Juliette Gordon Low Stories

• My Watch
  I had my favorite watch on most days. The fact that it only had one hand, and couldn't really tell the time, never really bothered me.
• Ear Problems
  I had a series of ear infections and was losing patience with "traditional" medicine. I had heard that silver nitrate was the "newest" treatment, and I insisted that the doctor use it on me. Unfortunately, it was too powerful a mixture, and it caused me to go deaf in that ear. Later on at my wedding, a truly freaky thing happened; some of the rice people threw got caught in my other ear. I didn't want to take the time to see a doctor, since I was leaving on my honeymoon. Well, the rice festered in my ear and caused quite an infection. When it was finally removed, the instrument they used to take it out made me deaf in that ear too.
• The Wrong Fish
  I was out trout fishing one night and felt a tug on my line. I fought hard for quite a while to try and "land" my catch. What I didn't realize was that I hadn't hooked a fish - rather, I had hooked one of my guests straight through the ear. I was too deaf to hear his screams, and I was so determined to land the "fish" I never noticed that it was a human being instead.
• No?
  When I returned to the States and wanted to start the Girl Scouts, I knew I needed some help. The first woman I approached tried to tell me she wasn't interested. I pretended that my deafness prevented me from hearing her refusals. And told her, "Then that's settled. I've told my girls you will take the meeting next Thursday." I never heard a word of argument from her again!
• Fishing with Rudyard Kipling
  I was bored at one of the parties I was attending, and so pulled Rudyard Kipling(the famous author) away from his friends and took him fishing. He kept complaining that we weren't dressed for it (we were both in formal attire), but I never saw what difference our clothes made - it wasn't as if they were the bait we were using!
• Turkey Dinner
  When I was little, people fattened and then slaughtered their own Thanksgiving turkeys. Just before they cut off our turkey's head, I convinced my family that brutal decapitation was inhuman. I argued that he could be chloroformed first, and then wouldn't feel anything. They finally gave in and agreed to do just that. Then they plucked the turkey and put him in the icebox. When they opened the icebox the next day, the bird was wide awake and bolted out of his frozen "cage." The cook, thinking the bird had been dead, became hysterical and jumped up on top of the stove.
• Baby Rabbit
  Once I showed up at my sister's with a baby rabbit I had bought from some children because its ears were cold. I put the rabbit on a hot water bottle and massaged its ears for quite a while. After all, I knew that all healthy animals had warm ears.
• A Battle of Wills
  When my husband died, I found that he had willed his entire estate to another woman. No one was going to get away with that! Against the advice of my friends, I decided to contest the will.and eventually I won a $500,000 settlement.
• Strays
  I always loved animals. I was constantly coming home with stray dogs, cats and even horses. Sometimes they weren't strays, but I felt that their owners were neglecting them.