and add to
the load he is staggering under, walk
ell up to that door with rolling pin
and deliberately smashed out s17
pane of glass
"a man offered to replace it for 40
cents, and it was broken by gust of
wind slamming the door. The girl
had just called me to come down and
look at her tubs, when"
Mrs. Bowser, are you going to tell
me that anything is wrong with those
tubs y interrupted Mr. Bowser as he
stood up again.
"The waste pipe in one of them
seems TO be clogged."
"Seems-to-be clogged That
means that some person has gone down
there and taken the poker and rammed
and jamed and pounded the dishcloth
into the mouth of the pipe! 1t means
another visit from the plumber-an-
other bill for s15-a tear-up OF all the
pipes and drains about the housew
Il think it is only piece of soap
which will soon dissolve" explained
Mrs Bowser.
"Yes, you think, but what does your
thinking amount to in the face of facts.
You couldn't think of any other way
to bring me to the poorhouse and so
you jam dishcloth into drain pipe.
When you were at it why didn't you
blow up the range with gunpowder,
explode the gas meter, smash all the
windows in the house, and give the
furniture to some old tramp
Mr. Bowser, can help it il the
coal burns out, and the water pipes
burst. protested Mrs. Bowser. "When
the crate burned out of the range the
other day was | in any manner-"
And so the CRATE burned out of the
range again. he interrupted. THAT
is l95 times in the last year-a little
less than once in two days. Every
time that CRATE has burned out it has
cost me 81 to repair it Is it any
wonder that | am so dead broke that
| can't buy bone collar button? OF
all the reckless, extravagant, foolish
women | heard OF, you take the cake
Great Scott, but just think Of it-over
thousand dollars in the past week
for coal, glass and water pipes in this
house"
I'm sure il is not my fault. | try
to do the very
Yes, YOU try to bankrupt me! You
have been trying for the last twenty
years, and you have finally succeeded! A.!
We are bankrupt, We are paupersl
Tomorrow we shall not have a roof
over our heads. II | can save even
10 cents from the wreck you may have
it and go home to your mother, while
| will start life over again. Mrs.
Bowser, I'm going upstairs to figure,
and YOU can sit here and gurgle and
giggle and chuckle over the way you
have ruined once happy home, and
brought kind and liberal husband to
the grave of bankruptcy. Good night,
deluded woman-good night,