AN INVOLUNTARYEEVE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XII, Issue 4271, 22 July 1875, Page 2 (Supplement)

AN INVOLUNTARYEEVE.

TIIK SIIIM'KINC Acril.l.NT WHICH IIKFKI. A I.AIiV IK A JIII.U Tiik.SV. L<»ii* 11-iHihltnui having uncovered, .is it were, the following incident, we will permit that paper to tell the story in its own w.iv : -"That element of curiosity which prevails in the minds of the ladies as a lierita-'.- fr Mrs. A<l:<:u still gets them into trouble 0.-c.i. i mail v. Notably was tin' fact illustrate! the other d ■> in Westmoreland Coiintv. lV,m~ylvauia. There is a mill in Westmoreland i-'ounty where tin- machinery is of a wry lint.- cla.-s indeed, ami visitors ' of a practical turn of mind lind themselves aini>ly i-i-p.-iil for an examination of the works. Among the recent visitors to thu mill was a ladyfv.h,. had just :ix much euriusitv as thu men com-erniii;-. tin- great wheels aml'the hopper., am! the appliances for transforming wheat into Hour ami Iced. It mane m. diflerum-c t-. l.ur that she probably uouhln't niulurstaml thu thing, shu wanted to make just as close an examination as the men did, and to form an acquaintance with all thu mysteries of milling. So they showed her through the mill, and she was very much dclwhted,'and evinced just as lively an interest in the machinery as though she had hueii Itohert l-'uUoii orCleorge Stephenson, or any of the great inventors. She was not s-itislied witiranv cursory view of things either, lmt went lip close to the wheels, notwithstanding the repeated warnings oi the miller. Finally, she approached thu boltingmachine, and proceeded to inspect it with a critic's eve. Vorv close to the machine she stopped," and then two cog-wheels took a little nip at her dress. The wheel appeared deli-'htcd with the llavoiir, and took in more and°inorc, having a good mouthful l.eforc the ladv noted her predicament. Then she screamed and tried to get away, lmt the rapacious cogs were not to be cheated of a meal, and kept on chewing, every mouthful drawing the fated woman closer to the works. The miller saw the danger, and sprang to the rescue of the frightened victim. There was but one course- to pursue. He was a huge, brawny man, and clasping thu shrieking woman in his arms, he braced his feet against an upright post and pulled. It was a contest between the man and the boltingmachine ; mind and muscle on one side, hungry iron and steel upon the other. Mind and muscle won, but not without a catastrophe. There was a long pull and a strong pull, and then bv one gigantic ellort the miller tore the woman clear, and that was all. lie saved the statue ; the machine got all the drapery. The lady was unhurt, but also unclothed. She stoo.l there like the Creek slave unshackled, and the lookers-on ran out for feeling's sake. There was any amount of bustle about the mill, but not a particle of bustle about the woman—the bolting-machine had that. Mad there been present three or four more ladies similarly showing, one might have sworn it had been raining angels. The rescued lady stood shuddering and blushing, and her rescuer stood panting and blushing. There was a moment or two of awful embarrassment. Then the miller solved the problem. He tied from the mill and sought his wife, and sent her back with a bundle of clothing. She Boon arrived .upon the scene, and the dismantled woman was arrayed again, though perhaps not so gaudily as previous to her littlo alfair with the bolting-machine. She has dropped the study of mechanics, and the miller passes Iris time between dreaming of a vision and wondering when his customers will begin to complain of a white-linen taste in their Hour."