Evening journal., 1912-01-16

Tho town OF Bidwell up in the New
England hills. was town of peace.
1t had been founded just forty years
when its first real sensation came.
One day Deacon Goodhue borrowed
Deacon Hardmans garden hoe, and
after using il few minutes he broke
dt or at the shank While he con
tended that II was old and rusty and
ready TO break. he offered to buy
new one TO replace it. Much to his
surprise, he was allowed TO do so, and
he went home to say to his wife
Martha, I've known Deacon Hard
man for thirty years and have just
found him out He's n human hog,
and If he ever goes to heaven I want
TO go somewhere else"
For two weeks after that the two
deacons nodded coldly to each other
whenever they met. and It gradually
became known TO Bidwell that their
relations were strained Then one
= morning Deacon Goodhue set out to
drive flve hogs over TO the weighing
scales. He had to pass the other
dcacons house. and as he came along
the gate was open, and all the hogs
made a rush for t. He was trying to
drive them out Of Deacon Hardman's
yard when the latter came out and
said:
by gum. Deacon Goodhue. but this
Is goin' too fur--too fur You opened
5 that gate and driv' your hogs in on
. me a-purposew
Il never did. and you know
dldntr retorted Deacon Goodhue as
he paused in his running.
Yes. you did"
"No, I didn't"
do you call me a liar?"
"Yes, II you call me one"
''Take It back or IN mop the ground
4 with you"
y Come out here and I'll make you
Y see starsw
Then and there the deacons clinched
and rolled on the ground together, and
they were choking each other and
breathing hard when Moses Schemer
horn came along and separated them
Deacon Hardman went straight TO Jus
(, tice Somerfeld and swore out war
rant for assault and battery
Both men had their friends, and ths
public was divided The only person
who had witnessed the fracas was
Deacon Hardman's wife, but there
were other witnesses sworn.
Old Mrs Taylor swore that she had
always suspected Deacon Goodhue e
be n man OF violent temper and thai
he only needed TO be kicked to become
a murderer. Moses Hunt was a mile
nway that morning looking for his
icow. but he swore that Deacon Hard
man WAS the sort Of man TO lose hil
temper and do awful things II hs
found a strange hog roofing up hi
hollyhocks. Abner Crossman, VIII,
had known both parties for thirteer
years. swore that he had known Dea
con Goodhue 10 fall or a haystack
get mired in a swamp and fight bum
blebees for half an hour without losing
the smile on his face. and he could
not believe that he had begun this
fuss Opposed 70 him was Trueheari
johnson. who said he had seen Deacon
Hardman kicked head over heels by a
COW. run over by a hog and knocked
down by a ram and that he preserved
humble spirit throughout and even
asked the COW to forgive him n he
had hurt her feelings
Mrs. Hardmsn's testimony was that
she was washing the dishes after
breakfast when she heard her husband
give a grunt and rush from the house
She followed him to the door and
heard and saw all that subsequently
passed. though IN such a nervous state
that she could not be sure OF any
thing. she felt almost sure that
Deacon Goodhue said ''by gum" and
devil ana "old crank" but she
wouldn't be positive Of it. She was
almost as sure that her husband
started to sing a hymn and made som,
Scriptursl quotation. but she nigh
have been mistaken. She was not sur
who grabbed the other first. but sh
could swear on the living Bible tha
they had trodden all the cucumber
tnto the earth and broken down mos
of her tiger lilies.
IL took two days to try the case. an
meanwhile all business was suspenC
ed, including the sawmill. There wa
no jury, and when almost ererybod
~ town had sworn on one side or tn