The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1881-06-04
ROBUST. uMAGryATrOSs.
some Very Able stories Alleged to Have
Been Told in Nevada.

When the lawyers in Justice Carev,'s
Court were waiting for the verdict IN
petty larceny case, Attorney Sober
burg related an incident of his early
childhood in Minnesota. illustrative of
the peculiar customs in vogue in that
State:
Il 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 nets and thrash them out
on the barn floor. Each bird had three
ounces Of wheatin his crop, and it was
bad year for Old Thompson when
he couldn't ship 1000 bushels of wheat
to market at 81 60 bushel, and il
ranked 4 No. when it reached the
Chicago elevator. If there had been
few millions more ofpigeons he would
have come pretty near getting cor
ner on the Minnesota wheat crop.
Il knew q planter down in Ala
bama," said kittrel. who was fully as
sharp as that. ale trained an alliga-
tor to work up and down the river
and catch the piccaiianies that played
along the bank. The alligator would
take the little kids in his jaws and
swim back to the plantation. 1t was
a duh day that he couldn'tcorral three
or four. The planter raised 'em care
fully. and when they got big sold 'em
in New Orleans at prices ranging
from $1,000 to $4,000 piece. 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 soul and body togeth-
er in Washington, clerking in one of
the government bureaus at $4,000
year."
Judge Carey evinced the greatest
interest in these weird tales, and edged
up to the group.
"These are curious yarns, gentle
men, but believe them all. / had
dog once, back in Nebraska, that l
kept to herd lumber"
BEG your pardon, Judge; did you
say the dog herded lumber?"
Yes, sir, cottonwood boards. We
always kept dog there to bring the
lumber in at night"
Everybody now paid the closest at
tention, as they knew the boss was at
work.
at was in this way: Cottonwood
boards warp like thunder in the sun.
A board would begin to hump its
back up about 9 o'clock in the morn
ing, and in half an hour it would turn
over. BY IL o'clock it would warp the
other way with the heat, and make
another flop. Each time it moved it
turned a couple of feet, always follow
ING the sun towards the west. The
first summer 1 lived in Brownville
over 10000 feet of lumber skipped out
to the hills the day before / had adj
vertised a house raisin'. l went to
the county seat to attend a law suit,
and when | got back there wasn't
stick of lumber left. 1t had strayed
away into the uplands. An ordinary
board would climb a two-mile hill
during a hot week, and when it struck
the timber it would keep wOrmin' in
and out among the trees like garter
snake. Every farmer in the State
had to keep shepherd dogs to follow
this lumber around the country, keep
it together, and show where it was in
the morning. We didn't need any
fumes for the lumber. We sawed it
east of the place we wanted to use it,
and let it warp itself to its destina-
ton, with men and dogs to head it off
at the right time; we never lost a
stick" 'Well, here comes the jury"
continued the Judge. ''The witnesses
lied, so l guess they will disagree"