Rensselaer Union, Volume 9, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 August 1877 — A Wronged Man. [ARTICLE]

A Wronged Man.

John Fitch Hastings, of Adamsavenue, had the toothache. An old snag in his jaw went on a strike, and the way it jumped and ached and carried on Made John Fitch Hastings raving mad And the wav he tore around Brought all the boys from blocks away J To near him swear and pound. After a long night of suffering the man sat down on his back steps in the sun, his bead bound up, a poultice on his cheek and the camphor bittie in his hand. The boys were in the alley waiting for him, and one of them called out: “ Ah! how glad we are to behold the beauties of the rising sun, but don’t forgetto touch yourtongue to the camphor!” A second boy raised his head above the fence and said: “ The dew is on the grass, and all nature is fresh foranotherday’s labor. How wonderful is Nature, and why don’t you fill that tooth with hot soap?” Several other boys had remarks to make, and by-and-by the man with the toothache resolved to kill fourteen and wound seven or eight more. He was pursuing them through the streets when taken in charge, and his Incarceration didn’t help his toothache any. His Honor took a long look at him and laid : “ I’ve been there. If I ever murder anybody it will be while I’m suffering with the toothache. Go home and be as patient as you can. Sit down in a cool comer ana think of cracking walnuts in your teeth. Just imagine the dentist prying around the roots of that tooth with a bradawl. Reflect on how nice it will feel as he fastens to it and begins to twist and jerk and pull. That’s all—you may go.” —Detroit Free Preu.