Feliciana sentinel. [volume] (St. Francisville, La.) 1877-1892, 1880-03-27
NO. 3 8, ,
JESSE WHITE S FIRST DRINK.

never got drunk till day before
yesterday" remarked Uncle
Jesse White as he sat on a salt
barrel in front of a grocery store.
81 have lived in Arkansas for
forty years-cum here from
EastTennessy- and the thought
that got drunk in the evening
of my life, when l can just see
the gray hairs shining in the
twilight, is enough to make me
throw myself in Il eriver." s'Tell
us how it occurred, Uncle Jesse,'
asked bystander. "Well, some
time ago, up in my neighbor-
hood" "a Good Templar's
lodgewas organized, All the
young people jined, and pretty
soon they came after me.
My son Ike was the leadin'
man, and he says to me, Pap,
| want you to jine this thing.'
Ike says I, Il don't know the
taste of liquor and I don't, see
the use Of jinin'.' Papa says
he, I'VE want yourinfuence. We
are gwine to vote on the local
option law pretty soon, and we
want you publicly Unidentified
with the work.
''Then my daughter Susan,
she came around: and begged
me to jine. Susan says I, you
never seed your old father take
a drink No, pap, says she, Ebut
we want you to- help us frown
down the curse of intemperance.'
Next the parson came around
and sot my wife on me, and
when they all got to drummin
I had to jine. I jined on Friday
night, and on the following Sat-
urday I got on the boat and
came down here. Somethin'
allied me. Somethin' kept say
i'm, Jesse White, you amt a
free man. It bothered me, and
when 1 saw one of the deck
hands turn up a jug, down I
walked and looked into it, took
hold of the corn-cob stopper,
walked away and smelt my fin
gers. I went up on deck and
sat down in front. Pretty soon
two men came and sat down.
After q while one of them re-
marked: "The governor of North
Carolina said to the governor Of
South Carolina,' and without
finishing the sen tence, both men
laughed and drank out of a big
black bottle.~ There was some
thin in that governor business
that took me. I had heard my
father talk about it and laugh.
l had often heard it, but no one
had ever been positive what it
was that the Governor said, on
ly that the time between drinks
had been rather long. Pretty
soon one of the men reached
down, took up the bottle, took
out the cork and said: the gov
ernor of North Carolina said to
the Then both men laugh
ed and drank. I meyer felt so
curious in my life. I looked
around at the trees on the bank,
and at women who waved their
handkerchiefs at us as we pass
ed. These Governors had a ring
about them that tinglcd through
my old blood. ; Just then one Of
the men turned, held the bottle
toward me and said: The Gov
ernor of North-' Before I
knew I had hold of the bottle.
] turned it up and drank. All
[ thought about was the gov
ernors, and when the shadows
of Ike, Susan, the parson, and
my wife fitted through my
brain, the two governors, tall
and grand, stail1cd right up and
ran over them. THE governor
of North Carolina and / had
taken another pull and a long
one. / began to see the gov
ernors in their true light. I
thought they were the best fell
lows in the world. The boat
seemed to be runnin' a mile q
minute, ard | didn't care what
she did so long as the governors
were with us. We'll, boys, the
governors kept rcmarkin' and I
kept pllllin', and by the time T
l. Z