Mountain Democrat., 1857-10-24
NUMBER 90.

| for the party who dances the best reeIA
stands the biggest treat, and carries the
most "rot-gut" without staggering. Al
though part ofa slave State, yetsiaVery was
abolished years since I'm that section, by
the Sheriff, who sold out the last darkey
in that whole kedntry." Sinkum has
its hero, and 'Lige Simmons is the lucky
man. II there is to be q camp meeting,
quitting or spree of any kind 'Lige Sim
mons must be consulted. He is the cham
plon, oracle and bell-weathcr Of Sinkum !
and as he goes, the rest follow unanimous
ly-men, women and children. Whether
it is frolic or a fight, 'Ligc was counted
IN.
I.igc stands six feet two outside Of his
boots, with the shoulders Of a Sampson,
and knucklcs that CAN beat sledge-ham-
mer. His fingers close down with the
clamp of a vice, and a "tar-hug" Is fun
compared with the underhold in tussle.
He amt beauty to look at, that's q
fact; he's the favorite Of all the women !;
for with them pluck and patronage will
tell.
I remember we'll the first time ever
heard of 'Lige Simmons.
One cold and clustering day in Decem-
Der, a few years since, several Of us were
seated around a roaring stove, in the re-
ccption room Of the Louisville HOTEL
Whether caused by the genial warmth Of
the stove, or the bar-man' + superb ''smash-
es, VIC had grown exceedingly commune
cativc; and although strangers, very soon
each one kew the others name, business
and habitation; in the crowd was pow
erful man, his face tanned by exposure,
| and marked by many scars. He gave his
name as Fulton, OF Bar Grass" and "he
had run the river from Orleans to Louis
vile, for the last thirty ycars-was equally
at home on steamer, raft, or broad
horn, and knew every bar and bend on
the Mississ'p', as well as he knew the
streets Of the city"
When Fulton heard me say that was
from Mudvilc, he exclaimed: Well,
stranger, decl0r' you're mighty peace
able lookin' fellcr, to hail from such q
place as Mudvillc. Let me see-yes; it
was four years ago, comm spring that me
and Ben Horton wur runnin' the Little
Pike. flat, loaden with produce, and
traden' along the coast. One night when
| the fog wur as thick as the fur on cats
back, We driftcd purity close to house,
whar they wur fiddlin', dancin' and drink
in like fury. After iloatin' along about
all hour, we passed another house, where
they were fr0lickin' like the devil, and
after while We passed another: and 80
on, every hour or SO, we would pass q
house where they seemed to be carrying
on in high style. And what seemed the
curiouscSt thing, in every house they had
a niggcr feller always playin' the same
chune. At last, says Ben to me, "ain't
these the bcatcnest foalks along here on
this coast for frolickin' you ever saw; ]
Just wish l was ashore a little while, to
give 'cm Kentucky touch" And then
Ben begun dancin' away on the top Of the
fiat i; for l tell you stranger, next to Q
snowy horse, a fiddle's the thing to reach
Kentuck's fine feelings.
"Well, when We found ourselves next
mornin', I'll just be dod busted if we
hadn't been travelin' around through the
fog, in one big eddy all night; and, you
see, all them houses where they had been
froickin' was the same house, that We
would pass by once in while. tell you,
me and Ben were mad enough; but as
they wur q small town close by, we con-
cluded to run ashore and try the chances
for tradin'. just as we tied up and showed
out plank, down comes a parcel fellers
to inspect us. Among 'em wur one tre-
mcnjous big feller; and | saw, from the
signs hung out, that he had been on q bust
all night.
Whopec!" he hollercd, jumped up
| L. - 1. -
'Ligc Simmons, all the way from Sinkum;
just bring out your wild cats, gentlemen.
if you want 'cm chawed up. I'm smash
ing tornado in tussle, with the scream
of steam engine, the grip Of he grizzly,
and the horsepower Of four-boiler boat.
Whar's the man can stand before mel"
IL know'd it wur q challenge, and ]
tell you it riled me considerable"
"Thinks / to myself, we'll try your grit
before we leave this place. After while,
goes in town, leavin' Ben in charge Of
the boat; and after cruisin' around o little
/ sees kinder pigcon-holc cut in the side
of house, and over the hole, in big
written, "Blind tiger, ten cents sight. u
| walks strait up, and peepin' in, sees a
fcllcr standin~ inside, stirrin' somethin'
with stick Immediately recognized a
familiar kinder mcnajcry smell about the
place. Hello, there, you mister show
man." says to the feller inside, "here's
your ten cents, walk out your wild cats. "
Stranger, instead of showin' me wild
varmint without eyes, Ill be dod busted
if he didn't shove out glass of whisky.
You see, that "blind tiger" was an ar
rangcment to cvadc the law, which won't
let 'em sell Ticker there, except by the
gallon.
1t is useless to say that my visits were
numerous to that, animal what couldn't
see. After a while happened along
where Lige Simmons had been telling
some longf yarn or other to the crowd
around him. felt the ''tigern workin'
on me; and when Lige finished bis yarn,
says to him, familiar-like, "Lige, has
you got the papers for that?" tell you.
l had said just enough, and it wur no
use to add another word. / looked at
'Lige and saw the 'tiger" plain in both
eyes, as he said to me, "Shuck yOurself!''
We wurn't long in sheddin' our superau-
Gus kiverin', and at it we went. Nip and
tuck, up and down, rough and tumble We
had it; bitin', scratchin' and goukin'. ]
tell you, it wur an awful scrimmage, and
we both fou't beautiful. But It wurn'I
no use, and I might as well acknowledge
the corn"
"'Lige Simmons were the bed man.
and when he got to gOin' into ny slhm.
ick with his meat maulers. had = ihlAts