The Washington bee., 1907-08-24
SAEEzE FAD LATEST
GIRL ACCIDENTALLY STARTS
NEW DIVERSION IN JERSEY.
Was a Victim of Hay FeVer-Queer
New Fro,ic at Summer Resort
Guaranteed to Drive
Away Blues.

New York.-There are all sorts of
epidemics at summer colonies There's
the embroidery epidemic. the crochet
epidemic, both fourishing best in
piazza surroundings Then OF more
active variety, there Is the epidemic Of
tennis. croquet, Switchboard, and 9th
ers more prevalent among the young
folks" than with the piazza cOterie.
But it was left 10 the cOlOnists at
small lake in northern New Jersey
to discover the joys of sneezing. There
the sneezing epidemic developed.
1t all happened in this way. A
young woman who arrived one morn
ing at the little country station was a
hay fever victim. On her drive from
the station TO the lakeside cottage
where she was to stop she passed
through field after field of new-mown
hay and as is the custom of hay-fever
victims she began to sneeze. All
through that drive she sneezed. She
frightened the horse, she frightened
her friend who was driving, who
thought she would gradually use up
all her strength in those uncomfortable
sneezes. She frightened herself for
she had never been in such an uncom-
Portable state.
They drove to the village drug store
and there she asked the village doctor
for some remedy. He advised a GER
tain kind of medical snuff, and she
r7I.y
the beginning of the epidemic.
It got to be a joke. the way she
sneezed, but always after the volley
Of sneeZes consequent to the snuff TAX
ing she would be free for a while
When she found that she was anus
ing her friends she wanted some of
the same kind of amusement herself
and prevailed on some of the younger
members of the family to join in her
sneezing and try her bottle. They
rather enjoyed it and the various
kinds Of sneezes caused so much mer-
riment that it soon became a daily
performance to pass around the bottle
and have a sneeze frolic.
Some young people came over the
lake in their canoes one night. There
were ten Of them and they all sat on
the piazza and talked lake gossip.
They were finally told about the new
habit, and as young people in the
country are usually ready for any new
experience. they consented to try.
Soon there arose such a hubbub as
was seldom heard on the quiet sum-
mer nights there. Mingled with laugh
ter came the sneezes and gasps, thick
and fast. It lasted for FIVE minutes
or more, with an occasional spasm
from some one with a special propen-
sity for sneezing long after the others
had stopped.
Where did you say you got that?''
asked one enthusiastic young guest.
In the village?" and they all went.
away in their canoes still laughing.
The next day four bottles Of the
stuff were bought and four cottages
were supplied. From then on it was
no uncommon thing for the silent pad
dlers who canoed along the moonlit
lake to hear all along the shore at the
different bungalows and cottages the
wild volleys Of sneezes and the roars
OF laughter that always accompanied
them. New victims were continually
arriving, and these were especially in
teresting to those who had become
accustomed to the new art.
It soon developed into a science.
Some progressive and thoughtful
young man made a "sneeze book" in
which he carefully noted all the diff
ferent kinds Of sneezes and wrote
down the characteristics of the own
ers. 1t got to be as popular as a
palmistry book. More books were
copied from this one and finally char
acter reading became a case of
"Sneeze and I'll tell you what you
are"
The sneeze epidemic has not passed
yet at this New Jersey resort, and be
It harmful or otherwise it has certain
ly been the cause of enough laughs TO
drive away indigestion and the blues.