Connecticut western news., 1910-08-25
A BUSINESS WOMAN By M QUAD Copyright 191O by Associated Lit
 erary Press.
By M QUAD

to their land was the widow Turner. When the widow Turner was left to care for herself she possessed sixty acres of sterile land, a wretched old cabin. mule and a COW. She had al- ways worked in the field with her hus- band. She was large, bony woman, unable to read or write, and the very homeliest among lot of homely wom- en. No, one predicted that she would marry again. and she had no encourag- ing thoughts herself. She lived alone, and all the farm work was done by her own hands.
 When the oil excitement got started all the landowners around the widow Turner sold out She alone held on. She was offered five times what her farm was considered worth. but she shook her head. AS a matter of fact, she was frightened.
 Then along came a tin peddler. She had dealt with him before and found him honest. She told him her troubles, and he said:
 Widow. am going to talk plainly to you. You are as ignorant as a mule and as homely as a stump fence"
 T know it" was the answer.
 If things had run along as they were going you couldn't have found a man in the United States to marry you"
 "I admit that
 But now you can. You can not only nd h.,t xryiAk Let me tell you what to do."
 They had a long conversation. and the result of 1t was that when an of fer for the farm was renewed next day it was accepted with proviso. The widow demanded $50000 in cash and husband. It was acceded to at once. It would be very easy to find man to marry her and run away afterward. Plenty of them could be hired for $2,000.- But the widow wanted an ac- ceptable husband. That was different. Thirty men were paraded before her. and she rejected every one. The capital ists had figured on a soft thing and got left. After two months search and aft CT fifty men had been brought forward one was found to fill the bill. He was no scrub. On the contrary. he was d broken down gentleman. It was like mating an eagle with q crow.
 Yes. he would do. bur there were de- tails to be considered. He must be bound to certain things. and the buyer of the farm must guarantee him. He must be bound not to run away and not to apply for divorce. He must be bound to live in the same house with her and not be absent over three days at any time without her written permission. He must teach her the common branches of education and rules of etiquette. He must take her to New York city and Niagara falls once in two years. If she wished to sign he must not be put out Her money must be her own. There were about a dozen other things mentioned. and the broken down gentleman said he'd be hanged If he would. They had promised him $1O,OOO. but he said 1t wasn't enough. He hung out until he was offered the same as the widow. They told him that a smart lawyer could pick a dozen loopholes in the l
 contract
 But the widow wasn't through yet. They must allow her S10,000 for a law yer's fee. They agreed, and she sent to Chicago for one of the leaders of the bar. Then came the guarantee. The guarantee of the buyer was not enough. The lawyer insisted that some one must guarantee him. This was done. Time had been wasted. and ~gushers" were being struck all around them. The money was counted out, the marriage took place. and the next day the drillers were at work. The newly weds went to the nearest village to pass their honeymoon.
 The broken down gentleman had gone into the thing to make a stake. He had a good mind for billiards. good clothes and good dinners. but not for legal matters. Within three days he ran away. The wife called upon the guarantors to return him. They had to hire a detective and hunt for month When he was brought back he was locked up for two weeks. He ap- pealed to. the law, but the law said that his wife had a right to take all reasonable precautions. He had bound himself to teach her certain things. He refused. She called upon his guar antors, and they forced him to do it. He had taught her the A B Cs when he fan away again. Again he was brought back.
 Although the work of drilling wells had begun at once, there were no re- suits. They drilled here and there for more than a year. but not pint of oil was had. That farm was just over the oil line somehow. Geologists said there ought to be a great lake of oil under 1t, but 1t didn't turn out that way. In buying and drilling. more than half a million dollars was expended. At the end of a year the broken down ran away again. When his packers were called upon to return him they agreed to give the wife $5,000 to let them off the contract The tin peddler came along and advised her to take 1t. fs1 CNI Isx-t,, hot