Montana news. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1904-191?, 1904-12-21

girls got married and had two pair
of twins in two years and got con-
gratulations from the president
After awhile another one got married
and got divorce in three weeks:
but we thought nothing strange
about that Everything was lovely,
and we kept right on working.
Every time we got $40 in silver or
bills | would get twenty dollar gold
piece; wouldn't have anything but
gold-that was the only stuff. | dug
hole in the ground and had it COW
cred over with fiat rock. No banks
for me; oh no, was too old for that.
| kept my money in the hole in the
ground.
After about TOO years we got big
letter one day. The envelope was
about two feet long-U. S. Navy
was printed on it in big letters. We
opened it, and-glory of glories-it
was from one of the boys. Not the
one who was making shingles; the
other one. He had joined the navy.
Mary cried from JOY.
Just think of it" she said; "one
of our boys has worked himself up
until now he can stand on the deck
of one of Uncle Sans glorious bat
tleships and cock a cannon-and all
in 100 years. / always knew he was
smart boy. Well, | am proud, /"
she said; and she lit into the wash
ing again. We kept right on saving
thousand dollars a year until we
had worked o63 years.
Only 81 years more, Mary" /
said, and well have that million
skinned like an eel"
But | noticed that Mary was not
looking very strong. Her form was
not as straight as it used to be; but
she had been STOPPING over the
washtub for quite a while, and one
could not expect a working woman
to be neat and straight like a lady.
That evening when / came home
with bundle of dirty clothes on my
back, Mary was dead. She had
dropped dead at the washtub. /
was sorry, as | was getting more or
ders for washing all the time, and
there was money in it, But it could
not be helped. / got a cheap coffin
and dug grave myself, not very far
from my bank, and buried her.
The funeral cost me SI7.6s (seven-
teen dollars and sixty five cents,
but ] worked overtime enough that
month to make it up.
Poor Mary / had never thought
of her going off so sudden like. If
she had only held out for 81 years
more we would have had a million,
and she would have been a lady,
and could have mixed in society
with Mrs. Gotmore and Mrs. Van
Boostem. was little sorry that
we had not quit when we had $50, =
900, but we could not have put on
much style on that much money.
So | was pretty lonesome. l
would imagine / saw Mary bending
over the washtub and rub, rub, rub,
as she had done for o63 years and
never lost shift, as we say in the
mines, and never had been further
away from the cabin than the end of
the clothesline; but it was a long
one, you bet.
One of the girls wrote me from
Russia. She said that was not
much better a country than the L.
S.. and she would like to come home
and keep house for me; but she
couldn't work any game like that on
me. never answered her letter.
Il am living a strenuous life," l
said to myself; let her do the
same. The survival of the fttest'
that's my doctrine"
/ kept on working right along.
One day got another big letter.
from Rear Admiral Bustemup, stat
ing that there had been a frightful
explosion on one of the battleships,