Year: 1877

IRON the buruugtOu \Aaj 4AoWAcySJ


Rev. Jerome H. Benson is young man,
minister of great promise, and is greatly
beloved by the members of his flock. But he
is very bashful young man, and it is quite q
cross for him to make pastoral calls and get
acquainted with the people of the congrega-
ton. He has lived in Burlington only about
self up and went to call at the residence of
Mrs. Jasper L. Blasingby, on West Hill, who
is very stylish, and has tour lovely daughters,
and young Mr. Benson was accordingly more
than usually nervous and embarrassed, and
when he got to the house and entered the
parlor door and saw company, two young
gentlemen visiting two of the Misses Bias,
ingby, his wits Immediately went WOOL
gathering.


Mrs. Blasingby bowed him into the parlor,
grandly introduced him to the young men,
and waved him toward an easy chair. AS he
moved toward it she made second effort to
capture his hat, and after some feeble resist
ance by the young minister che succeeded.
And then that man, thoroughly demoralized
by the loss of his hat, made wavering ad-
vance toward the easy chair, and then, lm-
PEELED by the thought that he was very sell
fishly taking the most comfortable chair In
the room, he sweryed aside and headed Tor
an inviting looking straight back chair that
stood against the wall. Mrs. Blasingby, re-
turning from the hat rack in the hall, OWNED
his intention, and bore down upon him for
the purpose of getting him anchored in the
the easy chair. But the young minister had
the weather gage, and the more she bowed
and floul ished and said, ''Oh, do take this
easy chair, Mr.. Benson," the more steam he
put on, and the nearer he worked to the
straight back chair. He reached it. He
caught hold of the back to lift it from the
wall, and the back came out IN his hand like
a loose tooth. For brief second he stood
there, very gracefully holding the chairback
in his hand, listening to Mrs. Blasingby' s hur.
ried explanations about the children, and
then he attempted to put the chair back where
it belonged. He didn't succeed very well,
for the back weakened on itself as he fumbled
with it. and two or three pieces fell out of it.
Mrs. Blaisngby was now begging him to leave
it alone and sit down in the easy chair. His
face was so hot and red he couldn't hear q
word che said, and in desperation he set the
back on the chair, leaned it against the wall,
and picked up the chair, bodily and started
across the room with it without any particu-
lar intention, and followed by trail of chair
back, legs, and stray springs that dotted the
carpet like the track of tornado. He doesn't
know to this day how Mrs. Blasingby got the
chair away from him. He can only remem-
Der that when he was about two blocks away
from the house he discovered that he was
carrying switch cane with an ivory head,
carved in very Black Crook design, evi-
dently the property of one of the young men,
and that his head was covered by a jaunty
little hat OF dove colored silk and rough straw
turned up at one side, and decorated with q
pearl buckle and a long dropping plume. all
of which he had often admired on the head
of the youngest Miss Blasingby. His pecu-
liar appearance and evident mental distress
when he was met in this guise by his senior
deacon gave rise to the rumors that he was
intoxicated, which were, however, so well
explained at the church meeting last evening
that Mr.. Benson was unanimously requested
to withdraw his resignation. This, we are
sorry to learn, he steadfastly refused to do,
and it is understood that he has accepted q
chaplaincy at the Black Hills.