The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1898-05-24
!: KICKING In SINNEMAHONE.
NOTHING LIKE THAT FEVER EITHER
BEFORE OR SINCE.
hiTwoNDER if any of you on this sid,

strange allment that visited us folks on
the other side when l was a young
man?" said the man from over SHINE
mahoning way. "A strange ailment il
was indeed. Sort of an uncomfortable
arrangement of the muscular tissues
of the leg, the doctors called it, 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 a
been of setch mild an forgivin' dis
position as to make it a shame to feed
quinine to it,"
Thanks, Mackinaw," said the man
from over Sinnemahoning way. "Your
gentle humor goes far toward dissipat-
ing certain sadness and tendency to
abstraction and fit of the blues that
always assail me when l think of that
kicking fever of the Siunemahone, and
l thank you'll When / see the fertile
acres of the Jepheniah Biffkins estate
spreading along the Sinnemahoning's
classic bottom and think how thew
would now all be mine but for that
kicking fever am prone to sadness.
But you've knocked 'em silly this time,
Mackinaw.
"Yes, yes. Those rich Jepheniah
Bifkins 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 to be my wife, and Nancy was
heir to all the wide Peeler estate. So
when think-but let that pass. 1t is
all over now.
wherever that most singular all
ment could have come from no one ever
knew, but it certainly cut wide swath
along the Sinnemahone. Twas off down
the river when it began it's attack. and
consequently l didn't know anything
about it until got back home couple
of weeks later. The first person it struck
was Uncle Billy Tope. Uncle Billy was
a mild ard easy-goirg citizen that no
one would have thought had any life
in him at all, ard he was a strict tee
totaler. Consequently you may imagine
the establishment of Squire Bunker. |
who owned the sawmill where Uncle |
Billy worked, to see the old man com
ing up the road one day, giving a tre-
mentOus 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, j
kicking and scuffing and looking as
wild as an Indian. The squire venturef
to say as the old man was cavorting by:
What's up, William?'
Uncle Billy only shook his head. and
giving a 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.
'Astoundingl' exclaimed the SQUIRE.
L never thought I'd live long enough
to see Uncle Billy Tope turn out to be a
drinker!'
Then the squire started for home.
He hadn't gone hundred yards before
he began to feel little mulish himself.
and the first thing he knew he was
kicking away as unreasonably as Uncle
Billy. He couldn't stop it any more
than he could have stopped his mill race
with a three-inch plug The squire
didn't have for TO go, and before he
could reach out and open his door he
had kicked it open with a bang, and his
wife came running out of the kitchen to
see what was the matter.
Clear the way, motherl' the squire
hollered. Give me rooml Don't get in
my way or III make a widower of my
self at one swoopl'
"The squire's wife, scared almost TO
death. locked herself up in closet. and
the squire kicked his way out of the
back door and brought up in the garden,
where he yelled for some one to come ;
and tie him down, or else turn him into
a ten-acre lot where he could have room. ,
"And that's the way that most unac-
countable kicking fever started along
The SinnemahoDe. In less than a week 1
It had taken a whack at almost every ,
man, woman and child in that BALL ,
wick. The kicking was only the pre- !
nonitory symptom of the fever. After
he victim had kicked high and kicked I
ow, and to the windward and to the '
coward, for half an hour or so. the fit 9
would pass away, but ii would come +
back again after awhile. The kicking /
stage of the epidemic lasted two days, i
md then the second stage came on. I
This was scorching fever. Sam Betts,
when he got over his attack, declared I.
hat his fever was so hot that his wife /
lad TO keep the sheets wet to prevent :,
heir catching fire, but Sam wasn't a
'ative of the Sinnemahoning country. +
lie was from this side of the mountain I,
somewhere, and folks didn't believe :
i'm. The fever lasted day, and left
'ehind it consuming longing for {
to drink-not water nor q
Office nor tea nor milk, but rum, rye, !,
Pple juice. ANYTHING that had tooth .