Democratic Sentinel, Volume 1, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 August 1877 — An Odd Genius. [ARTICLE]

An Odd Genius.

A queer genius lives at East Burke—a man who probably has not spoken to another man directly for the past twentyfive years. He will talk with a womans or a minor, but never with a man; even his own sons, as they arrive at 21 years of age, are talked to no longer. When he can do no better he will talk to the stove, or a horse, or whatever else happens to be near, and say: “ Old horse, you tell Mr. Smith I want to buy his farm.” Mr. Smith can speak for himself, but will only get an answer as he hears it addressed to the “old horse.” This eccentric individual will allow no man to sit on his right hand; he will sooner stand up or leave, and has often stood up through church services when he could find no seat without a man at his right hand. He speaks in meetings, and is quite an earnest, interesting speaker.— Burlington ( Vt.) Free Preus. Tiikiftiness would seem to have reached its limit in Paris. There the custom of hiring meat is growing. Big pieces of meat, ham, or poultry are ordered from the shops, and good care is taken that, in moving, the pieces are not disfigured. What is not eaten is returned to the shops and weighed, the loss being charged to the housekeepers. The returned joints are then retailed in slices. A lawsuit begun in Indiana fourteen years ago, to recover §7.50 for use of a water privilege, has lately been ended by a decision in favor of the defendant, The costs amount to §2,000.