The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1875-02-12
over the River.


"Do likefoIhs over the river-do with
out" This saying, which is an old one,
comes not gently, but boldly, to my
recollection. Often, when "Scrdp of q
boy" were my ears greeted with this
saying, and Impressions made on our
minds when young are most generally
hard, very hard to get rid of. Mind
you, | have always lived on the south
side Of Duck river, until recently, when
l steered and landed my barque on the
northern shore, where the inhabitants
are no strangers to the drought. Now,
ringing in my ears? | should say not,
but ii should not so so hard with me, as
L was raised up to believe that there
We're people inst OUer tic riUcr, who
were continually "doing without
Now that l am ONE OF THEM, to look
around it seems this old adage is pain
fully true; at least think 1 shall have
tn experience a fuU share of the afore-
said 'do- without" There is no escape;
all kinds of supplies are scarce. Many
heads of families haven'tcorn enough to
afford a good pGrcbing Tor their hens
so you see this accounts for the high
price of eggs. In many cases the rats
are leaving the "corn cribs" for parts
unknown, (Kansas, perhaps.) I heard
OF Il very singular case few days ago.
a gentleman in this locality, who had
been entirely without corn for some
time, had the good fortune to be able to
purchase wagOn~load; and on reaching
home he concluded to throw a few ears
to his hogs, that they might not forget
altogether how to go about eating it.
Just think of it! a dozen or more rats,
led on by the "OldeSt rat in the barn, !"
were upon the spot, and had vanished
with a gOOdly portion before the swine
had fairly cracked grain, to the utter
establishment of my ghbor, who stood
with his chin resting upon his hearing
bosom, and eyes double their usual size.
A short time ago, as l was passing the
farm of al old friend, (who, by the way
is an eX-Hardware merchant my ears
caught the sound of a 1OeU trained voice
singing. Its unexpectedness caused me
to pause for moment and listen just
10 the right some thirty steps, busily
engaged stopping "pig holes" in the
ACAtCV3 " to bhO SINluS VIC hOlO
strength OF his lungs to the song. One
verse ran thus:
TO the Rural District" belong,
Where like a Granger I'll sing a song;
hear them singing now and then
OF the cold shoulder" they'll give the
middle-men.
l recognized in the singer an old
friend, and passed on without disturb>
ing him.
At a recent sale in the neighbOrhood,
We noticed quite "streak of strategy"
IL was carried to the height of perfec-
ton, and deserves n much better notice
than l can give it. The auctioneer,
whom | will Call Polk Allen for the SAX 6
of convenience, had been worrying for
several hours with the dull crowd, who
seemed to have come to "see and be
seen." Polk, after having hand some
minutes whispering with the man OF
the place, addressed the group with,
Now, gentlemen, l will proceed to sell
you the family buggy horse. This ami
NAL you all know the worth of as fam
lily horse. Although he is some older
than others L have just knocked of,
must say he is the most valuable of the
lot. How much for him7 How much?
Can't get bid? Going at nothing"
&C., &c. The bidding was a drag, until
Just about this time a little son and
daughter came up and began to cry, and
almost Immediately his wife 'tiptoed' to
see what was being sold, and she began
exercising her handkerchief, wiping
away what seemed to the bystanders,
whose attention had been attracted by
the sobs, scalding hot tears Now the
bidding begins with more earnestness,
and with no falling of of sobs, things
seem more favorable. The more tears
tell the higher ran the bids, until the
auctiOneer's hammer fell, having sold
the horse for more than double his
actual worth MT, JUG.