I wrote the other day about "mashers" accosting young women on the streets of Chariton early in the 20th century ("Mashers on the streets of Chariton, beware"). Here's a comparable story from the 1870s, but in this instance the ladies handled the situation themselves when faced with a lecherous Lothario who fancied himself the gods' gift to womanhood.
The setting is the Hatcher House hotel, a fixture on the southwest corner of the Chariton square from 1853, when it was built, until 1894, when it was torn down. You can see it here, looking south past the north front of the 1858 courthouse. The ground floor rooms were storefronts facing the square with lobby and dining room around the corner, facing South Main.
There's a reference in the last paragraph to "Wise" and a balloon that's puzzling 150 years later. This would have been John Wise (1808-1879), a pioneer balloonist, who aspired to sail airborne across the Atlantic. Unfortunately, he crashed and disappeared in Lake Michigan during late September 1879.
Here's the Hatcher House story as published in The Chariton Patriot of Sept. 3, 1873, under the headline, "The Hatcher House girls on the war path --- shells for weapons."
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It appears that one of Chariton's hopeful gents met with a sad defeat a few evenings ago at the Hatcher House. We will not give the name of the youthful but unfortunate adventurer, but are informed that he is a boarder and has been acting in some capacity that at least made it lawful for him to be around at those late hours when others are expected to be quietly resting from their labors.
It seems, however, that in connection with business, he has been combining pleasure and amusement by sending notes to certain of the hotel girls to meet him in the "lane, love, where everything is still." At least our informant says that one of the Hatcher House girls received such a missive a few days ago, except that the woodshed was the place selected by the youth for the meeting. And now as to what happened there we will let our informant tell in his own words, as follows:
"It appears that the young lady, whom we will call J., accepted the invitation of the hopeful youth, to meet him there according to request. Accordingly at the appointed time, J. was at the place of rendezvous, together with a half bushel of rotten eggs and the balance of the girls.
"They had not been waiting long until here he came and slyly taps on the door, saying: 'Is it all right?' and she answers him, 'Yes, come in, it is all right.'
"Greatly emboldened at the answer, he makes a flying leap through the upper door, saying, 'Where are you?' She answers, 'Here I am, my love,' and at the same time in an under tone she gives the command 'ready' and 'fire' and the venturesome youth receives full in the front not less than one dozen shells.
"With that the war is continued until he is plastered from head to foot, and until he gives a lengthy holler for help and the girls, fearing they might do the young scion some serious injury, picked him up and tossed him out of the window with a 'good night, come again.'
"The last that was seen of our hero, he was making his way towards Palmer's lake, soliloquizing in a very emphatic style on his misfortunes and expressing the hearty wish he had 'gone up in a balloon' with Wise and thus soared above such annoying little sublunary troubles. He thinks that a salt water bath in the Atlantic would have been far preferable to the 'ducking' that he received in the woodshed."
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