Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1899-10-14
The Fire at S.mm5'.

dcGOSS ire pen tHC oIu Mons l'r-Al 10
stand in it. The rooster sank into him
self until his hacklcs looked like an liz
abcthan ruff: when he crowcd, it sounded
raucous and cold. and the hens shook
their heads ut each crow, as hens have
done since time began. They stood on
alto. nate feet and seemed to envy Mrs.
Sins her coarse shoes.
She. poor woman, was on her way out
to the barn To milk 10 cows before sun
light should fail. The dull. flat. hopeless.
d?ca:y dismal. bitter, sour. dolcful, hard,
inevitable. dShcaltcnin% condition of life
on Il Garland county farm was imagcd
in the bleak landscape and i'll her weary,
ha@-ard face.
Sh" walked as if she had several cob
blu;l, mes in the toes of each shoe and
size " ..ncd that She had milestone about
her neck, Jim. her husband, was drunk
again, which meant that until he returned
frum town She must sack LOCO bushels
of buckWhcat Il day. feed and w',tcr 100
stupid fowls and provide meals for seven
pairs Of vicious. ulIarrcSOmc twins of her
own raising.
She entered the low doorway of the
hidcuuS barn and seated herself on her
launches beside the first of the 10 SCrag
gly. half frozen cows. She was an cXpc-
rcuCcd mixer, but the dCftCSt fingers in
the world cannot guard against Il sudden
bovine flank movement, and she saw 81
pals of Stcaming milk overturned by 81
suffering ana fractions beasts.
Something like an oath issued from be-
tween hcg thin. hlOodlcSS lips, and She
audihly wished that the day that saw her
birth might he hlottcd from the calendar.
III the house she could hear the seven
pairs of twins shooting ut each other
and throwing Kerosene lamps about AMI
Strengthening the eat: but she did not care
a bit. Time had been when pretty Eliza
SimmS would have cared Il good deal,
but that WAS score of years ago, before
the twins began to come so frequently.
"lf the house burns up wont have no
more meals to get"
Poor woman. she did not realize that
another house would take its place and
the eternal round of i'll cooked, greasy,
embarrassing. indigcstible meals would
continue rs before. She had lost the fac
ulty of thinking like all farmers wives
in Garland county.
a couple of odd twins came out to her
Buck. one of the oldest pair, and Jcn,
next to the youngest.
".Jakc has set the house atire again,
said Buck.
He would have kissed her if he had
been some sons and she some mothers,
but the very name was unknown in the
SimmS family. y kick and Il cuSs they
knew too well. but the union of the two
sounds meant nothing.
Belle has killed the cat again, and
Luce has torn your weddin Stiflit to
smithcrccns." said .Icn, with Il malicious
grin.
A grim smile sank into the tough, lcath-
cry face of the Respondent toilcr, and
she MIXED two vicious streams into the
girls eye .Jcn did not know whether To
laugh or cry, but the cracking of the
flames turned the thoughts of all three in
to another direction.
"Ain't yrh go'n ter put ont the iicrrr :
The insurance ran out last week. | hccrcd
pap say 81"
Mrs. Simms rose to her feet. 1t was
true She must save the house if it took
the rest of the milk.
Its wonder your pa cant stay to
hum when the house is liable to burn
down any day with them youngest
twins"
they rad set the place atrc, and milk was
high that year. OF course the pumps
were frozen hard.
"You bring couple of pals apiece,
said She taking Il pail in each hand and
balancing another on her head, but the
| children only jccrcd ut her and began to
| fight in the hay.
She toilcl toward the house. over
weighted and cold. The flames We're
pouring out of every window, and the
sun was just setting, Il red ball that
| looked as if the jewellers beyond the
| patch of pines on the horizon could warm
| their hands on its glowing surface.
The Squawks and SqucakS of the fowls.
| fighting for the warmcst place on the
| rooat, broke the frosty stiffness of the
| air, and the dun. black smoke of the
burning house iloated in long, trailing
| strcamcrS to where the upland was
crowned with an orchard of young peach
| trees 1t was all beautiful if she had
| but known, but this s0rdid woman was
| bent only Oh putting out the miserable
| fire that had attacked the house.
What do farmers i'll Garland county
know Of beauty? From their birth on
ward the ~rindStonc whctS their noses
| down to the bone. and, look aS they may,
| there is nothing but whirrng grind be-
| fore their eyes.
\ crcaking farm wagon toilcd along
the road. the wheels making Il crankling
| music in the frozen rutS. Jim was COM
| ing home from his seven day jag, singing
in rauc0uS voice that Jared harshly on
the winter quiet of the night. IL" saw
| the flames of the burning building. but
he did not hasten his pace.
Il never saw the thing that Liz
couldn't down from me to Il spread oak.
| The twins has ben nj il again
And they were still nj it. The flames
had driven them out of the house, but
| they had all gone into the barn to quar-
rel leaving their mother to fight the fire
single handed. As Jim drove into the
banyard the flames Succumhcd to her
efforts and the watcry milk. She came
ont To the side door and looked ut him
under Singcd eyebrows.
what ych got fer supper" he asked.
"Smolicd beef an billed milk said she.
Il wish Id "A burnt up" she added in Il
harsh voice.
cad. | wiSht ych had. Your life in
suranrc amt lapscd."
1t was brutal Jest. but she did not
pcrcciv" lis brutality any more than she
would have admired II nocturnc of Cho-
pins or an etching by Whistler or IL
statue by PhidiaS.- Critcron.
J. Ch"np Water In Glasgow.
In Glasgow !. tl5 householder obtains
| for I'D. per annum continuous, never
| failing. unrestricted stream of the purcSt
water in the world. delivered right into