The Lamar register., 1907-02-27

Cynthiana, O.-Four hundred and
sixty-three persons have kissed little
Miss Margaret Durham. aged four
months and three days. The tally In
.cludes Dave Downing. who travels for
McKeehan, Heistand & Company's
grocery, and the five candidates for
office In Pike county. Ohio. who Wis.,
tied during the recent campaign.
which are about all the visitors the
little hamlet. set down in the beasti-
full Brush creek hills. has had recent
ly. or Mt least as recently as the COM
ing of Miss Durham into the world
that has welcomed her with kisses.
But despite the fact that she has been
kissed by more persons than any girl
in Pike county (and most of them are
kissable). the fact that Ollie KILLER
has not kissed her has started trouble.
divided the town into two factions and
almost caused feud between the
Dunhams and the KILLER family.
Everybody in Cynthiana. over the
age of five months excepting KILLER,
has kissed Miss Durham: KILLER alone
has refused to fall in love with her.
How KILLER can refuse to kiss her no
one else in town can understand. for
she is the prettiest. plumpest. sweet
est baby ever born. That Is what her
mother says, and besides that 1853 per-
sons. including Dave Downing. who
ought to be unparalleled, being
bachelor. have said the same thing.
She is so soft and satiny. and SO pink
and white. and her blue eyes open
uni oh Lalt 1h taA
astares. and her dimples evolve such
unexpected and wonderful smiles, and
her soft, little rosebud hands hut-
ter SO confidingly into even the horny
hands of the loggers. that any per-
son. 1t seems. who has any human
blood In his veins wants to grab her
right into his arms and just squeeze
her and kiss her-and then look
ashamed and say Il always liked ba-
bies," and sneak away and wish he
had one just like it.
Where ollie KILLER Lost Out.
That is the way little Miss Durham
has affected everybody-except Ollie
KILLER. He has not kissed her and
will not kiss her.
Therefore, there is trouble.
1t appears. from the factS that are
ascertainable. that Miss Margaret
Shannon. who was better known as
Madge. was the belle of the entire dis
trict around Cynthiana by the time
she was IS years old Not only that,
but the young men from cambridge
drove down to call on her. and once
it was rumored that she was engaged
to wealthy young man up at Wav-
erly. the county seat. Everybody
knew that Fred Cravens. from Sink
ing Springs, was wildly in love with
her. Almost all the town boys were
and especially Ollie KILLER. who owns
a big farm over Cameron's mountain.
besides his house in Cynthiana.
Then Bill Durham. big. hearty. good
natured. and with laugh that could
be heard over half the town fell a
victim to the prettiness of Margaret
Shannon-and that settled 1t. They
were married and Ollie KILLER became
a sort of woman hater. People with
college educations would have called
him misanthropic. but Cynthiana sim.
ply referred to 1t as crouch, except
Uncle Billy Newell. who said Ollie
was peevish.
At any rate. Ollie ceased to be the
Beau Brummel of Cynthiana and set
tied down to business and was as hard
as flint, and. as Uncle Billy Newell
vowed, "as Gloss as his paw was, and
II shoemakers couldn't have got q
bristle between his fingers and a dol
lar
Story About the Baby.
All those things happened years
ago. possibly ten. Bill Durham got
along pretty well in the lumber bust
ness. running sawmill over Newell
Mills way. and hauling to cambridge
and his wife was just as pretty as
when she was girl. although in a
different sort of way. They were hap