BOSS WILSON'S LEG.

Inangahua Times, Volume IV, Issue 6, 7 December 1877, Page 2

BOSS WILSON'S LEG.

Twenty-seven years ago Miss Wilson, of Pinsville, North Carolina, lost ber right leg. She was then young; md pretty, and had she merely mislaid ber ieg, every chivalrous Carolinian in the county would have Joined ia the search for it, HTnfor* tunately her loss- was an irrevocable ome. 'Having unintentionally inserted! her leg uncfor the wheel of a heavily loaded waggon* she forand thafe the once shapely hmb> was so completely rwned' that she sonsonted- to have it cut off and thrown away* Its place was m time supplied with a cork leg, andt Mftts Wilsoa sorrow* fWly resigned herself to-liasping through' a a loveless life to a solitauy graven Th«re- newer has been any, active- Jieraand for women with wooden legs. A nwn with a wooden leg supers a certak aniount of inconyeuience, but he loses nothing in character op popularity, whereas: a> wooden-legged women is, whether justly or ujvjlistly, under a social ban. ln> fast, fop a woman to lose a leg is ordinarily to lose all hope o£ marriage. A man who is abouib to bo- married cannot be blamed' foe prefecpjog a whole wife to. one partt» ally made of cork— especially as the former costs no more than the latter. A superficial tlwnken might* perhaps, fancy that a husband whose wife had bat one original leg would save 50- per cent, in the priec oft' striped stockings aud kid shoes ;. but a little reftectiou will show Unit, a cork leg requires just as much clothing as the usual style of leg and hence it is not an economical contrivance. Of course, •it is mean and seltisb. in. a man to pacmit

tlie presence or absence of a mere trifla • of lea to affect bis feelinss- towards an estimable woman ; bat humnn nature is weak, and lio would be n bold m.-in who i-ould look calmly forward to marrying a women who might some morning interrupt him while shaving by asking, " James would you mind handing me my leg ? I think you'll Cad it behind the rocking chair." It is alleged by Miss Wilson's neighbours thot as she grew older she grew hard and cynical. This was, perhaps, to have been expected. She saw herself ignored by all marrying men, while girls | with half her beauty, mid whose sole superiority consisted m a larger number of legs, captured husband? without any difficulty. Gradually she becime embit« tercel against her bipedal fellow creature*, and the local Baptist preacher was probably rieht when he characterised her as a hard-hearted, wordly woman. One day. however. Miss Wilson attended a camp» meeting, and was softened by the eloquence of the preacher and the shouts of the worshippers, and soon after Pineville was surprised and pleased by the announcement that on next Suaday Sister Wilson would be baptised. Now, the public performance of the rite of baptism by the llev Mr Waters, of " the Pineville E ( ereri h « Day Jiapiist Church, always drew a large audience. That powerful and agile preacher wus ad* mitted to be without a "ival as a rapid and . effective baptiser. On one occasion, when «i Presbyterian minister, preaching ngninst baptism by immersion, showed that, St John the Baptist had once baptised a multitude of persons at the rate of two men and a hu f per minute, and that honoo he could not hare immersed them, Mr Waters publicly baptised twentyfive persons in oight minutes, tbvs I eating Sf John's best time by two full minutes, and completely overthrowing the Presbyterian argument. With all his unequalled rapidity of execution, he never was careless oi« inconsiderate. There was a rivul Baptist minister in the next county who would sometimes become carried nwny by his emotions, and trout A smg an entire verse of a lone-metre hymn while holding a convert under water; au.l although a stalwart leamster who wns thus troatod once fell from grace, an-*, upsetting his minister in the water held him under until he was nearly drowned* the reverend enthusiast was not cured of his careless habif. When, therefore, Vtis* Wilson oonsenterl to be baptised by tho Pineville minister, she knew that s>t© would be treated iv a considerate aixl skilful manner, and the public k ew thar the spectacle would be well worth, wit* nessinff, So Ion? as th« water was only two fee* deep. Mks Wilsoi^ who weiglie ' fiilly two hundred pounds, manaael to wad* towards the minister, but as soon, as th > lalter tool; her hund and lei her into, deeper water, the eorlc asserted ji* buoyancy, and Miss. Wilson was suddenly reverse.!. The minister, with much rfi-fi-culty, pbiefd her on her feet n<>iin, nrA rather surlily r-cjue^n* her not to dothat ngfiin. begiin to nyiku n brief nn<l formal M.Klresv. Before he had spoken, ten word*. Miss Wilson, witli a wil.l shriek, foil backward, an I hey cork lei* shot swiftly upon the surface. Jfcrhap* this is a point where a veil sh >uld bedropped. To finish the narrative in a* few words as possible, it may be sa .k that after half n dossen futile . QtnTs thoattempt to h-ip-iae Miss Wil.s m wik abandoned. W i'li «ll his skill an-l sMvn^Mt tlie minisier could not counteract th* ell'orts of the cork leg, and coul.l not keep. the convert right side up long enojijli to baptise her. «he bore it with ivuienro until the minister called for ti fil-y s k pound ncL^ht^ with a view to. baliasting her, when she indignantly seraiuuletl ashore, hastened home-, and subsequently * pined the Presbyterians, We t! us learn that there are times, when cork legs conflict with the uiosfe important duties. The leg*makers should lake a hint from this suggestive- incidenU aad devise- a ijgh,t metallic leg wherewith to supply the Buutism. market.— New York Times..