Smyrna times., 1912-08-28
AN OLD WO-
MANS WILL.
By M. QUAD
Copyright 1912. by Associated Lit
erary Press.
By M. QUAD

l.
but she was always referred to in the
village Of Rowland as old Mrs. Craig. |
She was a widow when she came there. |
and she was a widow when she died, |
ten years later.
The arrival of a stranger in a village |
of 1900 inhabitants. and that stranger |
a woman and a widow, is bound to |
stir up things. She bought a house Of |
Deacon Craft for 5000. and when ask
ed where she came from her prompt re-
ply was:
None O. your darned businessw
She bought new furniture and moved
in. and that was the beginning of a
rather strange life. Word went around
the town that the newcomer was
"techy," and it did not prove a mis-
take. She CARED a crouch on either
shoulder. She was judged to be sixty
years old, but she was as spry as a
girl of sixteen. She paid cash for
what she bought. but whether she had
plenty or little could only be guessed
at Any queries thrown out on this
subject were met by:
you mind your business and I'll
mind miner
Several ladies called on Mrs. Craig in
a neighborly way. They wanted to let
her know that, although she was a
stranger within their gates, she could
at once begin TO lend and borrow tea.
sugar and coffee the same as an old
resident None of them got into the
house. At the front door they were
asked their business and told they were
not wanted.
Elder Hazlett was her neighbor on
the right He kept chickens the same
as all other residents. Among them
was a Shanghai rooster, who could
crow like a two-year-old bull. His
Growing didn't seem to annoy anybody
but the widow. She jumped on the
elder with a suit for damages, and she
scared him into paying her $40 and
wringing the ROSTERS neck with such
a wiring that he never crowed again
The rooster incident was the begin
ming of a dozen lawsuits. The woman
reveled in them. She brought suits
against men and women and the vii
lage. She had the money to pay he
lawyers and the costs. She had the
spunk to appeal when beaten. For five
years she kept the town in a turmoil
and finally it was decided that she
must be crazy. and an order was pro
cured from the court to have her sanity
inquired into. Six medical men did
the business-that is, they came out Of
1t with features dragging.
1t was shortly after this that Mrs
Craig was found dead in her bed. She
had said that she had no relatives. anC
the courts took charge. A will wa
found. and when in due time it wa
opened it knocked the breath out o.
many villagers. There were 149 be
quests, and only samples Of them cal
be given here. One Of her first be
quests to the village was:
81 hereby bequeath the sum of $500
to the village Of Rowland for the pur
pose of buying a fire engine and erect
ing a house for the same"
There was a hum Of approval as tha
paragraph was read. but it died sud
den death.
provided that" it continued, "ol'
Squar Billings rolls the length of tn
mudhole on Main street three times
day for ten successive days.
r ITO Elder Hazlett, who called me
crank. the sum of $1,000, provided h
will ride his old spotted COW fou
times around the Methodist meetin
I house on the first Sunday of eac
month for a year.
"To Mrs. Henry Rayburn the sum G
$1,000 to buy herself a new nose.
never hked the one she has. 1t ha
+ always poked into other peoples al
+ fairs"
/ Mrs. Rayburn had helped to prepar
the old woman for burial, and at I'd
t reading of the paragraph she wa
/ heard to murmur that she wished tn
t. bodv had been thrown into the river
d .aTo the county of Dwight the SUI
r Of $4,000. to erect a new Jail, provl'
It ed that Mr. James. Mrs. White an
Mrs Graham are the first three prisol
ers in it and serve not less than slxl
DAYS as a cure for their gossip
tongues"
Dwight county didn't get the none
q and the Jail
ITO the village of Howland the su
I. Of $1,000 for the grading and paving
,r its main street and putting IN sewer
(. provided Deacon Darius Black OF Il
2 Methodist church stands on his hea
:, In front of the postoffice for I've mi
;. utes on Eve consecutive days"
The deacon was told be would
= considered the meanest man ever II
= heat the town out of that bequest, b.
= no got mad about it and offered to liz
- any man that would step outdoo
with him.
.To Mrs. James French the sum
81 600 to spend in soap and towels
n keen her children's faces clean and {
W hooks and eyes sewed on her dresses
o. mo proviso. but it was not claimed
81 ..The sum Of $1,000 to Mrs. Cal
" Jackson and Mrs. Charles Tinker pI
is vided they quit lying about their nelg
az 1 - 49, epaoa of one year ana