Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1897-12-09

KICKING In S!NNEMAHONE.
NOTHING LIKE THAT FEVER EITHER
BEFORE OR SINCE.
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hIWONDER if any Of you on this side
the mountain remember the
strange ailment that visited us folks on
the other side when l was young
man?" said the man from over Slime
mahoning way. a strange ailment il
was indeed. Sort of an uncomfortable
arrangement OF the muscular tissues
of the leg, the doctors called il, but IL
was known as the kicking fever of the
Sinnemahone. | wonder if any of you
remember it?"
Maturity, it amt likely that any
body does" said the man in the red,
blue, green, pink, yellow and purple
Mackinaw jacket, but any fever that
ever got mixed up with folks on the
Sinnemahone an didn't kick must
been of setch mild an forgivin' dis
position as to make il sham5 10 feed
quinine 20 IT,"
Thanks, Mackinaw," said the man
| from over SinnemahoniDg way. Your
| gentle humor goes far toward dissipat-
ing a certain sadness and tendency TO
| abstraction and fiji Of the blues that
| alwavs assail me when ! think Of that
( kicking fever of the Sinnemahone, and
| I thank YOU! When I see the fertile
acres of the Jepheniah Bifflkins estate
| spreadinC along the Sinnemahoning's
classic bottom and think how they
would now all be mine but for that
kicking fever I am prone to sadness.
But you've knocked 'em silly this time,
| Mackinaw.
"Yes, yes. Those rich Jepheniah
| Bifflxlns acres would now be mine but
for that kicking fever that came to the
! Sinnemahone country. These acres
| then belonged TO Deacon Judd Peeler,
| and the deacon's daughter Nancy had
| promised 10 be my wife, and Nancy was
heir TO all the wide Peeler estate. So
when think-but let that pass. II Is
| all over now.
wherever that most singular all
| ment could have come from no one ever
knew, but ii certainly cut n wide swath
along the Sinnemahone. Twas off down
the river when il began it's attack, and
consequently / didn't know anything
about IL until got back home couple
OF weeks later The first person II struck
was Uncle Billy Tope. Uncle Billy was
a mild and easy-going citizen that no
one would have thought had any life
In him at ali, and he was n strict tee
totaler. Consequently you may imagine
the astonishment of Squire Bunker
who owned the sawmill where Uncle
Billy worked, to see the old man com
ing up the road one day, giving tre-
mendous kick every two or three steps
| he took ,sometices to the right and some
| times to the left. as if he might have
started out TO kick all creation into the
| middle of next week. Squire Bunker
was scared, and he edged Off TO one side
of the road as Uncle Billy came along,
kicking and scuffing and looking as
wild az an Indian. The squire venture6
20 say as the old manwas cayorting by:
"'What's up, william"
"Uncle Billy only shook his head, and
giving kick that didn't miss the
squire's Jaw by more than half an inch,
went on his way toward home, kicking
as he went.
Astounding!' exclaimed the squire.
Il never thought I'd live long enough
to see Uncle Billy Tope turn out to be n
drlnker!'
| Then the squire started for home.
lie hadn't gone n hundred yards before
he began TO feel little mulish himself,
and tho first thing he knew he was
kicking away as unreasonably as Uncle
Billy. lie couldn't stop IL any more
than he could have stopped his mill race
with three-inch plug. The squire
didn't have for TO go, and before he
could reach out and open his door he
had kicked IL open with bang, and his
wife came running out OF the kitchen to
see what was the matter.
"'Clear the way, motherl' the squire
bollcred. Give me room! Don't get In
my way or I'll make n widower OF my
self Mt one swoopi'
"The squire's wife, scared almost tc
death locked herself up In n closet. and
the squire kicked his way out OF the
back door and brought up in the gars~n
where he yelled for some one to come
md tie him down, or else turn him intc
ten-acre lot where he could have room
"And that's the way that most unac
countablc kicking fever started along
the Sinnemnhone. In less than weel
10 had taken u whack Mt almost every
man, woman and child In that BALL
wick The kicking was only the pre-
monitory symptom OF the fever After
Tic victim had kicked high and kicked
low, and to the windward and 10 the
leeward, for half an hour or so, the u
would pass away, but II would come
back again after awhile. The kicking
stage Of the epidemic lasted two days
and then the second stage came on
This ~ns n scorchnR fever. Sum Belts
when he got over his attack, declared
| that his fever was so hot that his wiz
had TO keep the sheets wet TO prevent
their catching fire. but Sam wasn't {
native of the Sinnemnhoning country
lie was from this side Of the mountain
somewhere, and folks didn't believe
him. The fever lasted n day, and lcs
behind IL consuming longing foI
something TO dr,uk-not water no
coffee nor tea nor milk. but rum, rye
apple juice, anything That had toon
and edge to Il. This strange symptom
of the mnlndy was discovered In start
ling way. Dominic Dibblc wan the frs
victim that IL developed IN. one even
ing while half dozen or his flOclS wcr'
minplinR their sorrow with the domin
| les over his afIliction he Huddcnl,
shouted:
"'Givc me ruml Fetch me som
scorching rye or biting ginp
"The brethren md sisters w,r
shocked. but Dominic Dibblc kept oi
, hollcring for rum. No one made n mov
TO pet him any. md nj Inst he apranR on
Of his chnir, rushed out Of the house
and mndc straight for the tavern like
mnn running TO "a fire. by and by h'
! came back singing:
"TToma again. home again.
From foreign shore
"IIe had a bottle OF rum under IN
nrn. and the brethren and sisters hur
ricd home. feeling that the end OF NJ
things couldn't he far nwny. When }
got out. though. that the dominic wa
simply suffering from the third stage /"
the kicking fever, they excused him nn'
rcioiccd. But the dominic nlwnys &c
! cInrcd that hc never had such n pleasing
nnti,lntr for pnin. Then II hrRnn I" 10
.noti~d that this last peculiar stag" o
n,e nilmrut seemed to have no reguln
neriod nf existence, and Il is noted nF
fnct Tint the afflicted district wnhn'
entirely able 20 be out and around n
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