Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1900-11-15


peater, which the urchins have also
tied to his tail, in order to make him
look as handsome AZ the cat,
Right at the front door, in a high
backed leather bOttomcd armchair,
with crooked legs and puppy feet like
the tables, IL seated the old man Of the
house himself. He Is an exceedingly
puffy little old gentleman, with big
circular eyes ana n huge double chin.
His dress resembles that Of the boys
and | need say nothing further about
1t. All the difference Is, that his pipe
Is somewhat bigger than theirs, and he
can make n greater smoke. Like them,
he has n watch, but he carries his
watch in his pocket. TO say the truth,
he has something Of more Importance
than watch to attend tO--and what
that Is ! shall presently explain. He
sits with his right leg upon his left
knee, wears n grave cOuntcnancc and
always keeps one OF his eyes, Mt least
resolutcly bent upon certain remark
able object In the center Of the plain.
This object Is situated in the steeple
of the house Of the town council. The
town council are all very little, round,
oily, intelligent men, with big saucer
eyes and fat double Chins, and have
their coats much longer and their shoe
buckles much bigger than the ordinary
inhabitants Of Vondervottclmittiss
Since my sOjOurn in the borough, they
have had several special meetings, and
have adopted these three important
resolutions:
"That 1t Is wrong TO alter the good
old course of things.
"1hat there Is nothing tOlerable
out of VOndcrvotteimittlss, ana
"That we Will stick by our clocks
and our cabbaEcs."
Above the session room OF the cOun.
ell IL the stccple, and In the stceple Is
the bclfry, where exists and has cx-
listed time out of mind the pride ana
wonder Of the viiInge-thc great clock
of the borough OF VondcrVOtteimlttiss
And this Is the object to which the
eyes OF the old gentlemen are turned
who sit in the leather bOttOmcd arm
chairs.
The great clock has seven faces, one
I'm cnch of the seven sides of the stCe-
pie, 30 that 1t can he readily seen from
all quarters. Its faces are large and
white and Its hands heavy and black
There Is bclfryman, whose sole duty
ls to attend to IT. But this duty Is the
most perfect Of sInccurcs, for the clock
of Vondervottcimlttiss was never yet
known to have anything the matter
with It, Until lately the bare suppose
tIon Of such n thing was considered
hcrctical. From the rcmOtcSt period
of antiquity to which the archives
regularly struck by the big bell. And
indeed the case was Just the same
with all the other clocks and watches
In the borough. Never was such n
place for keeping the true time. When
the large clappcr thought proper to
say "12 o'clockw NIL lts obedcnt fol
lowers opened their threats stimuli
tnncously and responded Ike very
echo. In short, the good burghers
were fond of their sauCrkrnut, but
then they were proud of their clocks.
All people who hold snccure offices
are held In more or less respect and,
M the bcfryman of Vondcrvotteimit-
tlss has the most perfect of slncCurcs
he Is the most perfectly respected OF
any man In tho world. He Is the chief
dlgnitary of the borough, and the very
pigs look UP to him with sentiment
of reverence. Ills coattall Is very far
longer, his pipe, his shoe buckles, his
eyes and his stomach are very far big
ger, than those of any other old gentle
man In tho village. And ns to his chin,
II Is not only double, but triple.
have thus painted the happy estate
OF Observation-Disclosures. Alas, that so
fair picture should ever experience
n reverse!
There has been long n saying among
the wlscst inhabitants that mo good
can come from over the hills" And 1t
really seemed that the words had In
them something of the spirit OF prophe-
cy. 1t wanted five minutes of noon on
the day before yesterday when there
appeared n very odd looking object on
the summit of the ridge to the east.
ward. Such m occurrence OF course
attracted universal attention, and
every little old gentleman who sat In
n leather bottomcd armchair turned
one of his eyes with stare OF dlsmay
upon the phenomenon, stu keeping the
other upon the clock In the stecple.
Hy the time that II wanted only three
minutes to noon the droll object IN
question was perceived TO be very dl
minutlvc, foreign looking young man
He descended the hills ut great rate
30 that everybody had soon good loob
ut him. He was really the most fin
iCky little parsonage that had ever
been seen In Observation-Disclosures. His
countcuance was OF dark SNUFF color
and he had long hooked nose, pes
eyes, II wide mouth and an eXcellen
set of teeth, which latter he seemed
anxious of displaying, as he was grin
ming from ear Co ear, What with mus
tnchios and whlskers, there was non,
of the rest of his fncp 10 hp seen His