Annals of our ancestors; one hundred and fifty years of history in the ...

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ANNALS OF OUR ANCESTORS
sciences waxed tender, and one evening as the old pair sat by
the fireside smoking their respective pipes, they began to dis-
cuss in just what way they should make restitution. At that
late day the question was: How can we restore the garnered
measure to the scattered patrons of the mill? Suddenly the
old wife hit upon a plan of restoration. They would invest
their ill-gotten gains in a saloon, a certain magnet for all their
scattered customers. The glass would tempt them all to enter
their saloon door, and once enticed, said glass should be so
short that the bibulous could not fall into the sin of intemperance;
in that way perfect restitution could be made for the
extra toll those same customers had paid. Short measure of
whisky given would atone for overmeasure of wheat taken.
A Cure for Delirium Tremens
Father was a Christian preacher, and Saturday evenings
were devoted to study. One dark, windy night as he sat in the
front room with a blazing fire, the family all having gone
aloft to their rooms, he heard a call from the front gate, to
which he responded and in his usual hospitable way invited
the stranger in. To our surprise the traveler carried a small
candle in his hand, which he had to protect from the wind.
He seemed much excited, and told father that a horse kept
running before him all the way down Brown's hill. Father
gave him a room and proceeded with his study and writing.
Directly he heard a call from the room, and on inquiry found
his guest in great distress, telling father that two calves were
sowing sulphur over his bed and besought him to smell the
clothes and detect if there were not sulphur in them. Father
told him he could neither see nor smell anything out of the
ordinary. The man became quiet again and father resumed
his work, but soon the call came again — this time the stranger
was having difficulty with two devils sitting on the head-board
sprinkling him with sulphur. At last father thought of a
familiar herb in the family pharmacopoeia — lobelia! The
dried herbs were taken from the closet, the teakettle placed on
the crane over the fire, and soon the decoction was made and
administered.