The Cass County Republican. [volume] (Dowagiac, Mich.) 18??-1880, 1858-07-08
Getting Rid of Rocks.
AN AMUSING EXAMPLE.

AN AMUSING EXAMPLE.
= In our primary soils, where large
rocks are imbedded firmly in the soil,
and lie thickly on the ground, they arc
a. great incumbranee to the cultivation
of the land and if to be got out of the
Tay are a. great expense in their re-
movaL- Many of them are worked into
stone fences, but as better stones for
such purposes usually abound on the
same premises, these huge rocks are
little less than a nuisance, to be got rid
of in some way-and that usually by
blasting, picking up and carrying away
altogether, when they can be devoted
to no useful purpose.
There is another way of getting rid
of them which we can best illustrate
by case in point. Some years ago a
wealthy townsman bought country
place, a rude farm rather, having good
capabilities for fine residence, a. few
miles out of town, and went to work to
improve it. In laying out his building
grounds, a huge granite rock, of seve-
Yal feet in circumference, lay deeply
Embedded in the light yellow loom
where he purposed to have his lawn.
That rock he must have out fthr way;
and, as he had na tss}'s co blast it with,
he set TO work with a half dozen labor
ers, and two or three yoke of oxen, to
remove it. The owner bossed'' the
work himself; but he knew much more
about merchandise than moving rocks,
and the work went on badly. He
ordered levers and handspikes (; the
hberers shoveled a hole on one side,
to get the levers under the rock; they
dug holes on the other side and they
dug holes on all sides; the chains were
wrapped around it, and hooked, and
the cattle whipped up and bawled at
by the teamsters, all to no purpose.
The chains broke, the workmen CAB
bled, the teamsters scolded, and the
Z" boss" fumed and fretted. 1t was no
CO.. decidedly, after toiling at the rock
half day. There it lay, heavy, sullen,
immoveable.
As they were about leaving for din
ner, a fanS leunging Yapkee-came
travelling along, with a stick over his
shoulder, and bundle tied in cotton
rocket handkerchief hanging on the end
Of it. Hearing the "muss" over in the
field, he turned from the highway to
the fence near where the men were at
work, and took look to see what they
were about. The men had now scat
tered, leaving the owner of the premi-
ses still at the rock, where he quietly
stood apparently musing on the ill
success of his morning labor. Singing
out to him, our Yankee exclaimed !:
"Say, neighbor, what We dewin' on?''
Feeling exceedingly nettled, yet still
willing to receive comfort from almost
any quarter, he muttered, half angrily,
vet somewhat coaxingly, "I've been
working here all day with, a lot of sta
.pid fellows, and couple Of teams, to
get out this rock, and here it lies just
as fast as ever and / believe | shall
have to abandon it after all.'
"Dew tell / never % said the Yam
,kee, climbing over the fence, and ap-
preaching the proprietor-where he
carefully laid down his bundle, contain
ing probably the most Of his spare
wearing gear" and what deao We want
to dew with it %
Nothing in the world but to get it
ont of sight, some-way-or-other, so that
/ shall never see it again"
"Sartin? Never want to see the
rock agin, so %
eyes, out Of sight that's all / care
for
And heow much'll we give, to put
the pesky thing where We wont see it
agin-never ?"
.sWhy, I've fooled away FIVE dollars
on it already: and I'll give five more
to any one who'll do the job
"Sartin %
ayes; sdrti,a."
"Well, throw in my dinner, for I'm
plaguey hungry, and keep them pesky
fellows out of the lot, and give me a
good shovel and I'll dew it for We this
AFTERNOON"
The bargain was struck, the Yankee
given his dinner, and about one o'clock
P. NJ. he was seen, coat off and sleeves
rolled up, of a pleasant day in the month
of April, shoveIling away like " all
possessed" IN sinking huge hole on
one side, and partly under the rock
aforesaid. The owner, of course, was
not far away, directing his men about
other labor which they prosecuted with
more apparent success than at their
mornings work. Long before sunset
,,x,r Vonkoc cunor ont to his EMPLOYER