Wisconsin herald, and Grant County advertiser. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1844-1845, 1845-06-07
From the Reveille /.
NETTLE BOTTOM BALL.
BY +" SOLITAIRE"

BY SOLITAIRE"
"Well, it are fact, boys" said
Jim Skies. g that ! promised to tell you
how / cum to get out in these Platte
diggins, and speculate you mout as
well have it at onst, kase it's bin troub-
lin my conscience amazin' 10 keep it
kiver'd up. The AFFAIR." raised jcssy in
Ncttle Bottom, and Sam Stokes yell,
when he swar he'd 'chaw me up
gives my meat a slight sprinklin' of a.
ger whenever | think on it..
"You see, thar wur small town
called Equality, in Illinise, that some
spectators started near Ncttle Bottom,
cos thar wur spontaneos salt lick in
the diggins, and no sooner. did they git
it agoin' and build some stores and
groceries thar, than they wagon'd from
Cincinnati and other upstream villa
ges, pacel of fellers to attend the
shops, that looked as nice, all'ays. as if
they wur goin' to meetin' or on a cour-
tim frolic; and, salt their pictcrs,
they wur ctarnally pokin' up their no.
ses at US boys of the Bottom. Well,
they got up a ball in the village, jest TO
intcrduce themselves to the gals round
the neighborhood, and invited few on
US to make a contrary pictur TO them
selves, and so shine us out OF site by
comparison. After that ball thur want
any thin talked on among the gals but
what nice fellers the clerks in Equali-
ty wur, and how nice and slick they
wore their har, and their shiny boots,
and the way they stirrupp'd down their
trousers. You couldn't 60 to see one
on 'em that she wouldn't stick one o!
these iellers at you, and keep a talkin'
how slick they looked. 1t got TO be
perfect pizen to hear OF, or see the crit
tiers, and the boys got together at last
to see what was to be donc-the thing
had grown perfectly alarmin'. Al
last meetin' was agreed on, down to
old Jake Bents'.
"On next Sunday night, instead Of
takin' the gals to mce,in, whar they
could see these fcllers, we left 'cm at
home, and met at Jake's, and | am oil
the opinion thur was some congre ga
ted wrath thar-whew! want they!
"'H-ll and scissors!, says Mike
Jclt, 'let's 20 down and lick tie town,
rite Straifr
"sNo!' hollercd Dick Butts, 'let's
kitch these slick badgers comm out Of
meetin', and tare the hide and feath-
crs off on 'cmp
"Why, d-n 'em, what dye think
boys busted in old Jake, $ swar il
they amt lsrnt our gals 10 wear starn
cushions; ony this mornin' | caught
my darter Sally putin one on and ty-
i'm it round her. She tho't ] was a
sleep, but seed her, and ] made The
Jade repudiatc it, and no mistake
quickern
"The boys took a drink on the oc-
casion, and Equality town was slum-
berin', for a short spell, over a con-tig-
uous yearthquake. At last one of the
boys proposed before we attacked town,
that we should git up ball in the Bot
tom. and jest out-shine the town chaps,
all to death, aiore we swallowed 'em.
1t was hard to gin in this proposition,
but the boys cum to il at last, and eve
ry teller started to put the AFFAIR." ago.
in.
g had heen long spell hankerin'
arter old Tom Jones darter, on the
branch below the Bottom, and she Uas
a critter good for weak eyes-maybe
she hadn't a pair of her own-wcIl if
they warn't brace Of movin' light
houses, / wouldn't say it-tbere was
no caIcuIatin' the extent or handsome
ness of the family that gal could bring
up around her, with feller like me to
look arter EN-. Talk about graceful
ness, did you ever see maple ssplin'
movin' with south windl-It warn't
4 crooked stick to comPar' to her, but