Arizona republican., 1898-02-20
ZERAH WEsTBROOK'S FLUTE.

Il see they Ve eIecleu LedTy west brook mayor of Ans sterdam, up in York state somewhere" said a Pike county man, referring to Hon. Zerah West brook, ex-deputy comptroller of New York and lately judge of Montgomery county. That shows what a lucky think it was for him that his flute got broken years and years ago up in Sus- sex county, N. J., the night we went over and gave him a surprise party.
 "Zeary was born in Sussex county and lived on the farm only few miles from the Delaware, and he came over into Pike county when he was 16 or IT. to go to school at Milford. He was popular among us young folks. but thunder! there wasn't anything about light, in those days that would have furnished material for the best all- round prophet in, the business to build a future for him beyond the confines of the rail fence around that old West brook farm over in Jersey. Some folks went so far as to prophecy that he would come to some bad end, basing their forebodings on what seemed to be the all-sufficient fact that he played the flute. He didn't exactly play the flute. either He leased it. He worried it. He hurled from it staccato toots that jabbed holes in the stilly summer night. He forced from it distressful meanings, gasping gurgles, woeful walls, and' wild and despairing shrieks He cut these up into sections and called them tunes. The most despairing, the most hopeless, the most distressing of these was his favorite. He called it Napoleon Crossing the Alps!' Inever believed it. Napoleon had a bad time crossing the Alps. but it was never never so bad as that. People who fore saw his awful finish declare to this day that it would have come long before this if something hadn't happened to separate him from that flute.
 ''Zeary quit going to school in Milford after awhile. and thought he could dc better by going back home to help with the pig killing and the chores about the farm, so he took his flute and went. circle that fife and drum corps faileS to fill. Then, after awhile, when Il weather got cold and the sleighino. good, lot of us young folks thougf we'd take sleigh ride over to tie V-ss1 brook farm and give Zeary a surr1iss party, taking lots of cakes and th;rcs along, as was the surprise party custc1r in those days. That was the cciGcss night I was ever out ;n. It was SC coiG ha c1o ic-h over and dumped us all down a ter foot bank, and a pan Of custard l ka3 charge of climbed up on my heaG turned itself bottom side up. sqnashcf down on my crown. and sat there : cocky as helmet On tirsy Troian soldier, it froze fast before I had reccv- cred from my astonishment sufficient - to take it off, and I either had to bs scalped to get away from it or leave t there until we could get somewhere to thaw it out, and left it. The girls ali had mysteries for awhile, but no one was hurt
 eve were only a couple of miles from the Westbrook place when this mis- hap befell us, and we soon straightened things up and went on. As we neared the cheery lights that gleamed from the Westbrook windows, suddenly the horses pricked up their ears, stopped and tried to turn round in the road and go back. The driver quieted them down but looked back at us, frightened him. self. Then, brought to us on the nigh: wind, we heard sounds of agony-de. spairing moans, eXcruciating walls, and cries.
 "'Great Heaven.' exclaimed one o1 the party; have we come here to meet with sickness, and perhaps death?'
 "'No,' replied another, who recog- nized the sounds. We haven't That's only Zeary boosting Napoleon over the Alps
 ''It was Zeary and his flute, stil tempting fate. We soon hustled inside with cur surprise, and it was surprise too. But even the sight of me frozeI fast by my hair to tin pan couldn' turn Zeary from his course. He haC Napoleon at such critical spot in tht Alps that he couldn't leave him ther, with safety, and he kept on crossing him over. He got him to the pinnacle 1 or the AIDS al last, no cast nIm OONn Oi l the other side with such an appalling burst from the depths of the flute tha one of the girls reached out for nor, mysteries and got 'em. Then Fear, threw the house wide open. The, thawed me out, and we were having joyful time, when Zeary moved toward the flute again. We were about t, order up the horses and fly, but w didn't have to. Somebody or something g somehow, had wrecked the flute Whether it had been sat on, CT jumped on, or what, there it was, broken beyond repair.
 "Zeary was sad, but he kept up. H never could get another flute that suite' | him, and the charm of the farm wa broken. He left the place by and b. and went up into New York state There he got into politics, and the frs thing we heard he had got to be judge and then deputy comptroller of tn state. And now he's a mayor. But he'