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" It is the secret sympathy, 
 The silver link, the silver tie, 
 Which heart to heart and mind to mind 
 In body and in soul can find." 
 
 —Sir Walter Scott. 
 
1 
 
 '} 
 k 
 
 WHAT IS LEFT OF FINLAY BOOTH. 
 

 '"r,' 
 
 OTH. 
 
Rl 
 
 Pasto 
 
 AY BOOTH. 
 
THE 
 
 LIFE STORY 
 
 OF 
 
 FINLAY BOOTH 
 
 BY 
 
 REV. HAMILTON V/IGLE, B.A., 
 
 Pastor of Zion Methodist Church, Winnipeg, Man. 
 
 r 
 
 TORONTO : 
 
 WILLIAM BRIGGS 
 
 1900 
 
Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, 
 ^" the year oJe thousand nine hundred.by Hamil- 
 5N WiGLE, at the Department of Agriculture. 
 
 m 
 
 TON 
 
Devoted to 
 
 f inlag 3Bootb, 
 
 AS AN 
 
 EXPRESSION OF DEEPEST SYMPATHY 
 
 AND AN 
 
 EVIDENCE OF MY LOVE FOR CHRIST 
 
 AND 
 
 INTEREST IN THE WELFARE 
 
 OF THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND. 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
T] 
 
 Mill] 
 able 
 us w 
 comi 
 M 
 inter 
 very 
 book 
 
The Author is indebted to H. H. 
 Millie, of Carman, Man., for the valu- 
 able assistance rendered in furnishing 
 us with the excellent photographs ac- 
 companying this sketch. 
 
 Mr. Millie has shown unbounded 
 interest in Finlay, and has assisted us 
 very much in gathering data for this 
 book. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 Introduction . . . . . xiii 
 
 I. Early Days 17 
 
 II. lo the West ..... 31 
 
 III. Finlay 34 
 
 IV. Temperance Lesson . . 43 
 V. Storm . . . . . . . 51 
 
 VI. Frozen • ^5 
 
 VII. Amputation . . . . . 79 
 
 VIII. Convalescence .... 89 
 
 IX. Enterprise 103 
 
 X. Remarkable Feats . . .119 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 I'AGE 
 
 What is left of Finlay Booth 
 
 Frontispiece 
 
 Finlay as he is seen to-day ... 29 
 
 As Finlay lay when frozen ... 63 
 
 Threading a needle 77 
 
 We 
 wa^ 
 Th 
 coi: 
 
 bee 
 ject 
 groi 
 find 
 
 V 
 terei 
 a pc 
 
 O 
 ject 
 four 
 behe 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 29 
 
 63 
 
 77 
 
 :i 
 
 
 rJV 
 
 This is not a work of literary effort. 
 We claim no merit for anything in the 
 way of book-writing in this life sketch. 
 This is neither a treatise, nor a dis- 
 course, nor a thesis — it is a sad story. 
 
 Nearly all the data of the book have 
 been received from the lips of the sub- 
 ject of the work himself, and we have 
 grouped and arranged these as you 
 find them within. 
 
 We have absolutely no special in- 
 terest in this book, other than to assist 
 a poor unfortunate sufferer. 
 
 Our first acquaintance with the sub- 
 ject of this tale goes back to about 
 four years ago, and when our eyes first 
 beheld him a wave of sympathy swept 
 
XIT 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 over our soul which has taken a crys- 
 tallized form in this work. 
 
 In conversation with our hero at 
 one time, we incidentally mentioned 
 that the story of his life in book form 
 would sell well and give him a good 
 and legitimate means of a livelihood. 
 
 The thought lodged in his mind and 
 he finally requested me to undertake 
 the task. I consented with great re- 
 luctance, as my pastorate demanded 
 all my time and energies. 
 
 As we are not staking any reputa- 
 tion on the merit of the book, and as 
 it is virtually an appeal for aid, we are 
 sure it will not come within the scope 
 of literary criticism. 
 
 We sincerely hope, however, that 
 the purchaser may get some inspira- 
 tion from these pages in looking at the 
 indomitable perseverance and noble 
 mdependence of this man while under 
 
INTRODUCTION, 
 
 XV 
 
 the most hear t-i ending and discourag- 
 ing ciicumstances. Many men not 
 one-half as badly maimed would be in 
 the poor-house. If this man can sur- 
 mount such obstacles, why should any 
 one lack courage in the world's great 
 battle ? 
 
 How true are the words of Burns : 
 
 '* Though losses and crosses be 
 Lessons right severe, 
 There's wit there, you'll get there, 
 You'll find no other where." 
 
 On the Author's part this is purely a 
 work of philanthropy, and all we ask 
 of the public is to purchase the book 
 for the sake of the man whose picture 
 appears as a frontispiece, for to him 
 will go the entire profits of its sale. 
 
 Hamilton Wigle. 
 
 Winnipeg, May, 1900. 
 
 ** Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of 
 the least of these my brethren, ye have done 
 it unto me." (Matt. xxv. 40.) 
 
" We live in deeds, not years, 
 In thoughts, not breaths ; 
 In feelings, not in figures on a dial. 
 We should count time by heart-throbs. 
 He lives most who thinks most, 
 Feels the noblest, acts the best.'* 
 
 — Bailey. 
 
■'a 
 
 FINLAY BOOTH. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 EARLY DAYS. 
 
 dial. 
 :-throbs. 
 
 ti 
 
 bailey. 
 
 FiNLAY Booth, the subject of 
 this sketch, was not always thus. 
 The Great Father had been as 
 generous to him as to any of His 
 children, and had started him out 
 in life with a perfect outfit of bodily 
 members ; but if you were to 
 search from the burning tropics of 
 Ecuador to the frigid Yukon, you 
 could scarcely find a ghastlier speci- 
 men of mutilated humanity to-day. 
 2 17 
 
M 
 
 P-INlA V BdOTtf. 
 
 
 His parents came from Leitrim, 
 Irelr- ■ "n the year 1845, and set- 
 tled on a farm near the town of 
 Waterloo, Shefford County, Prov- 
 ince of Quebec. From there, in 
 the year 1849, they moved to Wal- 
 lace, in the County of Perth, Prov- 
 ince of Ontario, where they re- 
 mained till the year 1861. 
 
 About that time a relative from 
 Rhode Island came to visit the 
 Booths, and persuaded them to 
 leave Ontario and go over and take 
 employment in the American cot- 
 ton factories. The venture was 
 made with the hope of securing 
 better wages, and thus providing a 
 surer means of supporting the 
 large family. 
 
 Hills far away looked greeny and 
 things at home looked blue, but 
 
EARLY DAYS. 
 
 19 
 
 " fortune did not favor the brave " 
 that time, for the Civil War had 
 broken out and all the large fac- 
 tories had shut down. Fortunately, 
 they still held their land in Perth, 
 Ontario, and, after an experiment 
 of six years in the States, they re- 
 turned to the old Canadian home. 
 
 Finlay was born on the 24th of 
 June, 1853. Do we say June? 
 Yes, June ! That month when 
 earth and sky celebrate their wed- 
 ding day, and from the go' len 
 chariot streams of nectar flow out 
 and load the air with fragrance. 
 With the songs of birds and the 
 bloom of flowers, surely old Time 
 must long ago have declared June 
 to be nature's month of jubilee. 
 
 It is the month when old Ontario 
 is at her oest — when the bee hunts 
 
20 
 
 FIN LA Y BOOTH. 
 
 the honeysuckle and the brier-bush 
 blooms in the lane ; when the kill- 
 deer hides her eggs beside the cat- 
 tle path, and the robin sings in the 
 maple ; when the swallow makes 
 her mud house under the eave, and 
 the turkeys hide their nests in the 
 cornfield. June ! when our young 
 eyes used to see the clover tops, the 
 lilacs, and in our bare feet we 
 chased the chipmunk and squirrel 
 over logs and along the fences. 
 
 On that June day there was no 
 prophetic hint that those round 
 limbs and that plump face would 
 be so wrenched and torn. Indeed, 
 it seems incredible that there can 
 be forces in the earth, such as at one 
 moment can be engaged in carving 
 and shaping such delicate features, 
 and at another could be engaged 
 
1 
 
 EARLY DAYS. 
 
 SI 
 
 :r-bush 
 le kill- 
 be cat- 
 in the 
 makes 
 ^e, and 
 in the 
 young 
 ps, the 
 et we 
 
 [JU 
 JS. 
 
 * 
 
 in tearing up that finely-constructed 
 work in a most ruthless manner. 
 
 The home, like many others in 
 those parts at that day, did not roll 
 in wealth and luxury. They en- 
 dured all the privations common 
 to early settlers. In those pioneer 
 days the red deer could be seen in 
 dozens. The wolves made the 
 night hideous by their hungry 
 bowlings, and had to be kept from 
 the houses and barns by burning 
 log heaps and smudges. 
 
 When going to and fro among 
 the neighbors at night the traveller 
 found it necessary to carry burning 
 cedar splinters to keep the wolves 
 away. 
 
 Finlay*s father cut the first road 
 into the township, and roofed his 
 first log shanty with elm bark. 
 
 f }i 
 
22 
 
 FINLAY BOOTH. 
 
 \ 
 
 The nearest town was twelve 
 miles distant, and when a new 
 consignment of flour was needed, 
 Lhe mother would thresh out the 
 sheaves of wheat over the head of 
 a barrel, clean it by the aid of the 
 wind, carry it on her back to get it 
 ground, and then convey the flour 
 back again — a distance of twenty- 
 four miles. 
 
 In that same part of the country 
 the young housekeepers are said to 
 carry nothing heavier than a milk 
 pail in these days, and in order to 
 remove the stiffness from their 
 fingers caused by crocheting, they 
 meander over the ivory keys of a 
 piano two hours a day. What a 
 change ! What memorials we ought 
 to raise to those uncrowned heroes 
 and heroines of by-gone days ! 
 
EARLY DAYS. 
 
 23 
 
 During the harvest time the 
 father used to go down near Brant- 
 ford and Galtj the better settled 
 parts, and cut the crops with his 
 cradle to earn a little extra cash to 
 furnish the larder at home. 
 
 The forests were so dense and 
 unbroken that the settlers would 
 often lose their way, and when any 
 home-comer was thus overdue 
 they would begin to blow long tin 
 horns, which they had for dinner- 
 calling. 
 
 The Booth family consisted of 
 the parents and seven children — 
 four girls and three boys. The 
 father's name was Thomas, and the 
 mother's name was Mary Banon. 
 
 Jane, the eldest, was born in Ire- 
 land, and when the family moved 
 to Rl^ode Island she, of course, 
 
 
 I 
 
 
24 
 
 FINLAY BOOTH. 
 
 
 1 I 
 
 went with the others, but remained 
 there after the rest returned to 
 Ontario. From there she moved 
 west to St. Paul in the year 1887, 
 and died in that city in the year 
 1 897. The other six children were 
 born in Canada. 
 
 Mary Ann, the second daughter, 
 and the only surviving one, married 
 W.C.Cowan,a farmer, near Carman, 
 Manitoba. Mrs. Cowan is a woman 
 of high repute, and has a family 
 of which she has great reason to be 
 proud. 
 
 Eliza, the third daughter, married 
 William Waugh, and came west 
 and settled at Boissevain, Manitoba, 
 where she died in July, 1897. 
 
 Payton, the next child and eld- 
 est son, came west with the family 
 to Manitoba, but soon after went 
 
^:ll' 
 
 EARLY DAYS. 
 
 25 
 
 south to St. Paul, where he died in 
 March, 1890. 
 
 Finlay, the next in order, is the 
 subject of our sketch, whose career 
 we will give a little later. 
 
 Johnston, the third son, sepa- 
 rated from the rest of the family at 
 Black River Falls, Wisconsin, when 
 they were on their way to the west. 
 He remained there but a short 
 time and then returned to Bruce 
 County, Ontario, and married. In 
 1 88 1 he pulled up stakes again and, 
 retracing his steps, came west and 
 settled near Cr.rman, Manitoba, 
 where he is farming at the present 
 time. 
 
 John, the youngest boy, came out 
 when the family moved west, and 
 at the time of Finlay's accident was 
 in the employ of Dr. Schultz, of 
 
 
 ij!! 
 
 i 
 
 i;. 
 
 I ■Mil 
 
 If' 
 
 »:' ':■{ 
 
26 
 
 FINLA V BOOTH, 
 
 m 
 
 
 Winnipeg. At this time their 
 sister Eliza was also in the em- 
 ploy of Dr. Schultz. John then 
 followed the family to the Boyne 
 River, where they had settled, and 
 remained at home till his mother 
 died. He then found his way back 
 to Winnipeg, and for many years 
 was the head shipper in West- 
 brook's imolement firm. He is 
 now engaged with James Robert- 
 son, wholesale hardware merchant, 
 Winnipeg. 
 
 Martha, the youngest of the 
 family, married John Sargent, who 
 was night-watchman at the river 
 crossing. They also moved out to 
 the Boyne settlement, where she 
 died in October, 
 
 894. 
 
ll 
 
 Turn, turn, my wheel ! All things must 
 
 change 
 To something new, to something strange ; 
 
 Nothing that is can pause or stay ; 
 The moon will wax, the moon will wane, 
 The mist and cloud will turn to rain. 
 The rain to mist and cloud again, 
 
 To-morrow be to-day. 
 
 Turn, turn, my wheel ! What is begun 
 At daybreak must at dark be done ; 
 
 To-morrow will be another day ; 
 To-morrow the hot furnace flame 
 Will search the heart and try the frame, 
 And stamp with honor or with shame 
 
 These vessels made of clay. 
 — J*'rom ^* ICeramos," by Longfellow. 
 
I! 
 
 
 ,ni 
 
 ■I 1 
 
 h 
 
 FINLAY AS HE IS SEEN TO-DAY. 
 

 h( 
 E 
 tc 
 le 
 ni 
 h 
 
 y 
 
 h 
 
 d 
 a 
 
 V 
 
 s 
 I 
 
i 4 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 TO THE WEST. 
 
 We have dealt little with our 
 hero since we recorded his birth in 
 Eastern Canada. He had grown 
 to be quite a young man before he 
 left Ontario, and had performed a 
 noble part in hewing out the new 
 home. Many forest giants had 
 yielded to the strength of those 
 hands which have long since 
 crumbled to dust. 
 
 When the first military expe- 
 dition was sent to the North-West, 
 
 an old neighbor, W C , 
 
 who enlisted from the military 
 school and took part in the Re- 
 bellion of 1870, sent back such 
 
 31 
 
 
 ■ ,i.: 
 
 SM 
 
 '4 
 
 - i 
 
 :',( 
 
 m 
 
II. 
 
 32 
 
 FINLAY BOOTH, 
 
 glowing accounts of the country 
 that the Booths were induced to 
 try the " West." 
 
 The farm and loose property 
 were disposed of, and the start was 
 made on June 5th, 1871. All land 
 trips were then made across the 
 States, and the only routes open 
 were by all land, or steamer to 
 Milwaukee and the rest by land. 
 A tenting wagon was improvised, 
 and, crossing at Sarnia, they took 
 the water route to Milwaukee, from 
 whence they drove to Winnipeg. 
 It took them fifty-two days to 
 cover the distance from Perth 
 County to Fort Garry. 
 
 Settlements were very sparse in 
 Minnesota at that date, and Grand 
 Forks was a mere hamlet of less 
 than a dozen houses. Winnipeg, 
 
 I 
 
 

 
 to tMe west. 
 
 33 
 
 he says, did not possess more than 
 one thousand population, and the 
 only hotel of importance was the 
 Davis House. Finlay was eighteen 
 years of age when he reached Win- 
 nipeg, and in the fall of the same 
 year the family removed to the 
 Boyne settlement and took up land 
 four miles from where the town of 
 Carman now stands. 
 
 
 )| 
 
 -^Liii 
 
 \^\ 
 
 

 CHAPTER III. 
 
 
 FIN LAY. 
 
 The first part of our hero's life 
 is folded up in the history previously 
 given, in the account of his home 
 and family. 
 
 Finlay was always a steady and 
 dutiful boy. At the age of sixteen 
 he joined the British-American 
 Order of Good Templars, and lived 
 up to his pledges. 
 
 His parents taught him one of 
 the first principles of life — industry 
 — and he has faithfully practised it 
 ever since. He was not long in 
 Winnipeg till he secured work in 
 the brickyard of Dr. Schultz. In 
 a very short time, Finlay claims, 
 
 34 
 
FINLA Y. 
 
 35 
 
 he gained the acquaintance of the 
 great majority of the people in the 
 city. 
 
 Those were the days of universal 
 democracy, when the people owned 
 the country, and, as the Yankee 
 says, " One man was just as good 
 as another, and better, too." What 
 an ideal condition of life, when we 
 can see 
 
 if ■ 
 
 \ 
 
 \\- 
 
 "The parliament of man, the federation 
 of the world." 
 
 \ ; ' 
 
 ; X- 
 
 ' 
 
 Here we see the irony of civiliza- 
 tion, for since the population has 
 increased J^and Rvalue of property 
 enhanced, the shades of class life 
 have crept in, and we are forced to 
 apply to our common humanity 
 terms that should only be used in 
 mathematics, viz., the " Higher" and 
 3 
 
 \ ' -i 
 
 '. 'i 
 
 im 
 
 ir.. 
 
36 
 
 FINLAY BOOTH. 
 
 it 
 
 the " Lower." Aristocracy is a pro- 
 duct of the vocabulary only. It is 
 like a balloon ; it may have a man 
 or woman in it, or it may not. We 
 have no quarrel with the boule- 
 vards if they have absolutely noth- 
 ing to do with the slums. We 
 cannot bring any indictment against 
 East London for simply being in 
 that point of the compass, nor are 
 we called upon to condone with 
 West London for being in her 
 peculiar point of the compass. But 
 if it can be shown that Portland 
 Square in the west has an infini- 
 tesimal point of responsibility for 
 Whitechapel in the east, then the 
 matter has an eternal ethical bear- 
 ing. We are not afraid of aristoc- 
 racy alone, but we are afraid of the 
 awful spectre that seems inevitably 
 to follow in her wake. 
 
 J 
 
I '! 
 
 FINLA V. 
 
 37 
 
 1 
 
 ri 
 
 We do not incriminate the rich 
 man for being rich, nor do we 
 unconditionally excuse a poor 
 man for being poor. What we are 
 prepared to do is to challenge our 
 so-called civilization and blame our- 
 selves for being so harassed by a 
 social system that distorts the feat- 
 ures of our common brotherhood. 
 We have to put ourselves in the 
 " dock " and answer to the charge 
 of having voted into office men who 
 have sold our birthright to the 
 highest bidders, until the " trusts " 
 and " combines " are the price of 
 political bribes. What a travesty 
 on liberty we see about us when we 
 learn that there is more property in 
 the hands of one hundred citizens 
 of the United States than in the 
 hands of all the other 69,999,900 
 
 ^m 
 
> 
 
 38 
 
 FINLAY BOOTH. 
 
 
 \ 
 
 citizens ; and when we see these 
 combine capitalists petted and pro- 
 tected by the militia while 1,500,000 
 citizens are unemployed, and if they 
 should " strike " for bread or work 
 they are mowed down like Zulus. 
 
 This is the picture which Profes- 
 sor Edwin Markham saw when he 
 spoke of the " Man With the Hoe," 
 and said : 
 
 " O masters, lords, and rulers of all lands, 
 
 Is this the handiwork you give to God, — 
 
 This monstrous thing, distorted and soul- 
 quenched ? 
 
 Plundered, profaned, and disinherited ? 
 
 How will the Future reckon with this Man ? 
 
 How answer his brute question in that 
 hour 
 
 When this dumb Terror shall reply to 
 God 
 
 After the silence of the centuries ? " 
 
» 
 
 I 
 
 FINLA V. 
 
 39 
 
 In the fall of the year Finlay's 
 parents secured land for settlement 
 and prepared to leave the city for 
 the new prairie home. 
 
 You will pardon us if we intro- 
 duce a rather plain but useful char- 
 acter into this scene just here, for 
 without her this chain would want 
 a link — a cow. Indeed, if we had 
 a good cut of that historic animal, 
 we would give it an honored place 
 here. No animal has a better claim 
 for homage at the hand of man in 
 this country than the patient cow. 
 Many early settlers have raised 
 their children and kept themselves 
 for a great part of the year by the 
 daily returns from that 4umb but 
 faithful beast. This land never 
 " flowed with honey " ; but if it had 
 not "flowed with milk" it would 
 
 I ;l 
 
 y\\ 
 
 f il: 1 
 
 m 
 
 "h,. 
 
 > ■ (■; 
 
 m 
 
I 
 
 \ \ 
 
 40 
 
 FINLAY BOOTH. 
 
 scarcely have been habitable in 
 those early days, when many a cow 
 supplied meat and drink and power. 
 
 The Booths knew how indispens- 
 able this domestic servant was, and 
 having procured one, she had to be 
 transferred to the farm with the 
 rest of the family. They all left 
 the city on November 27th, 1871, 
 and, while the others drove along in 
 the wagon, Finlay led the cow. 
 
 The first evening they only got 
 as far as Headingly, where they 
 spent the night at the home of 
 Richard Salter. The following 
 night they camped out at Stinking 
 River, and the next morning started 
 for the Boyne settlement. 
 
' !■ ' 
 
 II- 
 
 h 
 
 'i 
 
Hi 
 
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 " The tissue of the life to be 
 
 We weave in '^olors all our own, 
 And in the field oi destiny 
 We reap what we have sown." 
 
 — Whiilier. 
 
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 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 TEMPERANCE LESSON. 
 
 That memorable day, November 
 29th, broke in most beautifully 
 upon the western plains. We do 
 love beautiful November mornings 
 here, when the sun seems to shine 
 through a silver sheen of crisp 
 frosty air, when every vestige of 
 vegetation is numb with cold and 
 the whole domain is flooded with 
 light ; it seems just as if the earth 
 had been suddenly tipped into the 
 bosom of the sun. TLere is a ful- 
 ness of light by day and night in 
 these clear skies, the like of which 
 
 43 
 
 ■'; in 
 
 (:'.: 
 
 % 
 4 
 
 !' 
 
t 
 
 44 
 
 FIN LA Y BOOTH, 
 
 m 
 
 we have not witnessed in any other 
 part of Canada. 
 
 As the day advanced it became 
 suddenly colder ; in fact, a storm 
 was rapidly brewing (of which we 
 shall deal more fully later on) and 
 the travellers found it necessary to 
 push on with greater speed. 
 
 Finlay, feeling the sudden chill, 
 ate a cold lunch hastily and started 
 on without any rest, leaving the 
 others quite a distance behind. 
 When the party overtook Finlay 
 he had reached what was called the 
 " Potato Swamp," on the old Mis- 
 souri Trail. His brother. Pay ton, 
 offered to exchange places with 
 him here, but the offer was de- 
 clined on the ground that he was 
 then too hot to get in the wagon 
 and ride, and would be safer in 
 
TEMPEkANCE LESSON. 46 
 
 walking on with his quadruped 
 companion. 
 
 It should be noted here that 
 Payton, who had a single rig when 
 he offered his brother a ride, was a 
 little in advance of the wagon, he 
 having pushed on with the inten- 
 tion of going ahead to prepare the 
 house for the whole party. After 
 Payton drove off, the rear-guard of 
 the party caught up to Finlay, and 
 the father was astonished to see 
 him still walking. 
 
 Here, on a quiet page in the 
 centre of this book, we record the 
 simple yet misguided act that 
 resulted in the awful tragedy of 
 this boy's life. The father saw the 
 exhausted condition of his son, and, 
 with none but the kindliest and 
 tenderest motives, insisted that he 
 
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 ('■ill 
 
 t' '' . 
 
 h- 
 
 IV 1 
 
 I ( - ! 
 
I; 
 
 I 
 
 46 
 
 PlNlAY BOOTH, 
 
 should take a drink of the liquor 
 they had brought with them. 
 Finlay, as we have seen, was a 
 Good Templar, and declined at 
 once. 
 
 The father had never used it to 
 excess, and he persuaded the lad 
 that it could do him no harm, but 
 was what he most needed at that 
 moment. What a boon to man- 
 kind modern science has given 
 when not only the fathers, but our 
 children in the public schools, 
 are taught that there is little or no 
 nourishment in liquor, and when it 
 seems to aid one part it robs 
 another. Let us shorten the story 
 here and simply say : Finlay took 
 it. 
 
 That father lived to see the 
 awful folly of his act, and with 
 
TEMPERANCE LESSON. 47 
 
 tears and heartaches he learned 
 the dreadful lesson. 
 
 Alas ! when a parent pushes a 
 thorn into a child's soul, that can 
 never be extracted. Oh, parents, 
 you may play with a viper with 
 impunity yourselves, but it may 
 live to sting your children. 
 
 When will mankind learn the 
 danger of trying to warm them- 
 selves at the mouth of a volcano, 
 or of seeking to quench their thirst 
 at the rushing Niagara ? 
 
 The case before us is just another 
 proof of the fact that stimulants do 
 not take the place of either food or 
 clothing. No man can lose much 
 for body or soul who takes and 
 keeps a pledge of teetotalism. 
 
 Who has the logic to vindicate 
 the existence of such a human foe 
 
 IVHI 
 
 v ,ri 
 
48 
 
 FINLA Y BOOTH, 
 
 in our land to-day, when three- 
 fourths of all the crime, suffering, 
 and misery are traceable to its 
 existence ? 
 
 This earth does not merit such 
 an insult as she has received in the 
 thousands of drunkards' graves that 
 are digged into her bosom. I can 
 
 » 
 
 easily imagine that the judgment 
 will be half over when this great 
 evil has been reckoned with. 
 
 Mr. Booth freely declares that 
 were it not for that one glass he 
 could have endured the storm and 
 fatigue and escaped the awful muti- 
 lation he has suffered. 
 
 Our hero has expressed himself 
 to me as being not only willing but 
 anxious that his misfortune and ill- 
 advised act should be made use of 
 as a signal of warning against the 
 
TEMPERANCE LESSON. 49 
 
 use of liquor in any form. He 
 thinks it is far safer to live without 
 it than with it. 
 
 I do not offer any apology for 
 taking advantage of this sad inci- 
 dent for ringing out the old, old 
 warning : " Touch not, taste not, 
 handle not " the accursed thing. 
 
 
 m 
 
 
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 ! 
 
 ! I 
 
 'Hi'l 
 
 ** Fate steals along with silent tread, 
 Found often 3st in what least we dread ; 
 Frowns in the storm with angry brow, 
 But in the sunshine strikes the blow." 
 
 — Cowper. 
 
 "It is not in the storm nor in the strife 
 We feel benumb'd and wish to be no 
 
 more, 
 But in the after silence on the shore, 
 When all is lost except a little life.^^ 
 
 — Byron. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 STORM. 
 
 
 The farther we are removed 
 from water the more difficult it is 
 to predict the weather probabilities. 
 Among the initial causes of atmos- 
 pheric changes is the enormous 
 evaporation from the sea, and, 
 consequently, the more remote a 
 district is from the sea the less dis- 
 tinct are the storm symptoms. Our 
 most violent storms on the prairie 
 are often the most sudden ones. 
 This is not the case on the ocean 
 or shoreland. The seaman will see 
 the greedy gull skimming low and 
 dipping at every wave to gather ^ 
 4 51 
 
 , I 
 
 ^*iii 
 
 .r,. 
 
 -m 
 
 i:f:i 
 
 1 ■' 1 
 
11 
 
 1 
 
 : 
 
 W^'\ 
 
 52 
 
 FINLAY BOOTH. 
 
 double feed, anticipating the storm. 
 The sharks increase in number and 
 fierceness ; the sea fish spring out 
 of the water at every speck floating 
 on the waves. In the rigging the 
 winds growl and whine as they 
 rush up the masts and creep through 
 the lazy, flapping canvas. The 
 captain sees the flapping pendant 
 on the topmast, smells the electric 
 air, and hears the slap of the slug- 
 gish wave against the side of the 
 ship. The tars lounge lifelessly 
 about the decks, while the wheel- 
 man, with aching arms, tugs at 
 the helm. The mate looks at 
 the glass and says : " Aha ! Cap, 
 she's a'brewin'." On the shorelands, 
 too. Nature has run up her storm 
 signals. The farmer sees the swal- 
 low skimming the ground to catch 
 
STORM. 
 
 53 
 
 the hiding fly. The dove sits by 
 the hour upon the brush heap re- 
 peating her mournful notes like a 
 human tale of woe. The blackbird 
 hops about the plow-boy's feet to 
 pick the upturned grub. The 
 sleepless owl screams all night, and 
 the watch-dog growls and barks as 
 if the land were full of tramps. The 
 house-wife tix"es at her work, while 
 the fretful infant in the crib refuses 
 to be rocked to sleep. The cattle 
 call to each other across the moor, 
 and instinctively wander about for 
 places of shelter. The leg-weary 
 farmer leans against the fence cor- 
 ner cleaning his plow, and can hear 
 his neighbor shouting at his stupid 
 team ; and, rubbing his hot brow 
 with his sleeve, he mutters to him- 
 self, " This means a storm, I guess," 
 
 1 
 
 I ? i' 
 
 ■If 
 
^ i 
 
 
 V[ 
 
 
 1 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 '. 
 
 f '*iiii 
 
 54 
 
 F/NLA V BOOTH. 
 
 Out upon the prairie the settler 
 cannot conjure up so many por- 
 tents of the weather. He hears 
 no voice from the Lea, nor can he 
 feel any shore breezes. He has 
 very little opportunity of consult- 
 ing the birds ; they leave us too 
 soon to be of service long. The wild 
 animals do not venture far upon 
 the plains ; the hollow atmosphere 
 does not seem to be in correspond- 
 ence with any of Nature's prophets, 
 and, when the last sheaves have 
 been gathered and the flocks are in 
 the corrals, the prairie seems to be 
 the " no man's land." 
 
 The early frosts discolor every 
 vestige of vegetation until the eye 
 looks every way upon a vast do- 
 main of brown grass or yellow 
 stubble fields. Then the clouds, 
 
. 1 
 
 STORM. 
 
 55 
 
 as if grieved at the heartless deso- 
 lation of the frost, cover the plain 
 with a carpet of mealy snow. 
 But Nature has things pretty much 
 her own way, and does not think it 
 necessary to make any definite an- 
 nouncement of her movements. 
 
 The unchained winds of the north 
 have held sway so long over these 
 uninhabited regions that they have 
 not learned the courtesies of modern 
 civilization, and give no notice or 
 warning of their terrible bombard- 
 ment. A blizzard is one of the 
 most unexpected things in the 
 west. It is one of the finest exhi- 
 bitions of irony that the elements 
 can produce. Up to a few hours 
 before it bursts upon us, it often 
 seems to be the thing that is the 
 most remote. A blizzard does not 
 
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 ^M 
 
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 M 
 
 
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 \ IK 
 
(11 
 
 I 
 
 56 
 
 FWLA V nOOTH. 
 
 need the cold, the black cloud, the 
 thunder peal, the lightning flash. 
 It is like a bomb-shell ; it has ail 
 the elements of execution bound up 
 in itself. The day may break un- 
 usually warm and bright, and 
 although winter has been with us 
 a month or more, you would think 
 Father Time had gone back to 
 September for a day he had missed. 
 It is just that kind of a morning 
 when the settler will say to his 
 faithful wife : " Well, Jen, guess I 
 will take some grain to town, and 
 bring home some wood. I will 
 leave the stable doors open, and the 
 corral bars are down, so the stock 
 can go out and ' pick ' a little. The 
 roads are fine and I will be home 
 early. Good-by, lass." 
 
 "Jen" has her south door (the 
 
STORM. 
 
 57 
 
 only one in the shack) open all 
 forenoon, and the children play 
 about in the warm sunlight The 
 cattle are too lazy to wander far 
 away, and stand about the well and 
 woodpile chewing their cud. But, 
 see ! Look at that thick haze creep- 
 ing stealthily over the sun, and that 
 chill wave blowing up, that every 
 settler learns to dread ! The chil- 
 dren run in the house, while the 
 mother runs out. She has been in 
 the country long enough to guess 
 the problem. About this time can 
 be seen a long grey streak of cloud 
 far away on the horizon, but mov- 
 ing forward, and rising every mo- 
 ment higher into the hazy heavens. 
 The cattle are all sniffing the air 
 and crowding and hooking each 
 other about the stocks, as restless 
 
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 I .■Ml 
 
 
 ;iiil1 
 
 
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 finLA y hooTti. 
 
 !.l 1! I 
 
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 ifji'l! 
 
 as if a prairie-fire was sweeping 
 down upon them. "Jen " shuts the 
 children in, puts up the corral bars, 
 stables all the stock she can get in, 
 fills up the wood-box, and carries in a 
 supply of water. By this time there 
 are fine specks of snow sifting 
 through the air, and in about twenty 
 minutes every track, road, and trail 
 are so obliterated that the belated 
 traveller realizes the first shock of 
 horror in not being able to " keep 
 the trail." When the clouds have 
 deposited about an inch of snow 
 the winds seem jealous, and begin 
 to pick it up from the earth and 
 mix it with the clouds again. Every 
 flake of snow is ground up like 
 pulverized dust, and whirled through 
 the air at a terrible speed ; every 
 foot of space seems to be the centre 
 
jstoHm, 
 
 60 
 
 of a whirlwind ; the elements are 
 in an awful confusion. The trusty 
 team will no longer obey the home- 
 ward instinct, but yield to the 
 sterner law, and, turning from the 
 whirling blast, will wander away 
 with the storm. The farmer, be- 
 wildered by the circling currents of 
 air, unconsciously becomes a part 
 of the storm, and goes round and 
 round, at the same time wandering 
 away in the ^general direction of 
 the gale. 
 
 When a blizzard is at its best, 
 even in midday, it is as dark as 
 dusk, and so terrible is the howling, 
 chilling blast, that it is a miracle 
 for a man or beast to live long in 
 it, or find a place of shelter, even 
 at noonday. The eyes become 
 filled with the gritty snow — fairly 
 
 t I 
 
 .: ^ 
 
 i :i 
 
60 
 
 FtNLAY BOOTH. 
 
 i!« 
 
 driven like sand into the very eye- 
 balls — and half the time is spent 
 gasping fr breath; for though 
 the air is plentiful, the very moment 
 you open your mouth for it the 
 wind snatches it all away, and takes 
 out of the lungs every thimbleful it 
 can find there. In this wild tor- 
 nado every snow speck seems to 
 possess a fang to sting with, and 
 the wrenchings of the tempest over- 
 head give out such weird screams 
 that you fa'rly shudder as you 
 imagine the air above you is filled 
 
 with fiends. 
 
 No man standing on a burning 
 
 deck where the licking flames climb 
 the masts was ever in more immi- 
 nent danger of death than the man 
 upon the prairie when the volcanic 
 eruptions of the atmosphere play 
 havoc over the land. 
 
STORM. 
 
 61 
 
 There is more than one humble 
 home on these wide prairies where 
 the husband, or son, or father, did 
 not reach home during the night, 
 while the sad story is told, " They 
 perished in the storm." 
 
 ■ i\ 
 
 i -\: 
 
 Ml It 
 
" No, there is not unmitigated ill in the 
 sharpest of this world's sorrows. 
 
 *' I touch not the sore of thy guilt, but of 
 human griefs ; I counsel thee to redeem thy 
 loss. 
 
 **Thou hast gained, in the furnace of 
 affliction, self-knowledge, patience, and 
 humility, and these are as precious ore, 
 that waiteth the skill of the coiner. 
 
 " Despise not the blessings of adversity, 
 nor the gain that thou hast earned so 
 hardly. 
 
 "And now that thou hast drained the 
 bitter, take heed that thou lose not the 
 
 sweet. 
 
 n 
 
 -M. F. Tupper. 
 
> 
 
 22 
 
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 X 
 
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 N 
 
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CHAPTER VL 
 
 FROZEN. 
 
 After our hero had taken that 
 fatal draught he travelled on until 
 he came to a small bunch of wil- 
 lows. In this country there is no 
 forest of any importance except 
 along the river banks ; but in some 
 districts there are spots of shrub- 
 bery at distances ranging from ten 
 to twenty miles apart. These 
 bluffs, as they are called, often con- 
 sist of about half an acre, more or 
 less, of scrubby growth, ranging 
 from ten to twenty feet in height. 
 In times of storm these furnish 
 
 65 
 
 <i 'iii 
 
66 
 
 FINLAY BOOTH. 
 
 valuable protection to man or 
 beast. In these very bushes is the 
 place where the prairie chicken will 
 hide from its pursuer, and take 
 refuge in time of blizzards ; and if 
 the storm should continue for 
 several days the birds can subsist 
 well from the buds on the branches. 
 
 How our common foes make all 
 earth's creatures one ! Here poor 
 Finlay led his cow, and man and 
 beast and bird lay down together 
 in a common shelter. 
 
 Not being accustomed to stimu- 
 lants, he began to feel stupid, and 
 with nature's demand for food and 
 rest, there was not energy enough 
 left to keep back the only alterna- 
 tive — sleep. Had he not been 
 under the influence of the drug, he 
 would have been conscious of the 
 
FROZEN. 
 
 67 
 
 awful danger in going to sleep, and 
 could have fought his foes — the 
 cold and storm and hunger — with 
 comparative success, and could 
 have at least warded off some of 
 the terrible disaster that befell him 
 that night. 
 
 Poor Booth ! Here began the 
 revenge of the laws of life when 
 they are disregarded. The cold 
 crept in about him, but his senses 
 were chloroformed. No voice was 
 then able to awaken him. There 
 was no hand to stay the cold, and 
 that subtle monster moved slowly, 
 but irresistibly, upon the victim 
 and began his woeful work. He 
 pushed back the warm blood from 
 the finger tips ; he drove the blood 
 from the tired feet up into the 
 body, and sealed up the gates from 
 
 I!; I 
 
68 
 
 FINLAY BOOTH. 
 
 the arteries to the veins, so that 
 no more — forever — the life blood 
 should flow out through those 
 members ; and he determined the 
 time when those deadened limbs 
 should fall off like sapless branches 
 from a 'ree. 
 
 Not contented with this, but, like 
 like a panther that seeks the warm 
 heart-blood of its prey, the King of 
 Cold put his paw upon the face of 
 its victim, and, in the vain attempt 
 to drive out the life, distorted the 
 features, and left those ghastly 
 marks — marks that he will carry to 
 the grave. 
 
 When Finlay did not turn up at 
 the camp at about the expected 
 time, all hands became very uneasy. 
 Notwithstanding the storm, they 
 determined to form a rescue party 
 
FROZEN. 
 
 69 
 
 and search for him. They had 
 already anticipated his being lost or 
 having perished. As they groped 
 their way along, at almost every 
 step they called his name. Finlay 
 says he heard them and answered ; 
 but, unfortunately, sound cannot 
 travel in such storms any farther 
 than the vision, and they never 
 heard him. It is also quite prob- 
 able he was too weak to reply 
 very vigorously. He even at- 
 tempted to follow them, but found 
 it impossible. 
 
 There is a sadness about every 
 page of this story, for at nearly 
 every turn we can see where so 
 much suffering could have been 
 saved if only something else had 
 happened ; if only those men had 
 happened to have found him then 
 5 
 
 m 
 
•i I 
 
 70 
 
 FINLAY BOOTH. 
 
 they could have given relief so 
 much sooner. How many heart- 
 aches we have in life on account of 
 the unfulfilled "might have beens"! 
 
 When Finlay was sufficiently 
 awakened to take in the whole 
 situation, the party, of course, was 
 out of reach, having followed the 
 river close enough to escape the 
 danger of losing their way also. 
 Our hero began at once to investi- 
 gate his condition, and found his 
 fingers and toes were frozen as far 
 as the second joints. Previous to 
 his lying down he had removed his 
 wet socks and gloves, thus leaving 
 his limbs very much exposed in his 
 cold boots and mitts. 
 
 About midnight the storm broke. 
 Here is the irony of the heavens ! 
 A few hours before all the elements 
 
 
*l 
 
 Frozen. 
 
 n 
 
 seemed at war with each other : the 
 stars were angry at the clouds, and 
 the clouds with the earth. After 
 the mighty battle of these elements, 
 all quieted down as before, and 
 ever3^thing was much the same, 
 except here and there a few men 
 or beasts lay strewn as helpless 
 victims of the carnage where the 
 fury of the battle was the fiercest. 
 
 What apparent mockery ! Those 
 angry stars are now nodding 
 affectionately to each other, shak- 
 ing hands with the wind, and 
 smiling upon the glistening earth ; 
 but there still lives a warden of the 
 plains to witness the ruin of that 
 stern November night. By the 
 light of the open sky the rescue 
 party found their way back, and 
 Finlay could see the bush that 
 
72 
 
 FINLAY BOOTH. 
 
 skirted the Boyne. In his terrible 
 condition he stumbled along to the 
 river, touching it at the old Grant 
 Bridge, near the present home of 
 A" >alom Clarke. 
 
 Tir» d, hungry, with both hands 
 and feet frozen, and burning with 
 thirst, he did his best to break the 
 ice to get a drink, but failing this, 
 he ate snow to satisfy both hunger 
 and thirst. By this time the frost 
 had gone to his wrists and ankles. 
 Cold is so much like its foe, heat, 
 when once it attacks the flesh, the 
 tendency is to go deeper and 
 deeper. In a most excruciating 
 condition he trudged his weary 
 way along toward the new home, a 
 distance of at least eight miles from 
 where he was frozen. When he 
 reached the door he presented such 
 
FROZEN. 
 
 73 
 
 a spectacle, with his swollen face, 
 that his friends were shocked. 
 
 None had slept any the past 
 night, and great concern was felt as 
 they anxiously awaited his foot- 
 step. When the rescue party 
 returned the situation was un -er^r- 
 able. His father had deter nined 
 to go himself at daybreak to search 
 for the boy, and was in tl ^ act of 
 saddling the horse when Finlay pre- 
 sented himself at the cabin door. 
 The mother, who always penetrates 
 the furthest into the child's troubles, 
 was the first to discover the serious- 
 ness of the case. The moment the 
 frozen parts came in contact with 
 the heat the irritation that was set 
 us was simply unbearable. His 
 improvised nurses were not long in 
 setting to work to alleviate the 
 
 J^% 
 
74 
 
 FINLAY BOOTH, 
 
 pain, and the first application was 
 of snow and cold water. 
 
 Instinct and experience furnish 
 us with the best of our knowledge, 
 and the attendants knew that 
 nature hated extremes, and so, in 
 order to coax the frost out, they 
 made a compromise with him in- 
 stead of challenging him with his 
 old foe — heat. The process was 
 very slow, but sure, and all the 
 time and attention so far had been 
 devoted to his hands and face. 
 As yet it had not occurred to them 
 that his feet might be frozen. 
 When the attendants attempted to 
 remove the moccasins they were 
 horrified to find that they were 
 actually frozen to the feet, and the 
 limbs themselves were frozen half 
 way to the knees. 
 
 
FROZEN. 
 
 75 
 
 Imagine, if you can, the long, 
 weary, and painful process of draw- 
 ing the frost out of those limbs 
 that had been frozen numb for 
 many hours. We have carried our 
 poor sufferer along so far in his 
 troubles and misfortunes, but 
 actually his sufferings have just 
 begun. 
 
 M 
 
*' What v/e have we prize i.ot to the worth, 
 While we enjoy it ; but being lacked 
 
 and lost, 
 Why then we reck the value ; then we 
 
 find 
 The virtue, that possession would not 
 
 show us 
 
 While it was ours." 
 
 — Milton. 
 
 
 *' Life may change, but it may fly not ; 
 Hope may vanish, but it may die not ; 
 Truth be veiled, but still it burneth ; 
 Love repulsed, but it returneth." 
 
 —Shelley. 
 
LU 
 
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 Q 
 
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 5 
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 ■ % 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ( ''M 
 
 r^ 
 
 AMPUTATION. 
 
 It is a difficult task by any 
 human means to bring back life 
 into dead matter. 
 
 Poor Finlay was very brave, and 
 thought if it was only a matter of 
 bearing pain he would compel his 
 nerves to endure the torture while 
 he would wait for his strong body 
 to drive vitality into the frozen 
 members. 
 
 Many weary days dragged along, 
 
 while everyone looked anxiously 
 
 and waited all but impatiently to 
 
 see the limbs revive. There was 
 
 no medical aid to be had nearer 
 
 79 
 
 'I 
 
 ■'•f 
 
I il 
 
 
 80 
 
 FINLAY BOOTH. 
 
 than Winnipeg, and it was finally 
 agreed upon that Dr. Turner 
 should be called out to examine the 
 case. A very close inspection was 
 made of the frozen parts, and the 
 sound parts of the body were also 
 examined with a view of finding if 
 the patient would be able to stand 
 the amputation. Everything was 
 far worse than poor Finlay had 
 imagined, for the long days of suf- 
 fering had so weakened him that 
 while it was certain he could not 
 save his limbs, it was even doubt- 
 ful if he could live with or without 
 them. 
 
 The doctor told him his hands 
 would have to come off. V/ho 
 could imagine what a sore blow 
 this was to him ? He was young, 
 ambitious, and ''•ill of splendid grit 
 
I 
 
 AMPUTATION. 
 
 81 
 
 I 'vas a challenge to his spirit of 
 independence, for it meant to him 
 the most helpless slavery. A sharp 
 battle set in. He had not allowed 
 himself to entertain the thought for 
 a moment up to this time, nor 
 would he hear of such a propo- 
 sition from anyone. How could 
 he part with those members upon 
 which his very life depended ? 
 
 Who is there that could lose 
 even a finger from the faithful and 
 obedient hand without a serious 
 sense of loss ? Of all the obedient 
 servants we possess, which never 
 question the mandates of the 
 mind, methinks these hands come 
 first. 
 
 We would not expect the greatest 
 devotee to offer a hand to his 
 goddess. No man would sell it for 
 
 4-1 
 
 i (■ ii 
 
82 
 
 FIN LAY BOOTH, 
 
 a gold mine, a royal dowry, a 
 plantation ; then with what in- 
 finitely greater reluctance could a 
 poor soul %\\^ up both hands for 
 nothing but despair ? 
 Scott says : 
 
 *' A child will weep a bramble's smart, 
 A maid to see her sparrow part. 
 
 • • • • 
 
 But woe awaits a nation when 
 
 She sees the tears of bearded men." 
 
 We scarcely need to stop here 
 long enou: -i i;o apologize for this 
 poor man's tears when he dis- 
 covered that they thought of de- 
 handing him. There seemed to be 
 no relieving feature about the sad 
 affair. It was humiliating, at least, 
 to be so mutilated on a couch in a 
 lonely hut away on the western 
 
^■0.: 
 
 a 
 in- 
 Id a 
 for 
 
 >» 
 
 f 
 
 AMPUTATION. 
 
 83 
 
 prairie, where he could not claim 
 the glory of war, or feel that for 
 any special act of chivalry he had 
 sacrificed limbs or life. 
 
 Finlay rebelled ; he said, " No, 
 you shall not touch them ; I will 
 die first." 
 
 At a glance he saw himself a 
 weather-beaten stub, whose foliage 
 and limbs had been torn away by 
 a ruthless tempest. He saw him- 
 self a floating ship spoiled of all its 
 canvas and masts, and could not 
 brook the thought of pounding like 
 a forlorn and helpless hulk on a 
 barren shore. He said what all 
 human beings would say : " No, 
 no ! — a thousand no's ! " 
 
 Ah ! but the logic of pain is con- 
 vincing ; it compels the reason to 
 consider, and forces its arbitrary 
 
 
 ff'i 
 
 r(l 
 
 14 
 
84 
 
 FINLAY BOOTH. 
 
 conclusions upon us. If there 
 could be said that there was any 
 climax to the pain, it must be ad- 
 mitted that it occurred in these 
 succeeding days and hours. 
 
 There are a great many things 
 that words cannot describe : joy and 
 pain are two of them. The poverty 
 of language is very conspicuous 
 here. The haggard face, the deep 
 lines, the gb \stly eye, the hollow 
 cheeks, all tell more eloquently of 
 racking pain than mere words can 
 do. The most of these days his 
 sufferings were so far beyond en- 
 durance that his ordinary moaning 
 and groaning would burst into such 
 screams that he could be heard c^. 
 a great distance ; these spasms 
 would often be followed by long 
 spells of unconsciousness. Think 
 
AMPUTATION. 
 
 85 
 
 cf the nervous shock he must have 
 felt when, one morning, while re- 
 moving the bandages, his nose and 
 part of his mouth fell into his 
 mother's hands, and he found his 
 face in the awfully disfigured con- 
 dition it is in at the present day I 
 This dreadful loss was a hard blow 
 to him, and he was so shaken up 
 that for some time he began to 
 think that " to die would be gain." 
 The case was intensified when he 
 began to apprehend the possibility 
 of the other frozen parts going the 
 same way. 
 
 Through this mortal agony the 
 sufferer writhed under these throes 
 of pain from November 29th, 18"' i, 
 to January 27th, 1872, a period of 
 sixty days. Many of his precious 
 hopes had flown, and he was 
 
86 
 
 FINLAY BOOTH. 
 
 rapidly being convinced that he 
 could not save his limbs. Three 
 great witnesses agreed : pain, the 
 physician, and death itself; for 
 long ere this mortification had set 
 in, and the skin was black ; indeed, 
 the flesh was so dead and rotten 
 that he had to be moved on a sheet 
 to prevent it from falling off. No 
 anesthetics or opiates were used 
 during all these days, and it was a 
 gallant fight between life and death. 
 Finally Dr. Turner was again called 
 out from Winnipeg, and after ad- 
 ministering chloroform, amputated 
 his two hands and the right foot. 
 There were a few neighbors who 
 witness ed the operation, all of whom 
 had shown much kindness and dis- 
 played very great sympathy for 
 the sufferer ; they were Samuel 
 
 I 
 
Amputation. 
 
 87 
 
 lat he 
 Three 
 n, the 
 f ; for 
 lad set 
 ndeed, 
 rotten 
 a sheet 
 ff. No 
 e used 
 t was a 
 i death, 
 n called 
 fter ad- 
 putated 
 jht foot. 
 )rs who 
 )fwhom 
 and dis- 
 Lthy for 
 Samuel 
 
 Kennedy, John Nelson Kennedy, 
 and a native of the country by the 
 name of James Stevenson. 
 
 When these three limbs were 
 amputated, the doctor said it was 
 useless to proceed, for his vitality 
 was so low " his life was not worth 
 a penny." During the night the 
 poor fellow revived, and the doctor 
 took off the other foot, which left 
 him the shapeless and limbless 
 creature you see in the cut in the 
 frontispiece. 
 
^' To the sick, while there is life thelre is 
 
 hope." 
 
 — Cicero. 
 
 '• Hope reigns eternal in the human 
 breast ; 
 Man never is, but always to be blest." 
 
 —Pope. 
 
 *' My hopes are not always realized, but 
 
 I always hope." 
 
 — Ovid, 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 CONVALESCENCE. 
 
 Fin lay's pain was now practi- 
 cally over. When the dead parts 
 were removed the system had a 
 rest from the hopeless conflict, and 
 the waste of strength was stopped. 
 By the fifteenth of P>Iarch he was 
 able to sit up ; but eating and drink- 
 ing were tasks more impossible to 
 him than to an infant in the crib. 
 Here, as in all human history, his 
 ministering angel was — mother. 
 She had been to the rescue at every 
 turn, so far, and now it seemed that 
 her son was to be thrown back upon 
 her care, as helpless as when he 
 
 w^as first placed upon her knee. 
 
 89 
 
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 23 WEST MAIN STREET 
 
 WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 
 
 (716) 372-4503 
 
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 90 
 
 FINLA y BOOTH. 
 
 It required no effort to revive the 
 mother's love and care. Unlike the 
 aged tree that hardens and dries 
 up, the aged mother keeps her 
 tender affections alive long after 
 her hair has changed its color and 
 her step has shortened. No wonder 
 Coleridge said : " There is none in 
 all this hollow world, no fount of 
 deep, strong, dauntless love, save 
 that within a mother's heart." 
 
 Every true and loyal boy willing- 
 ly " falls in " when that old chorus 
 is raised on the battlefield : 
 
 ** Then break the news to mother, 
 And tell her that I love her ; 
 Just say there is no other 
 Near half so dear to me." 
 
 With as much tenderness and 
 patience as when he was a babe, 
 
CONVALESCENCE. 
 
 91 
 
 
 his mother dressed, fed and bathed 
 him day after day. While this 
 tedious process was going on, Fin- 
 lay was considering more seriously 
 than ever the dismal outlook for 
 such a helpless cripple, and began 
 to wonder what suicide would be 
 like. It is always one thing to 
 think of suicide and quite another 
 thing to commit it. There was too 
 much real manly courage about 
 Finlay to give up in such hopeless 
 despair, so he began to consider 
 the alternative — helping himself 
 He decided that those stubs must 
 do something for the rest of the 
 body, and immediately set them to 
 work to convey a cup of tea to his 
 mouth. This was the first attempt 
 at independence, and if several suc- 
 cessive failures had daunted him, 
 
 '■*'! 
 
 V 
 
\m 
 
 92 
 
 FINLA V BOOTH. 
 
 % 
 
 he would have been found to-day 
 sitting at the knees of some nurse, 
 being fed with a spoon. The first 
 few trials at self-help would have 
 amused an onlooker. His stubs 
 had not been skilled in the prin- 
 ciples of mechanics, and he never 
 was an expert at fine balancing, 
 and for a while he succeeded in 
 depositing the tea everywhere but 
 in his mouth. Reward followed 
 perseverance, and it was not long 
 before he could serve himself to 
 tea and successfully feed himself 
 Finlay was now moving about 
 on his knees with surprising alacrity. 
 It was about this time when an 
 incident occurred, which, in itself, 
 was not very significant, but which 
 served to open up to his mind 
 greater possibilities. A flock of 
 
CONVALESCENCE, 
 
 93 
 
 prairie chickens had lighted on a 
 tree near by the old log stable. 
 For the information of those out- 
 side our own province we might 
 say that it is only during the time 
 of the first frosts and snow that 
 these birds light on any high object 
 except the grain shocks, their 
 habits being rather to drop into 
 the long grass or scrub to evade 
 their pursuer. Two objects are 
 thus gained by the instinct of these 
 birds : first, they are hidden by the 
 cover ; and second, they are so near 
 the color of their cover that they 
 can scarcely be distinguished from 
 the grass. These stables of earlier 
 days must have a special mention 
 here, for even in Manitoba very 
 few of them are remaining to-day. 
 At each end of these buildings the 
 
 J I 
 
94 
 
 FINLAY BOOTH, 
 
 1 
 
 logs were allowed to protrude be- 
 yond the walls. The reason for this 
 Grecian style of architecture I am 
 not able to give here. 
 
 Finlay overheard one of his sis- 
 ters say she would like to have one 
 of those chickens for dinner, and 
 he at once began to measure his 
 possibilities of manipulating the 
 old gun so as to procure game for 
 dinner. There was no other man 
 about, but, knowing that the gun 
 was always kept loaded, he thought 
 he could manage to hold it dead on 
 the bird if one of the girls would 
 pull the trigger. He chose one of 
 these protruding logs for a rest, 
 and the whole scheme was carried 
 out with remarkable success, for 
 the chicken, most likely from the 
 shock of the explosion, expired 
 soon after at the foot of the tree. 
 
CON VA LESCENCE. 
 
 96 
 
 de be- 
 or this 
 ; I am 
 
 IS sis- 
 VG. one 
 r, and 
 ire his 
 g the 
 me for 
 r man 
 e gun 
 Lought 
 ^ad on 
 would 
 Dne of 
 1 rest, 
 :arried 
 ss, for 
 rci the 
 xpired 
 tree. 
 
 This feat was as great a surprise 
 to Finlay himself as to anyone 
 else, but it so encouraged the young 
 Nimrod that he at once invented a 
 contrivance by which he was able 
 to pull the trigger himself, and 
 soon became one of the best 
 shots in the settlement. In fact, it 
 was not long till the attention of 
 the Government was drawn to the 
 fact that the prairie chickens 
 throughout the province were being 
 rapidly extinguished. 
 
 As yet our hero had no other 
 means of locomotion than merely 
 shuffling about on his knees. Fin- 
 lay's misfortune had become pretty 
 widely known now, and some of 
 his old acquaintances in Winnipeg 
 presented his case to some of the 
 prosperous citizens, and the conse- 
 quence w^s that Rev, Dr. Young, 
 
 W 
 
 
 is 
 
96 
 
 FIN LA Y BOOTH, 
 
 
 Methodist missionary ; J. H. Ash- 
 down, wholesale and retail hard- 
 ware dealer ; and Mr. McDougall, 
 of the Queen's Hotel, opened a 
 subscription list, and secured suffi- 
 cient funds to purchase a pair of 
 artificial limbs for him. 
 
 " I imagined," says Finlay, " that 
 those artificial limbs ought to know 
 as much about walking as my own 
 limbs that I lost." Of course he 
 thought they should have been 
 tested as to their running power in 
 the same way that a "traction 
 engine" is tested before it is sent 
 out from the shops. His idea, also, 
 in adjusting them was, that the 
 tighter they were buckled to his 
 stumps the more likely the new 
 legs would be impressed with the 
 fact that they were to be a part of 
 
CONVALESCENCE, 
 
 97 
 
 Mi 
 
 the limb, and do exactly what the 
 old ones did. He also imagined 
 that when he sent his orders down 
 to " go," the new limbs would 
 " repeat " the message, and it would 
 be a start. It did not work ; the 
 orders were returned from the 
 ends of the stubs, and the feet 
 at first would not move. It 
 was all his mistake, as he after- 
 wards discovered ; he had not 
 taken into consideration the ques- 
 tion of time, for when he was 
 about to stoop down to give them 
 a little slack, they started off. After 
 going up and down — mostly down 
 — for a few minutes, they then tried 
 the forward and backward motion, 
 mostly the latter, until Finlay came 
 to the conclusion that he had, by 
 mistake, ordered a back-action pair. 
 
 
 i 
 
 •1 1 
 
98 
 
 FIN LAY BOOTH. 
 
 'Mt 
 
 ,1' 
 
 \ 
 
 or else they had been made for a 
 stage actor who always backed off 
 the platform. 
 
 He says that when the backward 
 and forward motion began, it was 
 as if he had suddenly stepped on a 
 belt running in the opposite direc- 
 tion, or like jumping off a moving 
 train, when the novice is immedi- 
 ately transformed into a sort of 
 snow-plow or turnpike shovel. He 
 says stilt-walking and roller-skating 
 were mere recreation exercises 
 alongside of this new walking busi- 
 ness. He went up and down, for- 
 ward and backward and around, 
 altogether at precisely the same 
 moment of time. Like a bucking 
 broncho that seems determined to 
 commit suicide rather than submit 
 to the slavery of civilization, so 
 
CONVALESCENCE, 
 
 99 
 
 ide for a 
 zcked off 
 
 ackward 
 .n, it was 
 ped on a 
 ite direc- 
 L moving 
 immedi- 
 L sort of 
 vel. He 
 r-skating 
 exercises 
 ing busi- 
 own, for- 
 
 around, 
 :he same 
 
 bucking 
 mined to 
 .n submit 
 ation, so 
 
 those limbs were determined to 
 either run away altogether, or break 
 Finlay's neck, rather than to sub- 
 mit to be slaves to human inven- 
 tion, and act as underpinning for 
 humanity. Finally the unruly mem- 
 bers were subdued, and they and 
 their new master spent very many 
 happy aays together. For a long 
 time, however, the new limbs were 
 not permitted to stay in the same 
 room as their master, and were 
 compelled to spend the night out- 
 side. It is not exactly known why 
 this was ; one theory is that it was 
 considered that it would improve 
 their disposition to keep them cool 
 at night ; the other is, that it was 
 a case of sweet revenge to play a 
 joke on the mosquitos. 
 
 Art cannot compete with nature 
 
 ■11 
 
 ■L 
 
ioo 
 
 FINLAY BOOTH. 
 
 in durability ; the source of strength 
 and life was wanting, and the limbs 
 soon wore out. After six years* 
 service they were utterly useless. 
 Not being able to procure a new 
 pair, our hero had to resort to the 
 old mode of travel — walking on his 
 knees. 
 
 Finlay thought he could earn 
 some money and purchase a new 
 pair. He began by assisting at the 
 chores about home. In the fall of 
 1879 he made a brilliant record for 
 himself by hiring to a farmer, 
 Angus McLellan, for $1.00 per day 
 to pitch sheaves. He smiles all 
 over his face yet when he relates 
 the story, and tells that when Mr. 
 McLellan paid him off he said : 
 "Well, Booth, you have earned 
 your money." 
 
 M 
 
strength 
 :he limbs 
 X years' 
 useless, 
 e a new 
 >rt to the 
 igon his 
 
 aid earn 
 e a new 
 ng at the 
 le fall of 
 ecord for 
 L farmer, 
 D per day 
 miles all 
 e relates 
 \rhen Mr. 
 he said : 
 e earned 
 
iii' i 
 
 **The Spartans never inquire how 
 many the enemy are, but where they are." 
 — Agis II, 
 
 ii 
 
 '* Tender handed stroke a nettle, 
 And it stings you for your pains ; 
 Grasp it like a man of mettle. 
 And it soft as silk remains." 
 
 — Aaron Hill. 
 
 ** O, friend, never strike sail to fear. 
 Come into port grandly, or sail with God 
 the seas." — Emerson, 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 ENTERPRISE. 
 
 For five long years Booth moved 
 about on his knees. In the spring 
 of 1880 the Herd Law was intro- 
 duced, compelling farmers to herd 
 their cattle, so as to protect the 
 unfenced crops while they were 
 standing. This was found to be 
 considerably cheaper and more 
 satisfactory to the farmers than to 
 be required to fence their enormous 
 fields of grain ; that is, it was 
 cheaper to fence the cattle in than 
 to fence the crops in. This was a 
 grand opportunity for our hero. It 
 was found to be the least expen- 
 sive way to dispose of the cattle 
 7 103 
 
 m 
 
 
104 
 
 FINLAY BOOTH. 
 
 question by all the neighbors put- 
 ting their stock into one bunch and 
 hiring a man to herd them. Finlay 
 applied for the position and got it. 
 He at once secured his outfit — a 
 pony at $40 and a borrowed saddle — 
 and had a band of eighty cattle to 
 begin with. This was a good 
 financial enterprise, and he was 
 able to pay for his pony the day 
 the note fell due. 
 
 The most of his first herd were 
 procured from his neighbors, 
 Messrs. Ardington and Ostrander. 
 He had a tent, where he took his 
 dinner. A little stool had to be car- 
 ried along so he could mount his 
 pony. This stool, however, was only 
 needed for a brief season, as he be- 
 came so expert in his work that he 
 fed, bridled, saddled, and mounted 
 
UNTERPRIS^, 
 
 105 
 
 his pony alone, and could spring 
 from his knees anywhere off the 
 ground and mount his steed. 
 
 Three years' herding so remuner- 
 ated him that he was able to go to 
 Ontario, where he purchased the 
 second pair of limbs from a gentle- 
 man in Drayton, for the sum of 
 eighty dollars. These were very 
 inferior articles, and only served him 
 a short time. 
 
 A most astounding fact in the 
 life of the subject of this sketch be- 
 longs to the history just here. It 
 shows the depravity of human 
 beings and the most flagrant 
 specimen of inhumanity to man. 
 All names of these shameless 
 rogues will be suppressed, but Finlay 
 claims to have been beaten out of 
 fifty-five dollars of his honest and 
 
 % 
 
106 
 
 FINLAY BOOTH. 
 
 \\\ ' 
 
 hard-earned wages. It must be 
 said for the benefit of the public 
 that the names of the neighbors 
 already mentioned are of the dear- 
 est of Finlay's friends, who always 
 gave him a helping hand ; but his 
 foes, those incarnate ingrates, shall 
 not have their names immortalized 
 on these pages ; we shall not honor 
 them by tracing their names in ink. 
 
 After this second pair of limbs 
 gave out poor Booth went on his 
 knees again. His ambition ran a 
 little too high, and he worked so 
 hard that great sores were made 
 on his knees, which necessitated 
 his quitting work altogether or 
 securing another pair in some way. 
 
 In 1884 he sold his pony and 
 saddle to Mac DeMill, of Carman, 
 for forty dollars, and again went 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
ENTERPRISE. 
 
 107 
 
 nust be 
 ; public 
 ighbors 
 le dear- 
 
 always 
 but his 
 5S, shall 
 rtalized 
 )t honor 
 5 in ink. 
 f limbs 
 
 on his 
 1 ran a 
 rked so 
 I made 
 ssitated 
 ther or 
 ne way. 
 ny and 
 barman, 
 n went 
 
 to Ontario. This time his express 
 purpose was to endeavor to inter- 
 est an old friend of his to purchase 
 a pair of limbs for him or loan him 
 the money. For some reason or 
 other his plan failed to carry, and 
 he was reduced to sore distress — 
 being away from home, unable to 
 do anything for himself, and not 
 possessing money to return. The 
 thought of begging had often pre- 
 sented itself to his mind, but it was 
 promptly dismissed. Also it had 
 often been suggested to him that 
 he could make a good living by 
 selling himself to a showman or 
 hiring to a menagerie troupe. Tin- 
 lay was manly and independent — 
 he would not beg. He was ixoble 
 and honorable — he would not sell 
 himself to be looked at ; and we 
 
 n 
 
 1 1 
 
 I 
 
108 
 
 FINLAY BOOTH. 
 
 are penning these lines now by 
 lamplight for the sole purpose, and 
 with the hope that by the use of 
 them he may be able to live and 
 die something better than a slave 
 or a beggar. One other way was 
 open to our hero, and he took it. 
 It was by sheer determination to 
 be independent, mixed with a little 
 necessity, and well stirred by a bit 
 of desperation, that he started out 
 in this new undertaking. 
 
 He went to Port Huron, where a 
 supply of pocket combs, court- 
 plasters, jack-knives, etc., etc., was 
 purchased for a small sum, and 
 then he " took the road." 
 
 Finlay had as yet not been 
 " tossed " about much in the world ; 
 at any rixte he had not seen all 
 phases of hunianity a.s he was 
 
ENTERPRISE. 
 
 109 
 
 ow by 
 ►se, and 
 
 use of 
 ive and 
 1 slave 
 ay was 
 ;ook it. 
 tion to 
 
 a little 
 >y a bit 
 ted out 
 
 Inhere a 
 
 court- 
 
 tc, was 
 
 Ti, and 
 
 t been 
 world ; 
 ^en all 
 e was 
 
 about to see them in these few 
 succeeding monihs. It was now 
 he began to see and know human 
 nature. In his peregrinations he 
 began to meet good and bad, high 
 and low, tender and coarse, gener- 
 ous and selfish. From Port Huron 
 he touched every town as far as 
 Flint, then back by East Saginaw 
 and Bay City to Detroit, thus 
 traversing most of the southern 
 part of the State of Michigan. 
 
 At the end of two weeks he had 
 made sixty dollars. He was often 
 offered liquor, but in every case 
 refused it, and he attributes his 
 success largely to the fact that he 
 refused to drink and thus squander 
 his hard-earned money in dissipa- 
 tion or needless indulgences. 
 
 ^t one place the hotel-keeper 
 
 "t 
 
 
 it) I 
 
110 
 
 FINLA V BOOTH. 
 
 was so moved by the helplei s con- 
 dition of his guest, that he called 
 on the cr^wd about him thus : 
 " All you fellows what have your 
 hands and feet shell cut here, and 
 help this poor duffer.'' The re- 
 sponse was to the extent of $14.50. 
 
 At another town, a man who 
 had taken into his stomach more 
 than beefsteak and apple pie, 
 looked at Finlay for a few mo- 
 ments, and with a few preliminary 
 oaths that did not reflect the least 
 on our hero's character, said : "Well, 
 pard, you look pretty badly broken 
 up ; you are the worst broken-up 
 man I ever saw. Here, boys, ' chip 
 in.' " This they all did in a very 
 generous manner. 
 
 This trip enabled him to go back 
 to Toronto and buy a pair of limbs 
 from his own purse. 
 
ENTERPRISE. 
 
 Ill 
 
 ei s con- 
 e called 
 n thus : 
 ve your 
 ere, and 
 rhe re- 
 "$14.50. 
 an who 
 h more 
 >le pie, 
 ew mo- 
 iminary 
 he least 
 : "Well, 
 
 broken 
 )ken-up 
 s, * chip 
 
 a very 
 
 ^o back 
 )f limbs 
 
 This life is full of climaxes, 
 like a mountain range is full of 
 hni-tops. One of these occurred 
 on September 20th, 1885, while 
 Boo'h was in Ontario. It was the 
 death of his mother. This sad 
 event brought the wanderer back 
 to Manitoba. He now felt like a 
 " wandering Jew." The old home 
 was never again as it " once used 
 to be " ; mother was gone. With 
 her in that home he had always 
 felt that if too sorely chased by the 
 world he always had a refuge. Al- 
 though his few living but scattered 
 brothers and sisters were always 
 good to him, none could make up 
 for the loss of his mother. A small 
 plot of sodded earth marks the 
 place (with a modest slab) in which 
 her remains lie, not far from where 
 
 \ 
 
112 
 
 FINLA Y BOOTH. 
 
 \.X 
 
 Boyne River carries its water 
 along beside the overhanging oaks ; 
 and that is all the tangible remains 
 we have of those we held so dear ! 
 Of those dear " loved and lost " 
 ones, Mrs. Louisa Moulton says : 
 
 (i 
 
 The birds come back to their last year's 
 nest, 
 And the wild rose nods in the lane ; 
 And the gold in the East and the red 
 in the West, 
 The sun bestirs him again. 
 
 " Ah ! the birds come back to their last 
 year's nest, 
 And the wild rose laughs in the lane, 
 But I turn to the East and I turn to 
 the West— 
 She never comes back again." 
 
 And thus we travel on, never 
 to meet again till we overtake 
 
ENTERPRISE. 
 
 113 
 
 ) their last 
 
 them at the other shore — the meet- 
 ing place of the clans. 
 
 Mr. McKee, another old neigh- 
 bor, employed Finlay for a whole 
 year just to look after his stock, 
 and then fitted him out with a pony 
 and saddle, and he started herding 
 again. He stayed with his chosen 
 profession for eight consecutive 
 years. Nothing of any great im- 
 portance happened during those 
 monotonous days, and that is really 
 the worst feature about . , for of all 
 the professions for human exiles 
 commend me to herding cattle, or 
 searching for the North Pole in a 
 balloon. I think if I had a friend 
 who was sentenced to twenty years 
 jn a penitentiary, I would try and 
 have his sentence commuted to ten 
 yesirs herding cattle on the western 
 
114 
 
 FINLAY BOOTH. 
 
 prairie. I admire nature, and love 
 animals, and appreciate the stars 
 and sky and air. Yes ; but a man 
 can get drunk on too much of any- 
 thing. All the poetry of these 
 things dies out when day after day, 
 month after month, and year after 
 year, a man sees little else than a 
 collie dog, an ugly pony, and 
 watches cattle fill their bellies with 
 grass, and listens to the everlasting 
 whine of the land breezes across 
 the boundless prairie. No, I do 
 not want to be killed by too much 
 liberty and life ; I will go to St. 
 Helena and sleep with Cronje first. 
 Finlay did not languish alto- 
 gether, which is a proof of his 
 ability to dodge death ; but during 
 these years he did a little specula- 
 ting on the side. At the end of 
 
ENTERPRISE. 
 
 115 
 
 this eight-year term he possessed 
 quite a herd of cattle. A fourth 
 pair of legs was required now, and 
 he offered his herd of cattle as 
 security for the money to make the 
 purchase ; but was not successful. 
 His friends then appealed to the 
 Council on his behalf, and they 
 loaned him $40 to go to Chicago. 
 Again a temptation came to enter 
 the museum there at a wage of $40 
 per month. This was not accepted, 
 however, and he went to peddling 
 again. He made his way to St. 
 Paul, where he met Mr. Ericson, 
 who wanted to fit him out with a 
 pair of limbs. He resolved to 
 return at once to Carman and 
 sell his stock and make the pur- 
 chase. He wrote to his friends 
 as to the plan of action, and 
 
116 
 
 FIN LA V BOOTH. 
 
 the Council took the matter up 
 again, and ordered Mr. Frank 
 Stewart, the clerk, to forward $130 
 to Mr Ericson for a new set of 
 limbs. Finlay offered the money 
 back to the Council, but they refused 
 to accept it. I wish my readers to 
 know that whatever help Booth 
 ever received was only to provide 
 him with limbs, and that in only 
 two cases out of four purchases he 
 made. 
 
 For the last three years Finlay 
 has been living with his niece, Mrs. 
 Beaudry, and looking after their 
 stock. At the present time, while 
 these pages are being prepared, he 
 is engaged selling silverware for 
 the Silver Plate Company, of Wind- 
 sor, Ontario. 
 
 \ 
 
y; 
 
 natter up 
 r. Frank 
 vard $130 
 ^w set of 
 le money 
 sy refused 
 readers to 
 Ip Booth 
 o provide 
 t in only 
 ;hases he 
 
 rs Finlay 
 iece, Mrs. 
 fter their 
 me, while 
 pared, he 
 ware for 
 of Wind- 
 
" Necessity is the mother of invention." 
 — Farquhar, 
 
 (4 
 
 Necessity— thou best of peacemakers, 
 as well as surest prompter of invention." 
 — Scott, 
 
 ii 
 
 Necessity is stronger far than art."— 
 Aeschylus. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 REMARKABLE FEATS. 
 
 nvention." 
 
 icemakers, 
 nvention." 
 
 >> 
 
 lan art." — 
 
 It is more than likely that our 
 
 readers will do everything but 
 
 question our veracity when we tell 
 
 them what this handless man can 
 
 do without any fixtures whatever, 
 
 but simply with his bare stubs. I 
 
 myself have seen him take his 
 
 knife out of his pocket and open all 
 
 the blades. I have stood beside 
 
 him at the C.P.R. wicket in 
 
 Winnipeg, and have seen him take 
 
 his purse out of his pocket, open it 
 
 and take out his fare, $2.15, and 
 
 hand it to the ticket agent. I have 
 
 seen him put a five-cent piece into 
 
 his pocket and take it out again. 
 8 119 
 
120 
 
 PINLAY BOOTH. 
 
 s\ 
 
 By persons who have known him 
 for years, and whose word is not to 
 be questioned, I am informed that 
 on several occasions he has acted as 
 purser at tea-meetings, making all 
 necessary changes with surprising 
 rapidity. 
 
 In his present business, selling 
 silverware, he handles his own 
 horse, harnessing, hitching and 
 driving, and has even learned the 
 art of using the whip — of which, 
 however, it is said the pony does 
 not seem to have very much dread. 
 
 For many months at a stretch 
 he has lived alone, cutting his 
 shavings, kindling his fires, cooking 
 his eggs, making his porridge, cut- 
 ting his beefsteak, washing his 
 dishes ; indeed, his own neighbors 
 say he did everything in the 
 
mmm^.. 
 
 REMARKABLE FEATS. 121 
 
 lown him 
 is not to 
 med that 
 5 acted as 
 aking all 
 urprising 
 
 s, selling 
 his own 
 ling and 
 irned the 
 3f which, 
 Dny does 
 ch dread, 
 a stretch 
 tting his 
 , cooking 
 idge, cut- 
 hing his 
 leighbors 
 in the 
 
 housekeeping line to perfection, un- 
 less it was making his bed, which 
 he usually left to the end of the 
 month, or, if times were hard, till 
 the end of the season ! 
 
 Joseph Johnston is the only man 
 I know of who can do justice to the 
 work Finlay has done at threshing 
 machines, where he has stood at 
 the end of the carriers putting away 
 the straw, and above the din of the 
 thresher hasoften been heard calling 
 out : " More straw up here, please." 
 
 Our hero hangs on to an old 
 habit, which is no credit to him or 
 anyone else, but he claims to get a 
 good deal of satisfaction out of it — 
 smoking. It will be a revelation to 
 " Old Myrtle Navy " users to know 
 that he can cut his tobacco, fill his 
 pipe, and take a match and light it. 
 
122 
 
 FIN LA V BOOTH, 
 
 Now, our wives and sisters and 
 mothers must be prepared for a 
 surprise when we tell them that 
 Finlay can actually thread a 
 needle, and has frequently sewed 
 on his own buttons — effectually 
 proving that as helpmates and 
 housekeepers women are no longer 
 a necessity, even to a man without 
 hands or feet. 
 
 RELIGION AND HOPE. 
 
 Finlay is a member of the 
 Anglican Church, and a consistent 
 Christian. He has faith in God 
 through Jesus Christ for remis- 
 sion of sins and eternal life. He 
 has a sure hope that some day he 
 will have a perfect body with a per- 
 fect soul, and a place before the 
 throne of God with the holy angels 
 forever. 
 
REMARKABLE FEATS, 123 
 
 ers and 
 d for a 
 m that 
 iread a 
 r sewed 
 ectually 
 es and 
 ) longer 
 without 
 
 E. 
 
 of the 
 nsistent 
 in God 
 
 remis- 
 fe. He 
 
 day he 
 h a per- 
 bre the 
 
 angels 
 
 Who knows what unspeakable 
 repose of soul this blessed hope 
 must give to a man who has been so 
 maimed for life and deprived of so 
 many pleasures and comforts of 
 this world ? Surely we need another 
 life to supplement this one ! 
 
 " Extremes are vicious, and they proceed 
 from men. Compensation is just and it 
 proceeds from God. " 
 
 — Bruyere. 
 
 " Let sickness blast, and death devour, 
 If Heaven must recompense our 
 pains ; 
 Perish the gras3 and fade the flower, 
 If firm the word of God remains." 
 
 — Wesley.