Connecticut western news., 1910-04-28
WHEN FOWLERVILLE ENTHUSED
 By M QUAD. Copyright, 1910. by Associated Lit erary Press.
By M. QUAD.

| village cooper. He was called Bill by old and young. He was lazy and good natured. He had been married, but his wife had divorced him, and he kept house by himself in the rearend of his cooper shop. Bill had never been known to argue. He had never made a speech. He had never taken any in- terest in local matters. He had just made barrels and kegs and been Bill Strong. One evening when the usual crowd had assembled at the grocery and postoffice Mir. Strong turned Fow- | lerville upside down. Without having given a hint of his intentions he mounted the horse block and began a speech.
 In the suburbs, of the village dwelt Mrs. Henderson, widow, forty years old. Her husband had left her a poor old house and five acres of land. There were d COW and horse, and by hiring the horse out by the day and renting most of her land and making her own garden she had managed to get along after fashion. Bill Strong's SpCcCh W mdS S1ll dOOhl lhC hAA0"' AS was an appeal rather than a speech an appeal to the manhood and charity of his listeners. That's what knocked the breath out of the crowd. AS Fow- lerville had known Bill Strong, dozen people might have been starving to death any time and he would have taken no interest. The speaker paint T fI,o aF widow o grieving widow and a hard up widow. It was a case worthy of any mans charity. It had brought tears to his eyes and a sadness to his heart.
 Spring was here, the speaker con- tinued. Four out of five of the, wid- ow's acres ought to be planted to corn and potatoes. He had no money, but he would give three days work. Who would furnish the seed, who do the blowing, who work with him at the planting? Here was a missionary field at home. It was because Bill Strong made the appeal in such a surprising way that the crowd took hold In five minutes all was settled. Next day the widows acres were being plowed, and within three days the planting had been finished.
 Bill Strong had a second appeal ready. He mounted the same horse block and thanked his colaborers in the name of charity and then proceed ed to say that the widows house was old and the roof leaked. As she sat there in her loneliness the water drip ped down on her grieving head. He had no money, but he would give his work if others would give the shin gles and nails. Others did so, and brand new roof appeared. Then came the third appeal. Why not paint the old house and make it match the newness of the roof? Two coats would be the thing, and such was the enthusiasm that one of the merchants insisted on being one of the brush wielders. There was an old fence in front of the house. Bill Strong made no appeal about that. He didn't have to. Others saw the need, and a new fence was built. A new roof was also put on the COW shed and the we'll pro- vided with a pump. Fowlerville en- unused from top to bottom.
 The women came to do their part. They presented the widow with dishes, carpets and furniture and gave her of their wardrobes. They clubbed their pin money and bought her a sewing machine. The Sunday school scholars bought the old horse a new harness and a stack of hay for their share. The Young Ladies' Literary club dis covered that the widows COW was on her last legs with old age, and the ami nal was sc.d to the butcher and a young one purchased. Never did so many gifts reach a widows hands. She was somewhat in debt, and the Young N,cn's Athletic club insisted on paying them. So many actions. call ing for so 'l@ay tears, kept her eyes red and swollen all the time. while Bill Strong was looked upon with more awe and admiration than if he had won the welterweight champion ship of the world
 By the time all these good things had been done it was time to hoe the corn and potatoes and weed the gar den. Fowlerville turned out en masse for that. It was made a sort of legal holiday, and over a hundred men and women turned out to make a picnic of the work. Those who didn't turn out furnished the lemonade and sand wiches for dinner. When the hoeing and wedding had been finished men and women agreed that there was nothing more to be done.
 But Fowlerville made one more ral- ly. It raised a clear hundred dollars in cash and placed the purse in the hands of the widow. She had shed many, many tears, but she squeezed out few more.
 Next morning the town beheld Bill Strong moving his few household goods out of his cooper shop. He had busy air about him. He also had a changed look. When he had gone to a clothing store and priced a twenty five dollar suit and been to the rail road depot to inquire the price of a