The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1910-10-13
A BUSINESS
WOMAN
By NJ QUAD
Copyright. 1910 by Associated Lit
erary Press.

When the widow Turner was le1t TO
care for herself she possessed sixty
acres of sterile land, wretched old
cabin. a mule and COW. She had al
ways worked in the field with her hus-
band. She was Il large, bony woman,
unable to read or write, and the very
homeliest among lot of homely won-
ell. 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 tin peddler. She
had dealt with him before and found
him honest. She told him her troubles,
and he said:
w lhoht an Spiho W 'tih pieii''s
to you. You are as ignorant as mule
and as homely as stump fence"
81 know it." was the answer.
"If things had run along as they
were going you couldn't have found
man in the United States to marry
you"
81 admit that"
but now you can. You can not only
find husband, but money with him.
Let me tell you what to do"
They had long conversation, and
the result of it was that when an of
fer for the farm was renewed next day
it was accepted with a proviso. The
widow demanded $4,000 in cash and
a husband. 1t was acceded to at once.
1t would be very easy to find man TO
marry her and run away afterward
Plenty of them could be hired for
$1,000. But the widow wanted an ac-
ceptable husband. That was different
Thirty men were paraded before her,
and she rejected every one. The capital
lists had figured on soft thing and got
left. After two months search and aft
er fifty men had been brought forward
one was found to fill the bill. He was
no scrub. On the contrary. he was II
broken down gentleman. 1t was like
mating an eagle with crow.
Yes, he would do, but there We're 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 dozen other things mentioned.
and the broken down gentleman said
he'd be hanged ii he would. They had
promised him 10000, but he said it
wasn't enough. He hung out until he
was offered the same as the widow.
They told him that smart lawyer
could pick dozen loopholes in the
contract.
But the widow wasn't through yet.
They must allow her $4,000 for a law
Thnu nd hn
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 stake.
He had 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 Il
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 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 C's when
he ran 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. Biologists said
there ought to be great lake Of oil
under it, but it didn't turn out that
way. In buying and drilling more than
half a million dollars was expended.
At the end Of year the broken down
ran away again. When his hackers