The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1881-05-19
Robust Imaginations.

Carson City New Appeal.
Yesterday afternoon, when the lawyers
in Justice Cary's Court were waiting
| for the verdict in petty larceny case.
| of his early childhood in Minnesota,
| illustrative of the peculiar customs in
! that State:
II knew an old farmer there who
owned ten acres of timber land
where millions of pigeons came each
year to roost. They devastated the
wheat fields, and the old coon used to
| catch the birds in nests and thrash them
out on the barn floor. Each bird had
three ounces of wheat in his crop, and
it was bad year for old Thompson
when he couldn't ship 1000 bushels of
wheat to market at $3.50 a bushel, and
it ranked A No. when it reached the
Chicago elevator. If there had been a
few million more of pigeons he would
have come pretty near getting corner
on the Minnesota wheat CROP"
81 know planter down in Alabama, !"
said Kittrell, s.who was fully as sharp
as that. He trained an alligator to
work up and down the river and catch
the little picaninnies that played along
the bank. The alligator would take
the little kids in his jaws and swim back
to the plantation. 1t was dull day
that he couldn't corral three OF four.
The planter raised 'em carefully. and
when they got big sold 'em in New Or
leans at prices ranging from $3. 600 to
$4,000 apiece. He was rolling in
wealth when Lincoln's Emancipation
Proclamation was issued, and after
that the alligator never did any more
work. The man is now barely keeping
body and soul together in Washington,
clerking in one of the Government Bu-
reaus ut $4,000 year."
Judge Cary evinced the greatest in
terest in these weird tales, and edged
up to the group.
These are curious yarns, gentlemen,
but 1 believe them all. l had dog
once, back in Nebraska that l kept to
herd lumber"
beg pardon, Judge; did you say the
dog herded lumber?'
.Yes, sir, cottonwood boards. We
always keep dog there to bring the
lumber in at night"
Everybody now paid the closest at
tention, as they knew the boss was at
work.
1T was this way. Cottonwood boards
warp like thunder in the sun. A board
would begin to hump its back up about
in the morning, and in half an hour
it would turn over. BY II it would
warp the other way with the heat, and
make another flop. Each time it NOV
ed it turned a couple of feet. always
following the sun towards the west.
The first summer / lived in Brownsville
over 10, 600 feet of lumber skipped out
to the hills the day before L had adver-
tised house raisin'. l went to the
county-seat TO attend n lawsuit. and
when 1 got back there wasn't a stick OF
timber left. 1t had strayed away into
the uplands. An ordinary board would
climb Il two-mile hill during Il hot week.
and when it struck the timber it would
keep wormin' in and out among the
trees like II garter-snake. Every far
mer in the State had to keep shepherd
dogs to follow his lumber around the
country, keep it together. and show
where it was in the morning. We didn't
need any fumes there for lumber. We
sawed it east of the place we wanted to
use it, and let it warp itself to its desti-
nation, with men and dogs to head it
off Mt the right time. We never lost
stick. Well. here comes the jury" con-
tirued the Judge. ''The witnesses lied,
50 l guess they will disagree"