This file portion of www.watertownhistory.org website
Young Love
Written and contributed by Ben
Feld
What on earth is this
younger generation coming to? They are
supposed to be so well educated, so intelligent, so aware of all the new
theories and developments, and yet we find them acting as if they are living in
the Dark Ages. Here we are in 1878 and
we find some of these love-sick people still believing what we have been
calling “witchcraft” for many years.
Last night I read in
the Watertown Democrat that a
“romantic” young lady nearly lost her life at a hotel in Ontario, Canada,
trying a foolish, ridiculous, and downright dangerous experiment which must
have been dreamed up by some idiot a hundred years ago.
This young girl had
apparently been unable to attract a young man and now must have been desperate
to become “matramonified.” Or maybe she was just an unintelligent, naïve
girl looking for a thrill. The newspaper
didn’t give any clue about her personality.
It only says that she had heard an old saying that any girl who swallows
a raw chicken’s heart will have for a husband the first male person who shakes
hands with her. This gullible girl
accepted that as scientific fact and attempted to swallow a chicken’s raw
heart, but failed.
I would think so! Who ever swallows
something that large? In fact, who would
swallow a raw chicken heart even if it were the size of a marble? Just the thought of it makes me want to choke
-- which she did. The heart stuck in her
throat and would not move either way, down or up. But somewhere near her was a friend, a very
good friend, a friend to whom that girl now owes her life. That friend called a doctor who did
something, the newspaper didn’t say what, and saved the girl from an untimely
death by choking. The girl was very,
very lucky.
And stupid!
That reminds me of an
account I read of two much more sensible young people, very much in love, and
very much victims of their love. It
happened, the Watertown Gazette said,
in Keokuk, Iowa, where about
In the excitement of
the moment, Mr. Gray threw is arms around her waist and drew her to him with a
quick passionate embrace. He was not
conscious of using unusual strength, but the girl gave a short, sharp scream,
and exclaiming “Oh, Charley, I’m gone!” fell dead in his arms with her head resting
on his shoulder.
That was a sad but
beautiful incident. Not at all like a
happening here in Watertown, just last week.
Maybe you will think this illustrates true love; and maybe it does. Maybe it was a case of desperation, and maybe
it was, as they say these days, a case of a young man being crazy with the
heat. This July has been rather warm,
you know.
Anyway, Alert Flechsig, from Milwaukee, arrived here on the train
Saturday evening and immediately went to the residence of his intended bride, a
young lady in the Seventh Ward. He says
everything was peaceful and serene during his visit.
He returned to the
girl’s house the next day, and, according to him, nothing special
happened. But before leaving, he asked
her sister for some matches, which were given to him. He then left his beloved’s roof and shortly
afterward was found at the Milwaukee & St. Paul depot in paroxysms of pain
giving every indication of having been poisoned.
Dr. Spalding was at
once summoned and soon found out the cause of the trouble. Young Albert admitted he had eaten the
matches with a view of self destruction, although, he
declared, the dose was worse than he had bargained for, and if he lived through
it he would never do so again. His throat,
Dr. Spalding revealed, was badly burned and his stomach dreadfully swelled in
his bowels and chest.
He was taken to the
home of his lady-love, and for a time his case looked rather dubious; but he
gradually improved and was eventually put on the train back to Milwaukee.
The editor of the Gazette made light of the whole
situation, treating it as a case of unrequited love and saying “it is hoped
that when he makes the right match it may prove the true antidote to his
present condition and feelings. But I
don’t think he should be so flippant; especially now that it has been learned
that Albert had had a quarrel with his father before leaving Milwaukee which
motivated him to attempt putting himself out of existence in this novel and
almost effectual manner. The young lady
denies that any action of hers could form a motive for his desperate
action.
I suppose each of us
will have to seek our own explanation of the whole affair remembering the old
saying that:
In the spring a young
man’s fancy lightly (?) turns to thoughts of love.