The Press., 1916-08-10
A Mad w oman
 By ALAN HINSDALE

ihyness. She was equally mercurial. One moment the world to her was a garden of roses, the next a universal cemetery.
 was clerking on $7O month when I married her. and we went to live in cottage standing by itself on the out skirts of the city. The nearest house was half mile away. Of course we couldn't afford to keep a servant, so Lucy was cook and housemaid. Fortu- nately her mother had taught her how to prepare viands for an ordinary meal, and I usually got home from business in time to help her with the dinner.
 Our only trouble was Lucy's loneli. ness while l was away, as was all day except Sunday. We had not thought of this when we engaged the cottage. Indeed, We were too young and inexperienced to think of most of our necessities. Every morning when I left my wife she would cling to me so that it was hard to get away from her. But in the evening when re turned the happy smile on her face and light in her eyes were delicious.
 
 half high. The half story was nothing more than an open space under the roof It was approached by rude staircase and entered by a trapdoor in its floor furnished with bolt under meath. We would have used it for a storeroom, which means place for family accumulations. but nothing had as yet accumulated. Indeed, we hadn't enough to furnish the house.
 One day on returning from business I had reached wood through which usually made short cut to the house and was passing through 1t when 1 heard a shot. which seemed to come from the direction of my home. ran through the wood, but before emerg- ing from it heard another shot, fol- lowed by the sound of the falling of shattered glass. Visions of my little wife being murdered lent me additional speed, and, clearing the wood at a bound, had view of my house.
 Under a window in the garret stood my wife with my fowling piece in her hands, pointing it upward. Her back was toward me, so she did not see me.
 'You miserable, contemptible thingy' she cried to some invisible object. "I just wish you'd give me half a chance; I'd teach you how to break up my china set that my mother gave me for a wedding present"
 "For heavens sake, Lucy" cried. ''whom are you talking to?"
 She was so angry that either she didn't see me or wouldn't notice me. saw the frightened face of man for a fraction of a second at the window in the garret and heard simultaneous report from my shotgun, followed by more falling glass. sprang to Lucy and, seizing the gun. wrenched it out of her hands.
 "What does this all mean?" I said sharply.
 '"That miserable thing up there has broken all our best furniture; the din ner set Aunt Harriet gave me and the tea set mother gave me-"
 "Who is he? What is he? Where does he come frOm"
 He came into the house pretending he wanted something to eat, but, find ing me alone, he demanded money. told him had none to give him, and he began to break things and threat ened to kill me with a long knife if didn't give him all the cash there was in the house. told him he'd find it all hidden under a rafter in the storeroom. He went up there. I fol lowed him and bolted the door after him. I ran downstairs, expecting to faint on the sofa, but, seeing the wreck of our things, I began to get mad. The more ruined pieces found the maddel got. Seeing your gun standing in g corner, took it and, going outside, saw the man at the window. He had made d rope of some stuff he'd found in the garret and was going to let himself down when I shot at him and drove him back. Just think of that beautiful tea set that my mother
 I had heard enough. I told Lucy to go somewhere and telephone a police station, while I relieved her of her sentry duty. The mans face appeared at the window again, and she tried to snatch the gun from me to get another crack at him. told her to go at once, and she went off, turning once or twice to fire an angry look at the win dow
 After she had gone spoke to the man and told him he might as well make no effort to get away, and be quiet. This he knew without my tell ing him. and l had no trouble with him till patrol wagon came with sey eral policemen and Lucy. The rascal was let out of his trap and taken away.
 The excitement being over, Lucy was quite ready for good cry" on my shoulder. but think this was netssso much due to being let down as at the loss of our belongings, which could not be restored by punishing the man who had broken them, for he, had nothing to pay with.
 However. when our. relations and Friends heard the story of Lucy's trap Ling the robber and her madness" at lis having broken up her property. they duplicated everything he had smashed. so that we were not only as well off as before but was relieved anxiety at leaving my wife unprO- tccted during the day. However, when our lease expired, fearing that some other burglar might frighten her without making her mad and thus get an advantage of her, I decided to move into the city.
 A Deadly Industry.
 One of the most deadly callings and
 
 that of the workers in champagne eel lars. The work, which is light and without any obvious elements of risk to health, consists in turning over the bottles of champagne so that the wine may be clear and transparent and ab- ,olutcly free from sediment. The men who do this work spend eight or ten hours a day in the dark wine cellars, 1 turning over bottles by the thousand. This mon 0tOnona d,1fv fhov dfScb a ,.xrn I