The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1879-08-28
The Big Man OF a Small Town.

After supper, and about half an hour
/ before shutdown, certain villagers begin
to gather on the tavern steps. The
wagoh-maker, the blacksmith, the sign
painter, the horse-doctor and others can
generally be found in the crowd, chairs
tilted back and pipes and cigars alight,
but the convention does not proceed to
business until a certain arrival. This
L" certain arrival is fat, stout man
with a fatherly cOuntenance, and his
clothes average a little better thar. the
Others. Every evening in summer he Is
to be found on the steps, and every even
ing in winter he has chair by the big
stove inside He is the man who has
| travelled He was the first Justice of the
Peace in the county. He gave the first
dollar towards the first Westinghouse
whereabouts. Lr o. a..f. t.. -.r3
Why, SIR explains the hostler in a
careful whisper, "that ERE man kin
draw out plans for buildin' barns jist as
fast as he kin handle a lump of chalk,
and he isn't any more afraid of railroad
presidents than | am of horses. If |
knode what he knows | wouldn't hang
around this tavern for less'n Sl2 per
month"; r.
As soon as the fat man gets settled
back in his chair there is general
hiching around so as to face him, and
to be ready to agree with his statements.
If he says it looks ike rain every head
mods an affirmative; if he predicts short
crops every man on the stops is ready to
back him. a..
"Why, SIR whispers the h6stler
again, THAT ere man can quote more
Bible than all the preachers | ever heard! !
We hain't got a man here that would
dare tackle him nohow on sacred para
graphs. And he's travelled clear to Mis-
souri, one way and as far as Canada the
other 1s4+rr,i rfrrv.s -". lfsr.~
The fat man now gets warmed up to
his work little. Referring to the last
Fourth of July Grafton he tenderly Sc
lects a dozen or fifteen bad mistakes
made by the orator as points to prove
that oratory is not a trade. I,i
. ''Ohi if | could only spit out the ora
tory he cant" signs the hostler as his
eyes lose sight of the big man for a mo-
ment. "Why, sir, if could stand I'M
der a shed and tell about 1776 the way
he can, | wouldn't take a BACK seat for
even the man who shoots off the fire
works." #
The fat man here incidentally refers
to the proposed Christopher Columbus
monument in America, and rather car
ries the idea that the TOWN would be eX-
peeted to subscribe literally.
q All, that's another of his curious
traits, whispered, the .hostler, as he
feels for his empty wallet. '..That ere
man wouldn't low one ofus TO subscribe
one single dollar for that ERE mont-
nlent. No, sirh He means to pay for
the hull burned thing ont of his pocket!
That's the kind of a picket-fence he is,
sin, and why in thunder this ;ere eoun-
try don't cit right down on her marrow
bones. and beg of him to run. her for a
couple of terms is more'n | kin see
through. | don't say nothin' fur my
self, cause expect to alters. be a hos
tier, but | tell We it's awful tuff 10 see a
man like him dumped down intola town
like this, where even the man who has a
mortgage on the church slon't puItend
TO know why it is that "A hand-organ
knocks, all the planners in town for music
that mcIts the soul! '-DetroH Free Press.