Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1879-04-12
The Dumb BuII.

|. EDITORS CHRONICLE: Sam CaId-
well and others about town seem to
be much exercised on the subject OF
dumb bulls. We propose to en-
Tighten them as far as we can. The
dumb bull is strange creature; its
body is vegetable, its head is ami
NAL, and its tail is sometimes vege-
table and sometimes animal. Now
DR.. Wright and other learned men
would persuade you that there c'n
be no such thing in nature. But
pay no attention to what they say /;
we know what we are talking about.
This creature, when left to itself, is
entirely peaceful and inofSensive.
If it doea any mischief at all it is
usually through the instrumentality
of q big boy who has the devil in
him about as big as a crow. This
imp of Satan seems to infuse his
own spirit into it by grasping its
tail. The tail seems to be the con-
ductor of his diabolism like a wire
is of electricity; for when he seizes
hold OF it the hitherto silent and
peaceful creature wakes up 60 new
and terrible life. By means of sun.
dry manipulations of this tail, such
as jerking, pulling, and so on, there
comes rolling out such cCmbina-
ton of unearthly growls, groans,
grunts, screams, yells and below
ings as mortal ears never heard
before. 1t is always taken for
granted at the start that the thing
does not belong to this earth. But
whether 1t was dropped down from
above by some sin-cursed planet, or
whether it came up from the bot
tomless pit, is always deferred for
INSTRUMENTATION, The time is not
for thought, but for action. The
impulse to "git up and git" takes
immediate possession of everything
around. You may say what you
please about stout hearts, brave
hearts, lion hearts; they are not
worth a cent when dumb bull is
about. A poor fellow does not
know he has a heart, or, knowing
it, he has no use for it then. 1t is
legs he wants-good, stout, reliable
egs, for to these he trusts entirely
10 carry him through. The demand
Of the time is not for hearts, but for
hgs. Cram into him a half-dozen
frst-class hearts, they uldamount
to nothing; the legs would carry
them off in Il jiffy.
A dumb bull appeared in this
part of the county not long ago. A
party of 'possum hunters ran up on
it one night in John Edmondson's
bottom, The concealed monster
spent its first breath In a grOwl Of
disp.easure. This turned out TO be
only a clearing of the throat for
something better to come. Things
commenced happening. About as
soon as you could say "Jack Robin
son" three times the sapplings
around began to snap and the brush
heaps began to crackle and crash.
" The devil take the hindmost" was
the word for the night. In this
party was boy taking his first les
sons in country life. The lesson of
that night WAS particularly instruct
i've. He and a companion In tribu-
lation "took out" together. After
running until they could run no
longer, he proposed that they should
climb tree to escape the horrors
below. a friendly beech offered
the desired refuge. Flinging his
arms around it preparatory to his
ascent he noticed his friend sinking
at its roots apparently from ex-
haustion. Did he go up and leave
him to his fate? Not bit of it; he
went to him, told him he would
never desert him If die they must,
they would die together. But death
was not desirable there or anywhere
else. He accordingly seized hold of
him and did his best to push him
up the tree. That was a trying
time, and who could have come out
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