The San Francisco call., 1898-11-20
For saturday. November 1s.
aRowGwILL's SOAP KETTLE.

'I don't know when I've seen man nqre surprised said oS:one Ga'pgr was whet. he tried to break up the 1ap SIo kGi- tie. MT: Growgwill lived in Storkyilie e Center, Vt. He had big, csstiron soap l kettle that was cracked and of no fui- ther use. so he wanted to get ;t broken up to sell for scrap. He might have had men break it up with sledges, b9t as ,,tile the county fair was going on in StorkYii!e Center he had an idea that he'd have U taken up by the man that was making good height on Stony Hill, rocky rise not far from the fair ground. He thought this would be fun, and the balloon man, anything for 1t, because he turned the whole business into big advertisement for himself and had posters out all over such an hour, weather. permitting, Fro lessor Hifiite would drop Mir. Abner Growgwiips monster soap kettle from ms balloon upon the summit of Stony Hill.
 "Of course the whole town turned out to see it. Storkville Center had never seen cast-iron soap kettle drop rom hill before. l doubt, indeed, if any other community ever has. The wind was ia vOrable. The load was about all the pal loon could lift, even though it had been inflated to it's fullest capacity and all ex- tra weight had been removed and all bal last was left behind. But 1t lifted 1t tn- off in the direction of Stony Hill. At great elevation, and when the balloon was directly over the stoniest part of the hlll' the people, MT. Growgwill among them, stretching their neckS and looking up from below, saw the aeronaut making ready to cast the great kettle loose Just an instant before he did so a gusty cur rent of air struck the great gas globe and pushed over on one side, swinging the great kettle under 1t in the other direc- tion The professor would have waited if he could until the balloon and the kettle had had resumed % the gerpendicular R but it Q ivy n a weight of the kettle did the rest, and away it went sailing through the air. not dropping straight down to be smashed into fragments on the rocky top of Stony Hill, but flying off in a slantendicular di rectfon whose end was realized in a min ute; with shout of dismay by everybody looking on; 1t was flying straight for the house Of farmer who lived at the foot of the hill.
 Tt struck the. chimney, which was in the middle of the house, square on the top and crushed it down as a great boul- der would have crushed down mans tall hat and smashed right on down through the house plumb to the cellar, leaving a big. ragged crater at the top where the chimney had been, with a cloud of dust coming. up out of it. The whole multitude made for the house, fearful that some body had been killed in it; but the farmer and his family had all been out with the rest looking on; so, fortunately, nobody was hurt; but the house was wreck it was all right outside. but inside it was gone to pieces, and after it all the big Kettle lay Tn the cellar as sound as ever but for the original crack.
 MT. Growgwill was a man of means, and he paid for fixing up the house. which amounted substantially to rebuilding it. He tried to get the balloonist to pay part but the professor said that he had under taken the work under contract, and he couldn't be responsible for the action of the clements, anyway. so MT Growgwill had to pay it all. He never had any more soap kettles to break up; but it is safe to say that if he had had he would have d tl1arf1 eIrE commonplace way. and not dropped from balloons. New York Sun.