The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1879-08-28
The Big Man OF a Small Town.

After supper, and about half an hour
before sundOwn, certain villagers begin
to gather on the tavern steps. The
wagon-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
q certain arrival - is Il fat, stout man
with a fatherly countenance, and his
clothes average a little better than the
others. Every evening in summer he is
to be found on the steps, and every even
ING in winter he has a 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
thereabouts
Why, sir, - explains the hOstler in a
careful whisper, &" that ere man kin
draw out plans for buildin' barns iist as
fast as he kin handle Il 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 S12 per
month";
As soon as the fat man gets settled
back in his chair there is Il general
hitching around so as to face him, and
to be ready TO agree with his statements.
If he says it looks like rain every head
mods an Affirmative; if he predicts short
crops every man on the stops is ready to
back him.
Why, sir, whispers the hOstler
again, F'that ere man can quote more
Bible than all the preachers [ ever heard
We hain't got 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
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 Il trade.
Z" Oh! if I could only spit out the ora
tory he cam" sighs the hostler as his
eyes lose sight of the big man for mo-
ment. Why, sir, if l could stand un-
der a shed and tell about 1916 the way
he can, l wouldn't take Il back seat foI
even the man who shoots off the fire
wOrls!'
The fat man here incidentally refers
to the proposed Christopher Columbus
lIlOuuIlcuI III AlnCIlCd5 anu GdIlcI car
ries the idea that the town would be ex-
pected to subscribe literally.
''Ah! that's another of his curious
traits, whispered the hostler, as he
feels for his empty wallet. g That 'ere
man wouldn't low one of us to subscribe
| one single dollar for that ere monu
ment. No, sir He means to pay fol
the hull burned thing out of his pocket!
That's the kind of picket-fence he Is
sir, and why in thunder this ERE coun,
try don't git right down on her marrow
bones and beg of him to run her for ;
couple of terms is more'n / kin see
through. 1 don't say nothin' fur my
self, cause l expect to alters be hos
tier, but l tell We it's awful tuff to see
man like him dumped down into Il tow
like this, where even the man who has
mortgage on the church don't purtenC
to know why it is that hand-orgaI
knocks all the pianers in town for musi,
that melts the soul! !''-Detro1 Free Press