People's Pilot, Volume 6, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 November 1896 — Sweet Revenge Revised. [ARTICLE]

Sweet Revenge Revised.

All through the blistering days of summer, when it was a cool man indeed who could keep his temper and plod along about his business, the ladies of Rensseaer were hand and glove in a conspiracy to make life miserable for their husbands. These good wives, and barring this conspiracy they are good wives, have repeatedly met in afternoon convention to discuss those many importances so dear to feminine heart. From all these several conclaves the cruel invitations excluded man. The dutiful husband and devoted escort of other relation were given the marble heart; they were made to feel how utterly superfluous their existence was; the successes of these all feminine conclaves were magnified to aggrevating proportions, and life itself made miserable for the unoffending husband, who as every man knows, is a very important and essential auxiliary to every well regulated family. In the nature of things mortal the course of such events would run into the proverbial turn in every lane, and it remained for that whole souled, forbearing comrade, Q. W. Coen, to call that turn. His many friends were startled into conscious being by the receipt of the following:

Sweet Revenge, Owing to the fact that the ladies have monopolized all the entertainments of the season, and to teach them a wholesome lesson, you are invited to lend your presence for the evening, with men only, at the home of C. W. Ooen, Friday, Nov. 13,1896. Heavy supper at 6:30 o’clock. That little note fairly electri fled those long suffering and patient husbands; with one accord they grasped the significance of the grand inspiration and prepared to make it most interesting for those hereinbefore mentioned good wives. They made no effort to conceal the fact that they, the men, and men only, were going out to a “heavy supper” at the proper hour for such an event, 6:30 p. m. Well to make the story brief

they did go, in fact they unexpectedly received the most obliging encouragement and kindly assistance from the good wives to go early and enjoy themselves all by themselves. The heavy supper was served, and it was a heavy supper, worthy the occasion, and heavy were the appetites that greeted it. That supper would put to shame the sham affairs that constituted the collations set before sham appetites at those feminine “afternoons.” After the heavy supper came music, vocal, instrumental and mental; everything was passing in the superlative degree of solid happiness, when something happened. The front door opened by a hand from without unannounced, uninvited any man, in poured those unblushing wives, rudely trespassing on the sacred presence of their avenging husbands. They came in through that front door as though they owned the house, and if anything, outnumbered the rightful, honorably admitted guests.

Of course the men were not expecting any such rude interruption but it did not surprise them, for years of painful experience had accustomed them to expect surprises from those good wives upon the most unexpected occasions. Even with all of these sad circumstances it was evident that the men guests as well as those who arrrived at the eleventh hour did enjoy themselves as never before at a party in Rensselaer. The following are the names of the guests who were present at the party: I*lr. and Mrs. U G Spltler “ E P honon “ “ JUS Ellis H L Brown “ E D lilioades “ Delos Thompson “ “ T J McCoy “ Geo E Murray “ “ ■ A F Look “ H J Manual " 11 B Gamble “ B Forsythe “ “ W B Austin “ “ Geo E Marshall “ “ F D Craig ! “ “ K B Harris “ J L Brady “ H W Porter “ “ G K Hollingsworth “ “EC English “ “ J W Williams “ “ Bob’t Handle “ J N Leatherman “ “ W H Coover “ “ B Ferguson “ J F Hardman “ •• F Foltz “ S P Thompson *• J F Warren W O Moore Mrs. Elizubeth Brown “ Valentlhe Selb “ Ora Boss “ Stockton “ W H Sanders Mesd&mes, F J Soars and Zlmri Dwlgglns of Des Moines,lowa; Walters for the table were 0. W. Coen, J. L. Brady and J. N. Leatherman. Delos Coen and Taylor McCoy ushered for the gentlemen. Leila McCoy and Lela Coen for the Ladies.