The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1911-05-03
NAMING THE
BABY
BY M. QUAD
Copyright. 1910. by Associated Lat
erary Press

There is no prettier village in the
whole west than that Of Pentwater,
situated on the shores Of Lake Michi-
I gan. Ii Is also thriving place, but
/ there was a time In its history, and not
so many years ago. that 1t had ter
/ rible fight for Its life, and that dght
| was precipItated by ten pound boy
baby
| Mr. James Pond. young man OF
twenty-five, fell In love with Miss
/ Edith Brown He bought and ship
ped butter eggs. potatoes and the like,
4 and she was a schoolteacher. 1t Is
not on record that one single person In
Pentwater had an objection to the
courtship. Marriage followed. and
still no objection 1t was congratula.
tons instead But when time had
passed and a little Teller Of a bat
Jumped into the arena there was
sudden and awful change. The father
had become a Sunday school superin-
tendent. and within two days after
the birth OF the baby he announced
1 that 1t was to be named Leviticus.
Mrs. Pond was very good woman,
indeed. but she wasn't good enough to
stand for such name as that. She
announced that the boy was To be
named Leon. and right there the row
began. Both had relatives. and the
relatives were dragged into 1t. IL you
trace the record of Leyitlcus back you
will find that be was very good man
and that his name was all right for the
age In which be lived. At that time
no one used nlcknames. No one
thought of shortening his cognomen to
Leave" or Levi" 1t was always
pronounced In full.
Mrs. Pond and her adherents held
that the name had served Its purpose
and should not be dug up for the bene-
ut of her son. When the two names.
"I.eviticus' and Leon were writ
ten side by side the odds seemed to
be ten to one In favor OF the latter.
The boys might cut 1t TO Lee" and
still leave II a pretty name.
sit shall be Leon. little darling. and
don't you worry" murmured the moth
err as she held the kid closer TO her
bosom and her relatives said they
would back her up in 1t to their last
ton of hay.
But there was the father 10 deal
with He had not been known as
desperate or determined man. but now
It appeared that he was. he vowed
by the beard OF his father that the
baby should be baptized under the
name OF Leviticus or not at all, and
he began using the name at home aud
abroad. There were those who con-
graduated him and told him that be
was doing a great thing for Pentwater.
Ii cannot be said that business came
to complete standstill. but IT was
certainly affected. Several houses that
were to be erected were not begun be-
cause the interested parties quarreied
over that baby.
When the kid bad reached the age OF
six weeks and was just beginning to
take an interest in the questions OF the
day its father insisted that baptism
should take place. Tears were shed
and protestations made. but In vain.
Then be came home to supper one
night to hnd that wife and baby had
fed to her mothers. he ordered them
back. but they refused to come as
mother and Leviticus. Then Mr..
Ponds minister and his two deacons
stepped in. They hadn't done so
before hoping the affair would be set
tied in the family. The trouble that
faced them now. however, was that
they were all for Leyiticus. They pro-
nounced the name as softly as they
could and had much good TO say as to
the character of the man. but they
made no Roadway. There were other
ministers and deacons In the village,
but they kept hands of. Tin peddlers
and lightning rod men visited Pent-
water, and those who were wise
enough not to butt in did good bust
ness: those who shifted at Leon" and
called 1t novelish name or those who
giggled at "Levitlcus" and called him
back number got themselves into
trouble.
Months went by. but both sides re-
manned firm.
But there must come climax to all
things, and Pentwater finally had a
climax. 1t was being proposed by
citizens Of sense to have fire. cir
Gus or an earthquake to kill off the
old question when a good old man
came to the town and heard all about
the matter He was selling home
made liniment, good for man or beast.
1t could be used externally or internal.
ly. II would cure outside rheumatism
or inside collie. Rub 1t on your back
with a piece of red flannel and your
lumbago would disappear. Take ten
drops internally. with the red hannel
left out. and your heartburn would
trouble you no more.
When the old man had learned the
particulars of the quarrel over the
baby he stroked bis venerable chin
whiskers and murmured:
II see. ] see. You are pack OF
idiots In Pentwater! There should
have never been an argument over
It."
"Have you got a COMPROMISED" was