Weekly Caledonian. (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1919-1920, 1919-04-02
PAGE SEVEN

which we did business. But Jack
: Purses obituary was the summary
and the heart-st0ry of 4 mans life
f bringing death home to us-stark
and sinister and grim and deadly.
Sam would suffer no one else to at
tempt that column story. He also
wrote an article for the editorial
column. And both were masterpieces
because he forgot he was writing for
print, forgot the thing called literary
effect, forgot technique and para
graphing and punctuation and style
and composed from his soul the
simple little record of the passing Of
4 friend.
The obituary and the editorial
caused much comment in the COM
munity. Everyone knew the Purses
and how Jacks fortunes were about
to change just rs he was "taken."
Everyone knew also, the predicament
in which Mary had been left. 1t hap
pened that the evening the sewing
circle of Calvary church met the day
between the death and the funeral
and the comment of its membership
is again Of note:
Mrs. Artemus Howard voiced the
universal sentiment. She said:
81 don't mind the passing of Mr..
Purse himself. He's out of his
troubles. But think of Mary-nice
little woman that she is-left with all
those little children! What will she
ever do?"
"And after all the trouble she had
about ten years ago with her own
folksw declared Mrs. Taylor, "-not
to mention the struggles she has been
through since in financial way and
havin' so many babies and ALL I
wish the Lord would give me the
running of this universe for just five
minutes. I'd change some things! It'd
do your soul good to watch mel"
II heard he was just going to
work for old man Ezekial at some
fishy-soundin' sum of money" de-
clared Mrs. Dexter Merritt. "Hed
went up with nerve O. brass that I
wish my Dexter could muster, and
he'd got Mr.. Ezekial to do somethin'
handsome for him. And right away
he's taken! Right when the light was
shinin' through on all the darkness
of his struggles and troubles, he was
taken! What mystery, what a
mystery! And a mess! There simply
amt no consistency to the world no.
how"
Mrs. Fred Babcock called attention
| to the fact that Jack carried no life
insurance although Fred had been up
to see the Purses scores of times and
Jack was always just going to do it
but never felt he could quite afford
it and now look at the fix his wife is
in. And she went on to say that was
always the way it was: men without
chick or childer and only some
frumpy old woman to look after, al
ways carried thousands and them as
had helpless wives and little mouths
depending on 'em thought they could
get by somehow and take chances
with death that always bested 'e'
Mrs. Walter Gaylord said II
lage ought to take u
to help Mary out and
Sparrow said she do,
would accept it if the
She was very proud,
which Judge Farmer
"beggers shouldn't
which she was imme' for,
meaning no unkindn, Oeing
simply unfortunate in he. ,ice of
a proverb OF an axiom appropriate for
the circumstances.
Mrs. Blake Whipple, lady of parts
and known of old to have an eye for
business, for once had no comment to
make in a commercial capacity. She
merely remarked that Blake was
pretty well screwed up to such site
uations and usually they didn't up.
set him. But when he came back
from the Purse place with all those
little CHILDREN playing around almost
as usual and never knowing their
loss that was laid out in the chilly
front room, he said damn his business
anyhow and if it wasn't for the dead
folks havin' to be took care of and
someone simply havin' to do it, he'd
get out of it so quick you'd never
see him and his hearse go; you'd just
simply miss 'em.
But Jack Purse was gone-gone!
Gone just when his fortunes showed
promise of change. Why? We do
not know. We wish that we did. It
was one Of those great mysteries of
life again that maybe sometime, over
the border ourselves, we will hear
Kind Voice explain.
Again l repeat-this is only the
plain unadorned chronicle of ordin-
airy day to day living among aver
age folks in a little country town
and such things are happening all
about us with each passing hour.
But do not let us grow morbid.
Let's see how Mary's life turned out
CHADTEp XTTT