The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-09-11


! What really is puzzling to the adult
! mind is whence the boys originally OBJ
! tanned their barbarous methods of
! " counting out for '' catcher '' fox, "
or any of those pleasant juvenile games
requiring feetness of foot and secre-
tive disposition. For instance lot
of boys will get together to play at
! some of their games. He will go
through great rigamarole of words,
, applying one word to each as he desig-
mates him by tap on the breast, and
the last one so honored is "it," as they
call the catcher" as thus
Onery, ORGY, Ickory, Ann,
Fillisin, Follisun, Nicholas John,
English Navy
Stinklum, Stankulum, Buck ~
Now, there are those who would like
to know what sense there is in all that,
and what the mystery connected with
these portentous words. And also in
this, another mode of counting out
'Occa, bocca,
Bona, crocka,
Oeca, bocca, truce
Or in this, which is considerably less
elegant, though possibly more signif-
cant than the two preceding
Ink, pink,
How you do stinkl"
The future bellies of the Queen city,
it must be confessed, use the same saw
age methods in making their election,
of who's it ?" etc. The girls have
also a good many incomprehensible
chants and songs of their own. The
starting point is, of course, "ring
around the rosy spot, fer it is an utter
| iT1TaCcih1Iifu 4I,oA -
and real girls-to play anything very
long that does not require clapping
of hands and their circling about with
some outlandish chant. Their favorite
song is:
d" Green gravel,
| Green gravel,
How green the grass grows;
| And all the creation
| Is ashamed to be seen.
| Dear Annie, dear Annie
/ Your true love is dead;
| He sent you letter,
| So turn back your head"
Whereupon the dear Annie in ques-
tion reverses her top-knot to the balance
of the circle and continues to go round
in that position until the dreadful It'd
| ings of the decease of the true love of
"Dear Lizzie, I" Dear Louie" etc., is
conveyed to them respectively, and
| they, in turn, reverse themselves in
honor of the departed. When the
whole list of names in the circle is ex-
hausted, and the bereaved objects of so
much pure affection are In mourning
together, the game is playe over
again.
If there chance to be any youthful
representatives. of the male sex about |
with whom the young ladies are on
good terms, the chant is sometimes |
varied thus, the circling performance
never ceasing for an instant:
''Little Minnie Tun,
A sitting in the sun,
A weeping and crying for a young man;
Rise, Minnie; rise, Minnie,
Wipe away your tears
Look to the East and look to the West
And look to the one thatyou love the best"
And Minnie Immediately casts a Ian
gushing look upon some young shaver
among the boys who, in response, as
quickly assumes a melancholy air,
breathes hard a couple of times, and
attempts simultaneous display of all
his jewelry.
But this is getting off the main sub
iect-boys. The lives of most of the
great heroes, philosophers and statesmen
that have figured in the worlds history
have been written, the "self-made"
men of the country have been run
through Hoe press several thousand
times, and the future of promising
youths throughout the land has been
horoscoped somewhat extensively. But
who shall write up the youth of our
distinguished soldiers and statesmen,
gentlemen of celebrity in this vicinity
roo,, |
out handsomely, but we are afraid none
of them would be SO frank and outspo.
ken on the subject as Col Richard Hol-
land, now of Harrodsburg, Kentucky,
but Cincinnatian " born and raised"
The colonel admits having been the
wiclSenest boy in Cincinnati. He was
Lock street boy, and fond of the canal
He was also fond of ginger cake, and on
one occasion abstracted the grocery
pass-book from beneath the paterual
roof, and obtained twelve sections of
that substantial and spicy creature COM
fort for the benefit of his "crowd,"
who ate it in a neighboring board.yard,
and gave three times three for the au-
thor of the feast. An attempt to alter
the figures in the book failed, however,
and the youthful fnancier received a
large dose of strap oil, as a curative for
his smartness. The colonel was like
wise fond of gun, and as his father had
one, which the old gentleman priced very
highly, Richard and his brother took it
out on the hill to shoot" chippies" on !
an average three times week, Richard
taking the weapon apart and ramming !
the stock up the back of his coat, while
his brother carried the barrel In one of !
his trousers legs, so as to get it out !
Il 1. |
the ramrod by tying a string to it and ,
making a whip of It until they got out !
of sight. They had "lots of fun" with :
the gun until the brother tried to shoot :
the ramrod out one day, when 1t kicked
him over, and knocked both hammers
to full cock. Richard didn't see his
brother for over five minutes, and then 6
had to carry him home. There was :
no more shooting of "chippies. :
The most important transaction of :
that period of the cOlonel's existence 4
was the clandestine carrying away and :
pawning of the old gentleman's watch J
"a venerable time-piece which had been :
lying unseen in a bureau-drawer for !
over five years. Richard very reason 5
ably thought the watch was completely {
forgotten by that time, and that he had /
made very iudicious disposition of it. !
But the very next Sunday, as il-luck I
would have it, the old gentleman, on !
dressing himself to go to a dinner-par- I
ty, said to his good wife, Well, I /
guess I'll weyr my watch to-day" and I
Ruthless search being made for the I
Richard fed the spot and :
played /" hockey" both from school and !
home for the next six weeks. {
It has been mentioned that the colo /
mel was fond of the canal. So he was,
and iolly lot of trouble it used to get
him into, too. He was going home c
from {" school, one day with his shoes