Boon For Housekeepers

1901

An ingenious inventor recently noticed that housekeepers frequently find it very difficult to keep their clotheslines in proper position, and, investigating further, he learned that all those who have occasion to use ropes or cords are often somewhat puzzled when they are called upon to tighten them or to maintain them in a strained position.

Consequently he set his brains to work and invented an instrument by means of which any rope or cord can be easily and securely tightened and held in position. The instrument consists of an iron rod, at one end of which are two other small, perpendicular rods, while at the other end is a wooden handle, similar to a crank, and which serves the same purpose. The slack portion of the cord is rolled around two perpendicular rods, and then by simply moving the crank the rope can be tightened to any extent desired. As soon as the crank begins to work the rope begins to wind itself around the rods, and when it is sufficiently tightened the free end can be securely fastened by means of a prop.

Cattle Eat Man's Trousers, Other Things

1912

Cattle Ate Up the Washing

John Corr at Newton Butler sued Frank Beggan for ten dollars damages for the alleged destruction of some clothing. The defendant's cattle had a tremendous appetite, said M. E. Knight, the plaintiff's attorney. One day the plaintiff had a washing out and these cattle made a "meal of it. In his evidence the plaintiff said the washing had been left bleaching on the hedge. When he saw the cows dining off some sheets he pulled the remains out of their mouths. They had completely eaten a pair of trousers, a blouse and some other pieces. — London Globe.


Perfect Compliment

We please ourselves that in you we meet one whose temper was long since tried in the fire, and made equal to all events; a man so truly in love with the greatest future that he cannot be diverted to any less. — Ralph Waldo Emerson.


One of Them

Gerald—I came near losing my life today.
Geraldine—Well, mistakes will happen.


Well, Naturally

A man charged in an English court with disorderly conduct pleaded that, seeing a notice on a lamp post, he climbed up to read it, and the words "Wet paint" slightly annoyed him.

—The Daily Commonwealth, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, December 17, 1912, page 11 and 12.