The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1896-03-03

MAA*&a%4F& &&###H
TAKEAPILL Take the best Take HOBBS. DR..
Hobbs Little Liver Pills don't grippe Price ioe
come trouble. The last heard OF it was in
the form of query from one OF the Sec
ond-fioor tenants, who wanted to know
what the old woman wanted so much wa
ter for, any way, asking with biting sar-
casm II she inended taking bath. Mean
while the line of water carriers was in
creasing and the crowd gathering. Legend
began to connect itself with the spring,
and gossip spread it, magniiying 1t at each
repetition.
"Did you hear tell OF Mrs. Braun's
youngest, what the water did for her?'
asked one of the women waiting in the
line.
"Little Minna, the one with the sore
arm, is it?" asked another.
"Ihat same. Mrs. Braun washed the
child's arm with it an it's shown better
by now"
is on the water. Mayhap it runs under
an altar" Iut in another.
81 rup 1t py mein leedle Katrine's
face said stout matron proudly, "und
she don'd wore so many frsggles py her
nose like she used 10 wore. F"
Mrs. Maginnis's Johnny, him that's
got Inflammation of the inwards, ~ testi-
fled another; she drunk three glasses of
it las night, an he was feelin' that good
this monrin they was givin' him bananas
10 eat"
"Yes, an the doctor went in there n
hour ago an he Amt out yet, T" added an
o her woman.
This somewhat disconnected the others,
but. the line of testimonials was soon re-
sumed, including relief from ailments ss
widely diverged as epileptic fits and tooth
ache, and reaching a climax in the tri-
umphant claim of a child who proudly
announced:
spa swalered two glasses of it this
morning, and amt touched water from
Sat'day night TO Monday mornin' not
for years He says s hisself.'
Whatever the curative powers Of the out
put, to all appearances the water was
pure. 1t looked singularly limpid as it
came from the hose, not in steady
stream, but in jets, now hardly triclSling,
and again pouring out in a full stream.
Ii vas not so hot as to be painful to the
touch but as it flowed down the gutter
vapor aro rom it until it cooled off in
a damned space conr1ved ty youthful
en- ngineers recruited from the locality out
of Zin mermann q Gluckenheime;'s
building bricks. borrowed for TIE occa-
sion. In the min 'ature lake thus formed
they held a regatta of unclassifsd craft
amid wild excitement, TO which mber
less collisions and capsizes added variety.
The lake came to grief when the pot
and can contingent, finding the process
of wa ting for their turn at the hose
tiresome, took to depicting il as the
quickest way of acquiring the water. 1t
wasn't quite as elem a that which came
directly from the hoft, but no one seemed
to mind that. A number of men with
cans or glasses in hand joined the line At
one time, and having iIlet up, proceedeo
to driak the water. zone of them seemed
to relish it particularly.
"Tastes kind - muddy" said one.
"Looks clear enough said another,
"but there is sor of taste to 1t. Re-
minds me of stale beer"
81 wouldn't be surpris il it wasn't
healthy" put in tn rd. There's sew
ers around here"
although the crowd rose Indignantly
against the suggestion. If the hot
water comes from an old spring,
as Is likely, [ is also lik ly that
it is at some point touched by the
sewage OF the teeming tenements in the
locality. Sewage in drinking water means
typhoi fever. For this r,ason there are
in the sanitary code regulations restrict
ing the use of well and spring water for
drinking purposes. The fact of the water
being hot would not prevent the presence
Of 1.-Two germs unleses IL were boiling hot.
Where the water came from and why Ii
was hot was the subject of much sage dis
cussion yesterday among the wiseacTes of
the neigh torhood. One o the ola heads
declare that Mr.. William Curtis Gibson
bad solved both problems simultaneously.
S"What Gi bson's that?" asked someone's;
"the old man with the long white hair?"
"Naw," said the fret speaker disdain-
fully; sold Gibson Of East Houston
street; tall, thin, spooky chap; looks
hnp ho
"Oh, himl" returned the other. "Y'
call him old? Why, nc isn't over So"
"Well, anyways he's lived over here
nobody knows how .long, an what he
don't know about the place amt worth
knowin.' He was here yesterday an he
come again today, an he says, when /
taste this, he says, Il can tell what
makes it hot an where it comes from an
all about it., an then he borrowed
glass an took a mouthful."
.'Did he tell?" askei a dozen eager
voices, as the speaker paused inn rej-
sively.
"You bet he,did," was the reply. "Re
took that water in bis mouth an held 1t
there for second Then he spit IL out
and said, Hell? an went away an he
amt Deen back since"
OF the many who visited the spring
yesterday there were as least two who
went away bitterly disappointed. They
were the remnants OF the type who tap
outcast beer kegs. Seeing tee lines with
pals proceeding toward given point,
they forme their own conclusions.
"Bill, dey're workin' de growler," said
one.
.'sure, an dere's de cops stoppin' en-, "
said the otter.
"Nah, dey amt doin' nuttin. Pm
goin' i'm wild de gang.
Producing n can from some recess OK
his rags, he joined the line. few min
uutes later he wss back with n wry face.
"Chsse yersslf," be said to his compan-
ion. ats snide. Dey're givin' out dc
wrong side OF n hot Scotch"