The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1874-01-15

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was this shade Of trutA--that he wa,
. related % the old families througl
his wife; for Captain Lumsden woult
have scorned . fxisss .fdcis lie. Bu'
in his fertile mind the truth was evel
i gerninal: little acons Of fact grew
to great oaks Of fable. 80
4 How. quickly . crowd gatheul
While have been introducing you
to Lumsdcn, the captain has been
shaking hands in his way, giving q
cordial grip and then suddenly relax
ing, and Withdrawing his hand as If
afraid Of compromising his dignity,
and al the while calling out, 'Ho,
Tom! Howdy, Stevenss Hello,
johnson! is that yous Did come,
after al, ch?' an
Wncn once the company WIS about
complete, the next step was to d.
vide the heap. To do this judges
were selected, vo-wit: Mr.. Butter
6eld, . speaking man, who was
believes. TO know great deal because
be said little and looked ut things
carefully; and Jake Singer, who also
had a reputation for knowing .. great
deal, because he talked glibly and
was good st of hand guessing. But.
tesfield Hooked at the corn, first on
one side, and then on the end Of the
heap. Then he shook his head in
uncertainty, and walked round to the
other end Of the pile, squinted one
eye, took sight along the top Of the
ridge, measured its base, walked from
one end to the other with long strides
rs if pacing the distance, aud again
took bearings with one eye shut
while the young lads stared at him
with awe. Jake Singer strobe away
from the corn and took panoramic
view Of it, as one who scorned to ex-
anime anything minutely. He point
cd to the left, and remarked to his
admirers that he 'low'd they was
heap sight more corn in the left
hand eend Of the pile, but it was the
long, yaller gourd-seed, and powerful
easy to shuck, while t'other send wuz
the leetle, flint, hominy corn, and had
2 right smart sprinklin' of nubbins.'
He ''low'd whoever got aholt Of them
air nubbins would git sucked in. 1t
was neck-and- neck twixt this ere aud
that air, and fer his own part, he
thought the thing mout be nigh about
even, and had orter be divided in
the middle Of the pile.' Strange to
say, Buttcrfeld, after all his sighting,
and pacing, and measuring, arrived
at the same difficult and complex
conclusion, which remarkable coinci-
dence served to confirm the popular
confidence in the infalibility Of the
two judges.
So the ridge Of corn was measured,
and divided exactly in the middle.
A fence rail, leaning against either
side, marked the boundary between
the territories Of the two parties. The
next thing to be done was to select
the captains. Lamsden, as pru-
dent man, desiring al election to the
Legislature, declined to appoint them,
laughing his chuclsling kind Of laugh,
and saying, sChOcse for yourselves,
boys, chooae for yoarselves.' aa' sa1
/ Bill McC0nkey was ON the ground.
and there WAS no better husker. He
wanted to be captain ON one side,
bu, somebody in the crowd objected
that there was no one present who
could hold taller dip to Bills
shuckin.,
sWhar's Mort Goodwin demand
ed Bill; hes the one they say kin
lick me. I'd like to lay him out
wunst.'
sHc amt yer
That airs him comm through
the cornstalks, ! low said Jake Sni-
ger, as tall, well-built young man
came striding hurriedly through the
stripped corn stalks, put two hands
on the eight-rail fence, and cleared it
at bound. :.
That's him! that's his jump said
little Kike,' nephew of Captain
Lumsden. 'Couldn't many fellers do
tnat cight-rail fence SO clean
Hello, Mort!' they all cried ut
once as he came up taking off his
wide-,immed straw hat and wiping
his forehead. We thought you
wuzn't comm. Here, you and
Conkey choose up
Let somebody else, said Morton,
who WAS shy, and ready to give up
such distinction to others.
Backs out' said Conkey, sneering.
Not bit Of it, SAID Mort. You
don't appreciate kindness; where's
your stick!'
BY tossing stick from one to the
other, and then passing the hand of
one above that Of the other, it was
soon decided that Bill McConkey
should have the first choice Of men,
and Morton Goodwin the first choice
Of corn. The shuckers were thus all
divided into two parts. Captain
Lumsden, as host, declining to be up
on either side. Goodwin chose the
end Of the corn which had, as the
boys declared, a desp'rate sight OF
nubbins.' Then, at signal, all
hands went to work.
The corn had to be husked and
thrown into crib, a mere pen of
sfence-rails.
Now, boys, crib your corn,' said
Captain Lumsden, as he started the
whiskey bottle on its encouraging
travels along the line Of shuckers.
'Hurrah, boysp shouted McConkey.
'Pul, away, my sweats! work like
dogs in meat-pot; beat 'em all to
thunder, er bust q biler, by jimminy!
Peel 'em off! Thunder and blazes!
Hurrah!'
This loud hallooing may have
cheered his own men, but it certainly
cti,,an1u<.a1 hcoo m tho otbor c,la