Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-02-19
SAL LAYTON'S APPLE CUT.

SAL LAYToN'S APPLE CUT.
"They don't have apple-cuts nova
days, like they did twenty years or so
ago." said the Sheriff, as he peeled a
big greening with his jack-knife and
threw the pee1ing on the stove.
Apple-cuts, said Uncle Ira. "They
don't have apple-cuts nor anything else
sensible these days. If the young fell
lows that runs things now can only cock
a fur cap on their heads and get a suit
of plaid clothes, they're happy, and
don't care for such things as apple-cuts.
Unless it's the juice of the APPLE" con-
tinued Uncle Ira, after pause. "And
that cuts some of 'em up pretty bad,
oftener than's good for EN-"
eve usty hev bully good times to
them apple-cuts, Sheriff" said the Old
Squire. "Dance all night, sure, and
half the next day if the fiddler held
out"
"I guess 1 never told you about Sal
Layton's apple-cut, did IL" asked the
Sheriff, dropping the core Of his apple
in the sleepy dog Caesars ear.
"Humph grunted Uncle Ira.
"Heard you tell it more'n hundred
times, and you've told it SO much that
I'm blamed if I don't think you believe
it yourself. "
"That story's a cast-iron fact" said
the Sheriff, "and too good to be lost.
I'll tell it again.
eff there wasn't snap in the boys of
twenty-five years ago, this court don't
know ITSELF" the Sheriff went on. "We
never calculated to get left when there
was any fun going on, and if we did
you can make up your mind that on
that day the thermometer was very low.
We were always ready for fight or
dance OR a singing school, and came out
particular strong on protracted meet
ings. There was a dance about every
until the canal opened in the spring
and we used to make the Pike county
woods Just howl. There was family
named Layton lived up in the hills back
o. Lackawack. The old man had pried
piece of ground out from under the
stones that protected the soil in that
garden spot of the township, and stuck
a shanty in one corner of it. The house
was founded Oh rock. That rock, I
believe as much as can be, had an out
cropping in China Owing to this rock,
Layton had to build his cellar about
forty rods away, by scooping hole in a
side hill and putting door of hemlock
slabs to it.
"Sal Layton was a nice girl. She
was the old mans only daughter, and
could cook slapjack or butcher a pig
with skill and grace. Sal had a big
gawk of fellow by the name of Rube
Calkins. He was terrible mussy-one
of these lick-my- weight-in-wildcats sort
of fellows who always want to clean out
bar-rooms whenever they get outside of
three drinks of court-week whisky. I
had side partner named Reeves-Sid
Reeves. lie was a team. He never
walked his shoes off to get where there
was fight, but if he thought one would
be likely to come his way he'd wait all
day for it.
"There was ball at the Narrows one
night. Sal was there with Rube. and
Sid and had our girls Rube primed
himself with the best the bar afforded,
and, as usual, swore he would never be
happy until he had cleaned out every
man in the bar-room. Well, the upshot
of it was that Sid had to drop him out
of the window. This made little hard
feeling between Rube and Sid, and
when Sal made up her mind to give
an apple-cut, few weeks afterward,
Sid didn't get any invite, and neither
dbl
"Sal had been dying to give an apple
cut for a long time, but the trouble was,
the only orchard on the old mans place
was a wild gooseberry bush, and there
were no apples in the old mans cellar.
he raised some potatoes and little
buckwheat and managed to fatten pig
every fall, but how they could give an
apple-cat on such products of the soil
was something that neither Sal nor the
old folks could wrestle with and get the
upper holt. But one lucky day Sails
dad was over to the Falls, and who
should be there but some Jerseyman
who had bag Of apples that he was
willing to trade off for buckwheat. If
Bobby Layton didn't freeze4o that bag,