Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1882-03-24

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the cabin, and in about two weeks 10
used to sit on the box when Ne played
Black Marian and Pedro.
After this We found that this kind
Of groceries worked better If 1t was,
kept kind Of warm, and we used to
keep the little cakes Of Joint powder
under the mattress nights, SO they'd
be kind of warm in the morning to
blast with.
I'VE had PoIander on the night
shaft Of the Feverish Hornet that the
boys called Neuralgia Phlaskcwhiski.
He was the worst man to swear nights
and snore days that ever saw. When
he used to go down in the shaft and
swear few times in the dialect of his
fatherland, the other men had to come
to the surface for fresh air, He gem
orally swore till he got excited and his
jaw cot cramped on an imported COB of
profanity, and then he would quit
awhile. We called his style of swear
the Anglo Kosciusko swear. 1t gen.
orally Jared the foot wall and shat
tered the vein matter so that we had
to timber up little after he got
through.
His snore was about as blood
curdling as his unique style of swear.
He used to snore in his own native
tongue. OF course, the force of habit
is strongest on a man when he is
asleep That's why he never tried to
snore in English.
when he seemed to be getting the
most comfort out Of his slumbers and
had his mouth open so you could throw
a Magnolia ham against his liver, and
snored SO as to get id all the double fs
and as and Polish diptAmgs and other
funny business, it mad lie floor of
the cabin creak, and the cook stove
would fall down and the clock used to
stop, and stock in the Feverish Hornet
would go down to ten cents a share.
We'll, Neuralgia Phlaskowhiski,
working on the night shift as he did,
had to do his heavy sleeping during
the day, while the rest of us was to
work in the shaft. The day shift con-
sisted of myself and man named
Marco Bozzaris Smith, and the night
shift was composed of a picked crew
consisting Of Neuralgia Phlaskowhiski
and a man from Zion that we called
Anonymous, because we never knew
what his name was.
Anonymous slept in tent, be-
cause he said he was little nervous
and figity like and couldn't sleep in
boiler factory. So he pitched his tent
about mile down the gulch, where
the sound of Neuralgia's snores was
partially deadened.
About 2 o'clock pm. one pleasant
July day, there was a loud crash in
Slippery Elm gulch that agitated the
country for four miles around, and
filed the air with fragments of bed
clothes and cooking utensils. We
went down to the cabin, but it wasn't
there.
"The conclusion of Neuralgia Phlas.
kowhiskis snore had set off the giant
powder concealed about his bed, and
distributed the whole dog gone rancho
over the surrounding scene.
1--WE postponed the funeral for two
weeks, and asked the prospectors of
the State to bring in such fragments
Of the deceased as might be found. At
the hour appointed, the mourners
gathered around baking powder can
containing all that YVES mortal of
Neuralgia.
Death had worked a wondrous
change in the expression of the fea-
lures ofthe remains. Very few could
recognize the deceased.
"Mr. Phlaskowhiski had always
been cursed with fear that be would
be buried alive, and Marco Bozzaris
Smith suggested that the remains
should lie in state fora week or two,
but the rest of US felt so positive about
his dsath that the ceremonies were
allowed to 60 on.
This little episode seemed to us
like a solemn warning, and after that
we kept our joint powder under the
mattress Of man who didn't snore in
a foreign language.
The good old Anglo-Saxon snore
is good enough for the everyday hum
drum OF life. When the Language of
this country isn't good enough to snore
with mining camp, it's time to ad-
journ."