Year: 1876




Full details of the unfortunate affair of


Mrs. Dingle's hired girl have not yet


come to light, but enough is known to


warrant the statement that more Ia


mentable accident has rarely occurred


in st. Louis. Mrs. DinSle lives in n nice


house on Benton street, goes in good So


ciety- good deal and dresses we'll, and,


as a matter of course, the hired girl imi-


tates her mistress as far as possible in


the attention she pays TO personal adOrn-


ments. Mrs. Dingle appeared in pull


back the other morning, with 4 hustle,


which attracted the hired girls admira-


tion, and as it was Thursday, and she


would have the afternoon to go out in,


she resolved to appear in hustle like


that of her mistress at all hazards. She


went at once to constructing the attach


ment TO her dress, but found great diff


Guilty in making the hustle in its outlines


follow the depressiOns and cOnvolutions
of the one she was initiating until the
happy thought occurred to her to utilize


the ciothes-line in giving form to the OBJ


stinate protuberanee. She went out and


and took the clothes-iine down and as


certained subsequently by winding the


coil of rope up closely that IL made the
perfection of stuffing for the hustle,
springy, uUdulating and pliable. She


used siXty-thTee feet and a half of rope
in all, aud was perfectly satisfied wi tn


her work At O'Clock in the afternoon
! she started out for promenade and to


keep am engagement with her Young


man, Il street-car driver, at present out of
business. The hired girl did't take a
street car, but walked down town, feeling
that after taking so much pains, she was
too fine figure of woman not to show
herself. She enjoyed the walk immense
ly until she had nearly reached Frank
l lin avenue, when she felt Il slight twitch
| In the rear. She turned but didn't no.
tice anything. Around the corner,
though, she heard a boy calling out ''sas-
singers - and another one across the
street yelled ''snaix," She went on her


way with scorn, when she felt the twitch
again, and looking around this time she
saw something. She saw 4 small rope
reaching back around the corner, and
from the manner in which il moved she
knew that a boy must have hold of the
| other end of il. The dreadful clothes
! line in her hustle had become loOsened at
one end and the boys had got hold of it
! She knew they hadn't got il all yet, for
she could feel it paying out like hose from


4 reel. At first she nearly tainted away,
and then she started to run, but il was
/ of no use. The boys played her as a fish
4 erman would trout. and showed a great


deal of science, keeping a moderately
/ taut line but running along near enough
/ 10 the hIred 10 prevent TOO great a strain
/ on the tackle. They would have landed
/ her somewhere, probably, but that she
I had presence of mind to snatch up hay
| knife on exhibition in front of 4 hard
/ ware store and cut the rope with it. No
/ sooner was she free than she darted for
a street-car and went home again. She
4 wouldn't meet her young man with a
/ fiat hustle, and the loss of her clothes
/ line had left her absolutely without any
/ style whatever. When she got home she
I had high fever, and it was in her deliri-
/ um that she gave to Mrs. Dingle all the
details of the distressing occurrence.