The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1859-09-15
SOLD SERIES, VOL. II, NO. -
TERNS.-Sl,5O, iaa Advance.

"'Well if everv sez T. who ever heard
tell of givin' quarter to see goose?' ~.
"'Hushf sez Mrs: Salter, that's the way
of these agriculturous fairs. They bring spe-
cmcns of their feathered animals to repeat
for the pre,niumsr
There was horses, and sheepses, and
cows, and oxen, and sights Of all kinds of
critters. Ichabod and Mrs Salter went off
little ways to see a colt, and went up to
pen where there was big red cow, and
man tn take keer OF her. looked at her
SPELL but didn't see nothin' wonderful: and
asked the man what there was curis about
her. He was q shy-lookin' chap, with large
yellow calash on his upper lip, and kind of
a KNOWN wink in his eyes. He looked up
when spoke, and sez he, privacy like,
"'Marm,. 1 amt i'm the habit of telin' any.
thing about that annermil to common folks;
but when handsome gal, like you, asks me
about her | can't help ansuring.'
~ blushed red enuff, + can tell you, for it
sorter frustrated me to be hattered SO by .
stranger, and sez I, 7.' E.-,'J D.. 90, {.
"Land sake squire, you don't mean it9'.
"'Yes, do sez he, I'm reddy to swear
it, f a.a-- -1a'57 taaf~
No, DON'T sez I, it's wicked to swear.
don't doubt but you're in airnest.' rar
EARNEST! to be sure am scz he, and
now, to convins you. IN tell you the story Of
that COW. She is one of the two that Noah
kerried into the ark +
"'My gracious deliverance |! sez I, it can't
ben .i
"'Marm,' sez he, lookin' terrible hurt, If
you don't believe me I'll permit myself to
silence ." 3, -'i '''
"'No! heringsr sez I, don't do nothin'
in hurry. believe all you say
"'Wall,' sez he, that cow was in the ark,
and, when she cum out, Noah give her to the
Duke Of Devonshire Tho duke was one Of
my fathers pertickerler cronies, and he give
the cow to him. Ny father let me trot her
out to the fair jest for the notion Of it. She'll
make seventy five pound eff butter in week,
besides milk enuff for my chldren-fourteen
of 'en. My wife MIXED five hundred pound
of curd from her last summer-made capper-
tai cheese all it needed was putin into the
hoop and pressin' little tHtaai
"Lawsr sez I, if don't think that's
whopper! t- Sf.9a
"'Yes,' seq he, she is the whoppinest COW
yo,r ever seed. And you can think Jest as
you're mind tp-this is free country
and with that he winked at another feller
that had jest cum into the PEN Jest turn
ed away and left 'em I was indinifed. for
felt eggsactfy as though I'd been resulted.
81 hadn't gone but few steps afore met
Ichabod and Mrs. Salter. They was agwine
to see the hosses race. thought might
as well go, too. Out by the racing place
there was two or three boards set up on
blocks. felt kinder fatigayed, and, thinks
I, I'll Jest set down minnit or So So I
made motions to set but man grabbed mo
by the arm, and yelled out,
"'Not by two chalks you don't set here
thought payin' ninepencer #..
"'Ketch me payin' for settin'! I'd stand
to all everlastin' fust = and went rite of.
"Wal, the hosses raced, and couldn't
tell for the fife of me which beat didn't
much keer, was crowded and jammed up
so. 1t was enuff to kin anybody. By the
time they'd done that performuns, we'd all
got putty considerable hungry. and Ichabod
sed we'd better rejoum to the tent and git
somethin' to eat. I give fifty cents for two
pieces of pie and dough-nut, and Ichabod
paid quarter to smell of the wing ola chick
en-. Mrs. Salter had bag Of turnovers, and
some cheese, and we sot down ON the ground
and eat altogether. Arter our dinner was
done, we hunted up the other curis things.
The funniest of 'ein was little thing that
they called blowin' mashccn: you gwoup
to it, and give man cent, and you had
right to blow into pipe; you could blow
out all yer breath and find if yer lungs and
other appartitions was good or not. laid
out one cent in tryin' Of It. The man sed
blowed two quarts.
"'Two quarts of what p seq I.
"'Two quarts of carbonic acid and high
gin,' sez he.
"'What p scz I, Il amt drunkard, and
amt got no gin about me-
"Folks round there laffed, and Tchabod
and Mrs. Salter pulled me off into the tent,
where the needle-work was stuck up. OH
sich heap Of counterpins, and kiverlids, and
rugs, and piucIshions, and bunnits, and
things, you never sot your eyes on! There
was baby fixin's, and ploughs, and harcrs,
and rcnervators, and hay-choppcrs, and sew
in machines, and contriba,ccs that nobody
on airth krowed what they was.
avail, next We went round and seed 'em
plough, and drive losses, and ride; an i byme-
bye somebody made speech, and everybo-
dy hoorayed and clapped their hands like
crazytics; | waved my handkerchief, anil
Mrs. Salter said the speech was one of the
splendidest catastrophes to agriculture that
ever was heern. AS soon as the speech was
over, everybody started for the Fact'ry Field,
the place where there was balloon to gwoup.
n u