Connecticut western news., 1882-04-19
THE LUNBERMAN'S STORY.


 rainy day, way up in the lumber woods of Michigan. The neighboring settlers had gathered in to trade, and have a quiet social chat. As usual, the con- versation soon drifted to the extraordi- nary pulling done by different yokes of oxen. All had told their little story on this subject, but the man on the tea chest. He did not as much as utter a comment. This being noticed, he was asked to chip in his yarn. He bash fully declined, and being pressed the harder, lifted one leg over the other, and remarked:
 "When I was 8 small boy in York State"
 "Quiet, there," remarked the red whiskered man, "until we hear this. D
 '-- small boy in York State,' con- tinued the man on the tea-chest, ''about the year 1920, lived with my gram ther. He owned one of the wickedest steer teams to pull that ever stood on hoofs. There was new railroad being built by the farm that spring, and the steers were comin' 3. The old gentle man and had been across the new rail- road one day a-logging. Coming home about 5 o'clock we crossed the track where the railroad men were putting in. bridge. The steam engine was trying to haul 8 big stick of timber to the place. They had it on rollers. It was hitched to the tender by a six-inch cable. Every time the engineer would let on steam to pull, the drive wheels would spin around and around on the rails. She would not budge an inch. Then they sanded the rails and tried again and again, but it was no use, they couldn't move it."
 "How large was the stick ?" queried the red-whiskere6 man.
 "Well, it was about four feet square, and so long that it took man and 8 small boy to see the other end of it," modestly resumed the narrator. "The engineer got mad finally and jammed the fire-box full of wood, and got up a power of steam. Then he directed the men to leave their work and come with hand-spikes and levers to lift on the big beam when he gave the word. When all was ready he opened the throttle full length and shouted to the men. Every one of them broke their hand-spikes a. lifting. The stick didn't move. The engine went though; it snapped that cable like 8 thread, and went ahead good many rods before it could be stopped. The boss was just going to telephone to the superintendent for an- other engine, when my grandfather stepped up. Said he: Squire, I can draw that stick with my steers.' They all laughed at hIm. He got his dander up and backing Buck and Bright up to the end of it, took rolling hitch. Started them little on the baw. Great Cesar but you should have seen them pull When grandfather shouted: Come do-o-wn on it, boys they just walked off with that big lumber as though it had been clothespin.
 A small boy In the corner tired to break the silence by feeble attempt to whistle. He dld not get half through before 8 big red-shirted lumberman slowly arose and, reaching out softly, exclaimed: "You old moss-back! I can prove to you in five minutes that there wasn't foot of railway in the United States in 1S20,"
 Then the man on the tea chest got so mad that his seat caved in with him. He was rescued from a grave of Young Tyson by the spasmodic efforts of the storekeeper and the red-whiskered man. Although pressed to stay he wouldn't, and when he left the store was in such an absent minded mood that he took his own umbrella.-Detroit Free Press.