LAMENTABLE RESULT CF A LADY’S EXPERIMENT.

Kumara Times, Issue 485, 16 April 1878, Page 2

LAMENTABLE RESULT CF A LADY’S EXPERIMENT.

The wife of Mr James Withers of East Bridgewater, Minnesota, was, until recently, one of the roost respectable in the East Bridge water Baptist Church. Minnesota happens, to he excessively cold in winterso cold In fact that the inhabitants are frequently unable to remmember their own hattiee. In spite of. her youth, and beauty, and general excellence, Mrs Withers was .peculiarly susceptible to the influence.of cold weather, and ’suffered ‘‘untold ' agonies from cold feet, from the l«t : November to the middle of April. The Baptist meeting HouseJwas a peculiarly 1 cold place, and it ofterrhappened that after the end of the Sunday morning service Mr Withers was compelled to carry his wife to thd stove and to'thaw her out before attempting to' take her’ home. During the recent ' cold snap' in East Bridgwater, Mra /Withers' 1 suffered so severiy that She i Wffiete"‘' i the determination to try-ev&y ifemedy' for cold feet which anyone might sag- ’ gest to her. ■ Oh '-evening, ! December 30, Mr Withers bsng absent j on a, visit to. Chicago/ hHyhflftg brother^ ; a bad young man,' ; of teller in the local 5 hkirk--'iihd - noted ’ for his «infls4: ) eveij description,’ called on Mrs j Withers, ! woman ithe | Baptist meetipg. Ijqusevtold her be/hjscK : | an infallible [ »hrm I He advised hi? ' pour half a pint of cayenne poppef, . mixed with two . table-spoonsful, pfbi ground mustard into each of her stock-j 1* 3 " 3 just before going to the and he assured her ; . that if. she try this cheap and simple prescription, her feet would warm. Mrs Withers, thanked r 3hgv' I young.man, with a guileless gratitude: I that would have touched.,the heart of .a-,, | brass monkey, and instantly sent.tbo 1 servant to i*uy six )K>unda of cayennepepper. On the following ■„ morning/ just before the bell rang for qhurch, jshe. 1 used the combined pepper and mustard, 1 in accordance, with instructions, and walked to the-meeting house, without any inconvenience frbm the cold. , The service began, and though at first Mra Withers felt delightfully warm she showed signs of Uneasiness Itmg before;. the minister gave the text. Just Wfciejc that eloquent preacher was well ftnd(Jt !j way he was struck dumb with hprror, - at the unaccountable conduct of Mra ‘ Withers, who suddenly began to dance ■ in the wildest manner, and to shriek “ Take them off,” in the most heartrending tones. It was to late iff the season for snakes, and hence the congregation jumped to the conclusion that Mrs Withers had gone mad. •. The deacons promptly hastened to her relief, but the more they tried to calm her the more violently she danced. Finally she broke loose from them, and/fearing off her shoes and stockings, fled barefooted to the nearest house. While ■: the congregation watched her flight down the aisle, and wondered whether she could break a hole in the frozen river, laree enough for drowning purposes, a sudden and unanimous desire to sneeze fell upon them, and for che next ten minutes the uproar was deafening.. At the end of that time, the minister dismissed the ; .audience by an elaborate pantomime, and went home firmly convinced that the days of demoniacal possession and witchcraft had returned. The next morning Mrs Withers took the earliest tram for Chicago, and the--wicked brother in-law, who was frightened at the horrible success of his joke, started prematurely upon hisEnropeantbit*.