The Prescott daily news., 1908-10-22
MIR. PILKINS, MARTYR
HE IS wNDUCED" TO STUDY THE
 ECLIPSE.
But Mrs. Pitkins' Uncomfortable Ex. citement Prevented the Observa- tIon from Being What Might
 Be Called Success.

Mrs. Pitkins who was in the next room:
 Say, my dear look here a minute. What are you doing, anyway? Read ing? Well, of all the confounded in ertia and insensibility to ones oppor- tunlties, this certainly gets the high est possible commendation! Reading what? The Woman's Weekly Wish bone, of course o, my aunt!
 Woman, don't you know there's an eclipse of the sun happening this very minute? Where? Ye gods, will you listen to that? Why, right here. And you indifferent to the greatest and most impressive phenomenon in ma ture!
 Why didn't l tell you? am tell ing you, am l not? At least l have a general impression that l am doing something of the sort. 1 couldn't tell you before, could 1? 1 forgot myself until minute ago that this is the morning for the sun to do its little disappearing act.
 "Of course I'm not angry. No, I'm not scolding you. Is it too late? Let's see. No, not if we hurry.
 Hustle around and get a piece of smoked glass for me. I'm going to see this show if 1 never see another. The paper says it's the last chance to view this kind of an eclipse for a hundred years, and 1 don't care to wait as long as that.
 No, 1 don't want the opera glasses. l want piece of window glass. Just common, ordinary window glass. Do you know what window glass is? You stare as if you didn't. Don't you know where to get any? Well, why don t you provide for the eclipse? You ought to have known at least three days ago that 1t was going to come along this morning.
 Listen. What was that?
 Say, we're all right now. Jimmy has just thrown an old shoe through the kitchen window.
 Hold on! Hold on there! You'll cut your fingers and then blame me for it. Let me do that I'm the only one in the house that can
 Ouch! Get me a rag, will you. I'm bleeding to death. Cant you see am? l might have known I'd cut myself if 1 tried to get glass for your blamed old eclipse.
 There, now. If the eclipse would last all day maybe We should have chance to get a glimpse of the last of it.
 Here light the student lamp and smoke this piece of glass. Look out there; don't let the baby stick her head through that broken pane.
 Why, cover the hole. Well, then tie up the baby Do something. Now. I've got soot enough on this glass to polish the kitchen range. might as well try to look through a side of sole leather. Get me another piece.
 All right. now. I'll go out and take look at this wonderful eclipse you talk so much about.
 "Oh, of course cloud has gone over the sun! Look what you're doing! You've knocked my arm and got this soot all over my nose. l look like a black faced sheep.
 "Ah. There's the sun.
 Well, great Jupiter Ammon! Is that all the eclipse amounts to? 1 could get the same effect any time taking a bite of a cooky. If the sun cant put up a better entertainment than that before it goes out of the show business for such a long time 1t might as well stay behind the clouds.
 You made all that fuss for nothing, Mrs. Pilkins. l hope you're satisfied at last. The next time l cut my fingers and then place myself be fore the rudely staring public as a black-faced comedian I'll have some pretty good evidence that I'm going to get my moneys worth. The next time you want to break your neck and half kill me for the sake of a silly little hole in the sun you can do the labor yourself.
 Great Scott You've left that lamp turned up and it's literally showing soot all over the house!
 Well, I've certainly paid big price for mighty small show. l guess I can worry along now for a hundred years without the suns putting itself out to entertain me.
 "II take walk while the house is being set to rights. If you hadn't got excited and made all this fuss you would have shown good deal better judgment than you did.