The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1844-02-09
Eecenniei,ic. of a ,rna,nau.

practice of law, and engage in basket max
Ing. He was frs, an awkward hand
at his employment, but by the dint Of per-
severance, he soon became very aAllilul,
and could weave basket rs well as he
had formerly woven an argument at the
bar. He followed this business aboussix
months, when taking a new notion INTO
his head, he abandoned it for chair bot
toming.
The material used in this occupation
was bark, which he stripped from the
trees in the summer, when il peais mos!
easily. Having come home one day
covered from head to foo, with mud, he
was asked where he had been thai he
had got so thoroughly bedaubed. lie
answered that lie had been in a neigh
boring swamp after Elm bark, OF which
he exhibited strip about forty feet long.
DO YOU remark this ? said he irium-
phanlly.
Yes, but how does it account for your
being so muddy! 1t isn't common TO find
mud on the top of tree
No, but You sometimes find II on the
bottom, though I'll tell you Low found
it. | cut the bark near the root of the
tree, and then stripping i! upward, cx'
pecting il would come TO an end and
break of and run itself out after while.
But it hung on like suit in chancery--
and sript and sirlpt, until it ran up for
ty feet as strong as ever. Thinks 10
myself there's no Use in pursuing tie
lhing any further and so I'll enter nolle
prosecute. But not to lose the benefit Of
what | had done that was the point to be
decided. | wished at least to save costs
but pshaw ! flrgot-Im not lawyer
now. Well, as | was saying, looked
at the subject to see how | could secure
the bark. 1t was too strong for me to
attempt to break off. At any rae,
thought |, there's more than one way TO
skin a cat as butcher would say. III
canno, break off this bark | can climb up
! by it. No sooner said than done.
seized hold Of the strip, and placing my
feet against the trunk Of the tree, ran up
hand over hand. By this method of
climbing, you will perceive that my back
must have been downwards at nearly
horizontal poslion-my feet being braced
against the tree, and my head standing
from it at an angle of nearly ninety de-
grees. Having arrived at,he proper height,
was then in 4 quandary how TO get my
knife cut Of my pocket, and how to get
it open If ii was out. If | let 20 with one
hand was fearful the other would not
hold me. However, says |, It's neck or
nothing, Ill try the experiment, at any
rate--so gripped powerfully with my
left hand, while | took Oh, my knife with
my other, and opening it with NIX teeth,
whipped Of the bark as clean rs lie law
would dock an entail. And what do you
think was the result 2
why, you came Cat on your back Of
courscn
Right, gentlemen of the jury-a very
just verdict, indeed, came down flat
in the mud. Never was a Chant laid
natter on his back than land never was
one more completely bcdaubed by dir!
and filth. But thanks to the yielding
nature of the soll | saved my bones, and
only brought away the mischief on my
coat. | gained my cause too--whieh
is more than can say Of all my under
takings.'
The company laughed heartily at tho
cx-lawyer's accoua, OF his eypIoil-whiIe
the latter hanging his roat mp in the mud,
said that like tho old woman's grease, it
would rub off when it got dry.
He continued sometime longer the oc.
upalion Of chair bouoming, when sudden
~ becoming sane again, he resumed the
practice of the law, and has ever since
preferred laying lis opponents on their
backs in legal way, to being laid on his
own in so ludicrous a manner as that
above rclacd.-N ]. transcript.
Facts IN BricE-Out Of every thou.
sand men, twenty-cigh, die annually.
The number of inhabitants Of a city or
a country is renewed every thirty years.
The number Of old men who die in
cold weather is to the number Of those
who die in warm weather seven to four.
The proportion between the deaths Of
women and ihat Of men, is as Que hun
dred to one hudred and eight. The pro-
liable duration of females lives is sixty )