The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1913-10-10
SARAH
NOSE
: By M. QUAD
1918. by Associated Lit
erary Press.

for the hero Of a dime novel. and nei.
Their was he SO plain faced that the
children were afraid Of him.
When Lucinda Carter was born and
the neighbors called to see the kid
and guess at her weight there was a
Jolt all along the line. They were pre-
pared to see an ordinary baby girl
without claws OF teeth IS yet. They
had their comments all ready, but they
were not uttered. A gasp of surprise
took the place of words.
Little Lucinda Carter had a face on
her, to be. sure. but 1t was mostly COM
posed Of nose. 1t began half an inch
higher than any other nose. 1t had
the Roman hump to it. 1t bumped up
and then bumped down and then took
on length until it far o%verhung her
mouth. 1t was a bad malformation. The
father and mother felt bad about It.
The town of Charlotte had been not
ed for its mineral spring and its pic
turesque location. 1t now became not
ed for its kid with q nose." Scores of
strangers had seen Lucinda before she
was a year old. and later on came the
dime museum man and other exhtb-
itors Of freaks. All were turned away.
1t was when she was about sixteen
years old that her nose made its first
appearance in a court Of law.
Lucinda was making a short railway
tourney with her mother, and while
waiting at a station an express train
passed them at a sixty mile clip. A
bolt had worked lose. and it came
whizzing through the air and the win
dow and struck the girl in the face
and smashed her nose.
The railroad company took shelter
behind the plea that it was an act OF
God and that the girl really looked bet
ter without a nose. Her father sued
for $4,000 damages and was awarded
half the amount.
Two years later the girl started by
stage for a village ten miles away.
She was without escort. but there were
five other passengers. At a certain
point the driver got down to pick up a
whip lost by some farmer. and as his
back was turned for the moment his
horses bolted. After they had run for
a quarter Of a mile the stage was up
set. Nobody was hurt except Miss Lu-
cinda. and. of course, she got it in the
nose. Smashed fat again. The stage
company offered 5000 in settlement.
but at the end Of a lawsuit had to
pay $4,000.
ut was supposed that TIT npse was
gone this time for sure, but a surgeon
from the city who had come to- drink
mineral water made an examination
and held out hopes. 1t cost money. but
he built up a third lose for her.
For two years that nose had a rest.
and the townspeople had ceased to
wonder what would be the next move.
when the dry goods firm Of Cline &
Bro. got a new sign. 1t was green and
gold and certainly some sign. 1t came
6 o'clock before the carpenters had
made the sign quite secure. but, Of
course. they quit on the minute. Next
morning it was raining and blowing.
and the idea was to wait for better
weather.
About 8 o'clock Miss Lucinda Carter
discovered that she was in need of a
spool Of black thread No. GO. She
therefore pinned on her hat. opened
her umbrella and tripped down to Cline
e. Bro.
bad morning." said the clerk.
Eyes; 1t u.s." -
"Notice our new sign?"
mo"
TITS a Jim dandy. believe me. Look
at It as you 60 out. Nothing else7
Good morning"
W.h.e-w! came a gust Of wind az
Miss Lucinda stepped out on the plat
form.
Rip, c.r-a-s-hl came the green and
gold sign.
The dandy sign was broken and
splintered and the girl knocked uncon-
scious-hit square on that nose, OF
course. and the clerk most tainted
away at sight Of It
THAT must be the finish Of her
nose." said all who saw its condition,
and when the doctor who was called
was asked about 1t he replied:
''1f she eve gets another nose it will
be a wax one"
There was q lawsuit for $1,000 dam
ages. and strangers came from a dis
lance Of fifty miles to e that nose
or the remains of it. The Judge .was
an honest Judge. He ruled
That she had q right to believe the
sign was secure.
That she did not cause the sudden
gust Of wind that tore It loose.
That 1t wasn't a fair shake for a
couple Of carpenters in a hurry to get
home to lay accidents to God.
That even Il the plaintiffs nose had
been smashed. three OF four times be-
fore It still remained the only nose
she had.
The plaintiff was awarded 5000
damages, and the surgeon who had
fixed her nose last came back after
some more mineral water and to say
10 her:
40 AAa-RLg -----S.-s~AALA>