The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1912-02-27
Who's Who In
Grafton
BY M. QUAD
Copyright, 1911, by Associated Lit
erary Press
By M. QUAD

y
with toothache. and after he Had kept
! 1t up for three hours his mother put her
fingers into his mouth and found O
| loose tooth and wrenched it out The
same day other things happened
Johnny cut his heel on an old tin can,
a playmate of his fell from tree and
broke his arm.
Johnny Shaw's father was carpen-
ter and did not even own the house he
lived in. He intended that the boy
should learn the same trade, but at the
age of eighteen Johnny ran away and
was not heard of for years. AS he was
always talking about the sea, it was
supposed that he became a sailor. He
had been gone year and no news had
come from him, when an uncle died
and left him legacy of $4,000. The
money was invested until he should
turn up. Three years after that the
father died When eight years had
elapsed without news from the missing
son the mother was advised to have
him legally declared dead and to bene-
fit by his legacy, but she decided to
wait awhile longer. She did wait until
eleven long years had passed away.
Then, one summers day as she sat
sewing, the long lost boy walked into
the house and took her in his arms.
Until the news that Johnny Shaw had
got home circulated around the village
no one but the mother had identified
the stranger, although he had walked
about for two days. Then there was a
division of opinion right away. 1t would
seem that If mother were satisfied as
TO the identity outsiders ought to be.
1t was so in this case with only about
half the residents of the town.
When the matter of the legacy was
finally taken up there was only one
person in Grafton who still doubted.
1t was Elder Frisbie of the Methodist
church. When Johnny Shaw was four
teen years old he and another lad had
stolen tomatoes from the garden of the
elder and quite fuss had been made
about it. The elder had insisted that
Mr. Shaw tan his sons jacket, and this
has been done.
The new John Shaw in talking over
old "reminiscences could not remember
the above incident Elder Frisbie had
never forgotten the least detail, and be
argued that no boy Of fourteen could
drop a laundering big licking out OF
his memory in eleven years. He him
self could remember lickings he had
received forty years before. Right on
that one incident the elder began a talk
that resulted in keen legal investiga
ton John Shaw must prove his iden
tity beyond a doubt You will say that
with his mother behind him this ought
to have been a very easy matter but II /
didn't turn out 10 be. There were
sharp lawyers engaged ON either side.
When the boy, John Shaw, left home
1t was at O'Clock at night, and his
mother had run In to neighbours &c
borrow something. When the man I
John Shaw. was asked to state how he
left home and the hour, he claimed that
he lowered himself from his window at
midnight. This was the first break be
left The name was Billy. Shaw gave
the name and breed all right, but when
asked the color he could not give it
There was a big pear tree in the back
yard, and he had eaten of its fruit and
climbed its trunk many times Two
years after he went away the tree
blew down. When asked about the
tree the man denied that there had
ever been one there.
During the first days examination
the man was caught about twenty
times, but, on the other hand, he was
correct in some City different state
ments. On the second day the proper
ton was about the same. 1t was OF
course argued that one who had been
away for eleven years and passed
through adventures and hardships and
grown from youth to manhood would
naturally forget many things, but there
we're many who were far from salts.
led On the third day came the SUI
Dreme test. The mother was still stick.
ng by the son and was highly indig
lant at the assertion that he was an I
OF course, she would furnish :
40 material to help expose him.
On the third day a woman who had '
)een married about FIVE years came for
ward to. testify. At the age of sixteen {
he boy, Shaw, had been madly in love
With her On certain day, which she
md others remembered because of the
of barn. John had proposed '
N elopement and marriage and had &
,een laughed at. Now he could remem. [
'er nothing of the incident. In fact, {
lie denied it, though there were at least {
tx witnesses to corroborate the one on /
he stand. The court decided that no
10Y of sixteen ever went crazy over
fri and forgot all about it in eleven
ears, and John Shaw was held as an {
mpostor and at his trial was more I
ully exposed and sentenced to prison 4
or three years. d