The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1867-08-03
R an c = = 8TEn.
Social characteristics Of that Region
How the Folks Go to Bed.

Demoerat.I
We propose to describe the manner of a
prairie rancheman and his wife going to bed,
and of their eldest hopeful Son and heir,
lately married to a fascinating Western lady.
We were an unwilling spectator of the scene
| herein related Far from home, or from
any civilized diggins, we were compelled
to seek shelter at a rancho. In this rancho,
built Of adobes, with a mud roof lived an
old graY-headed man and his ole oman
1t must not be supposed that this old c1uple
| were lntirm, unable to move abOut-far from
! it, they were no less active, and ten times
more laborious than the young man and the
young woman who lived under the same
roof The rancho itself consisted of siugle
! room eight by twelve. One large stove
stood in the center Of the room, and occu-
| pying precisely one-half of the rancho were
| two beds, one for each couple. The old wo-
man, who was undoubtedly the mistress Of
! the raDche, gladly consented to give us lodg-
| ing. On taking a sweeping look around
! this humble abode we doubted her ability
! peared well supplied with furniture suitable
/ for the rancho. There was large table
there were large tin pans brim full Of milk,
! (Ior the ranchmau had nine cOws,) piled one
! upon another; there was a cupboard plenti-
! fully supplied with huge loaves of bread
delicious yellow butter and pitchers Of gen.
uine cream; loads of dishes and crockery
knives and forks; there was a chest of draw
| ers, or bureau, we'll supplied with family
linen and household apparel. Under the
| table already mentiOned were three tame
fawns; under the stove was a cat; under
the old lady bed was a huge mastif; under
every DOdys feet there were about 4 dozen
chickens chipping necessarily, while around
them moyed the mother hen, cackling con
tiuualiy, and before the door, strutting with
q lordIy mein, was a magnificent Shanghai
cock.
We have thus far been careful to give a
correct idea Of the families that live in the
| rancho in which the old woman said we
should find lodging. Ten o'clock at night
had arrived, and we began to observe symp-
toms of uueasiness in the old lady. We had
been chatting continually from the hour the
! chickens went to roOsb overhead among the
| branches that supported the mud roof from
/ the time the dog and the cat, and the iawns
had lain down to rest for the night and it
was now time for the family to retire The
young woman had been sitting in corner,
! listening attentlveIy to our entertaining sto-
ries, but, on observing the wcaTiHeSs of Ter
mother-in law, she rose and retreated t"ward
! her bed. After preliminary haw, and a
/ slight hem, she turned her back to us, and
/ first loOsed the apron, the diRgy strings Of
which encrcled a form inclined to embon-
point This young lady then took off her
Dress which was made Of calico, and per
/ fectlv innocent of the wash-tub, and drop
ped 1t on the top Of the apron lying at her
/ feet Then, sitting down on an empty soap
/ box which stood at the head Of the bed, she
/ commenced to take off her shoes. She first
lifted one lusty leg over the other, and in q
( short space of time the shoe fell, with
thump, on the Fl or. She then rolled the
/ black wooden stocking off and exhibited to
/ our view foot white as snow, though fat
and thick. In the same manner she un-
dressed the other eg, stood up and prepared
to take of her surplus clothing which she
| performed in "a fly. At her feet encircling
/ her were heap Of clothing Rolling down
! the coverlet, after putting friied night-cap
/ on, she stepped into the bed, laid herself at
/ full length, covered herself, took two or three
uneasy turns to get a comfortable position,
| finally turned her back to US and went
gracefully and calmly to sleep.
/ it must not be supposed Tor one instant
/ that we looked at her; Oh no we cOnversed
with the old lady and the two men, but in
/ the meantime we were helplessly compelled
to watch the interesting proceeding from
corner Of our eye in order to be able to give
this accurate account. We now rose and
left the room, followed by the two men with
whom we kept up a lively conversation while
the old lady, y no had closed the door, dis
robed herself On hearing a voice from the
inside asking a question about some cows,
we entered again the precincts Of the ranch
that question q signal which the old man
perfectly understood; the old lady lay night
capped in bed, with her face turned toward
the brown adobe wall
On the floor, near the stove, our bed had
been made a solitary lamp lit the apart
meDt. IN a short time we were in bed the
old lady asked, +" How DO you fnd Yourself
Dir. Man p We replied Perfectly easy,
ma'am We now watched the men un-
dressing, standing at their respective beds.
they first took of their boots, then coats and
vests. at this stage Of the proceedings the
young man blew the lamp out, and, IN a sec
ond, we heard the pantal0Ous thrown OIL a
creakin2 OF the beds followed, and the house
hold were az rest Three men, two women,
one dog, one cat, three young antelopes, and
a dozen chickens in a house eight by ten,
lighted and ventilated by two small loop
holes
/ A shocking tragedy, arising from the want
Of care in the use OF a coal oil lamp oc-
CURED in Cincinnati on Monday night last
1 The victim was a Mrs Hinkle She at
tempted to fill the lamp with oil while the
wick was still burning. The oil Suddenly
I ienited and in less than half a minute her
body was burned to a crisp. She fingered
1 three hours in great agony, and died, leav-
/ ing two small children. Her fate should be
4 a terrible warning
Doctor Hancock, at Bowling Green, Ken
tucky, Wednesday night, shot one Mont