Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1878-03-27
AColored Debatine societv.

| ASAV0ut v UAnOuS ou1O, uuBt u&v0 u0s
some very interesting meetings, thi
winter. Your correspondent happen
ing to pass through Mount v. abou
Christmas-time was invited by ,
friend to accompany him to ONE o
their debates" Your correspond
ent went. The object of the argu
ment on that particular evening wa
the settlement at once and forever Of
the question, (which am de might
est, de pen or de swoard p
Mr.. Laukins said about as follows
"Mr. Chairman, what's de use oh 1
swoard unless you's gwyne to waar
Who's hy'ar dats gwyne to waar
I isn't, Mr.. MorehOuse isn't, Mrs.
Morehouse isn't, Mr.. Newsome isn't
I'll bet NO feller wot speaks on dc
swosrd side is any ideer OBJ gwyne
to waar. Den what's de use oh de
swoard? / don't tink dere's much
show for argument in de matter"
Mr.. Lewnan said: "What's de use
OBJ de pen less you know how to
write? How's dat2 OATS what /
wants to know. Look at de chillun
OBJ Isr'l-wasn't but one man in de
hole crowd gwyne up from Egyp' to
do promi1 Lam Good write, an he
didn't write much. A voice in the
audience, "Wrote de ten command
ments, anyhow, you bet." Cheers
from the pen side.] Wrote 'cm ?
wrote 'em? Not much; guess not !;
not on stone, honey. Might p'r'aps
cut 'em wild . chisei. Broke 'em all,
anyhow, fore he got down de hill.
Den when he cut new set, de chill
lun OBJ Isr'l broke 'em all again. Say
he did write 'em, what good was it !?
So his pen NO count nohow. No,
Saar. De sscoard's what fotched em
into de Promis' Lam, Saar. Why,
Saar, it's ridiculous. Tink, Saar, OBJ
David a-cuttin' off Golian's head wild
q pen, Saar! De ideer's altogeder
too 'posterous, Saar. De sscoard,
Saar, de ssDoard mus win de argu.
ment Saar."
DR.. Crane said: II tink Mr.. Lew.
man . leetle too fas'. He's a-speakin'
OBJ de times in de dim pas, when de
mind OBJ man was crude, an de ham
OBJ man was in de ruff state, an not
tone down to de refinement OBJ cibil-
lied times. Dey wasn't educated up
to de use OBJ de pen. Deir hans was
only fit for de ruff use OBJ dc swoard.
Now, a. de modern poet says, our
swoards rust in deir cubbards, an
peas, sweet peas, covers de Lam. An
what has wrot all dis change? De
pen. Do l take q swoard now to get
me . peck oo sweet-tater, q pair OBJ
chickens, q pair OBJ shoes? No, Saar.
l jess take my pen an write q order
for 'em. Do want money? l don't
git 1t by do edge OBJ de swoard; 1
writes . check. I want q suit OBJ
clothes, Tor instance-a stroke oh de
pen, de mighty pen, dc clothes is on
de way. rs done"
Mr.. Newsome said: "With all due
'spect to de learned gemman dat's JUS
spoke, VIC mus all agree dat for
smoovin' tings off an a-levellin' tings
down dere's noting equals de
swoard."
Mr.. Hunnicut said: ~ agrees en-
tirely wild Mr.. Newsome an ia an
swer to what DR.. Crane says, l would
jess ask what's de use oh drawin' q
check unless yous got de money in de
bank, or a-drawin' de order on de
store unless de store truss you? |?
S'pose de store de truss, amt 1t easier
to SEN boy as to write a order? If
you got no boy handy, telegraf. No
use for q pen-not q bit. Who ebber
heard OBJ Mr.. Hills pen? Nobody,
Saar. But his s,coard, Saar-de
swoard OBJ ole Bunker Hill, Saar-is
known to ebery chile in de lam. III it
madden bin for de swoard of ole Bum
ker Hill, Saar, whaar'd we niggers
be tonight, Sasr? whaar, Saar? Not
hyar, Saar. In Georgia, Saar, or
wuss, Saar. No cullud man, Saar,
should ebber 60 back, Saar, on de
swoard, Saar."
Mr.. Hunnicutt's remarks seemed to
carry q good deal of weight with the
audience. After speeches by num-
Der Of others, the subject was handed
over to @the committee" who carried
it out and "sot on it, In due time
they returned with the following de-
cision:
"De committee decide dat de
swoard has de most pints an de best
backin, and dat de pen is de most
beneficial, an dat de whole ting is
about stan'-off."-Harper's Mdga-
zine for April.