The Dawson journal. (Dawson, Ga.) 1878-18??, 1883-06-07

employment. There is something new
turns up most every day, something unex
pected and out of general run. It amt so
with bookkeeping, nor carpentering, nor
any mechanical business, for with those
pursuits one day is pretty much alike an :
other, and that is, why | like farming.
There is more play for a mans ingenuity
and Continuance and more qualification in
his success. If farmer contrives a GOOD
gate, or good stall for the stable, or
makes good wagon tongue, or singletree
or plowstock, he is proud of his labors and
thinks more of himself.
| have been mighty busy of late fixing
up fences. Fences are big thing in these
parts, and If a man amt careful it will take
about half he makes on his Efarm to keep
EN- mule high and bull strong and pig
tight, had about a mile TO build this
spring, and timber was too scarce to make
it all Of rails, so went to work and cut
down a lot of pines for stock, and borrowed
a carrylog and began to haul 'em to the
saw mill. The pines were on the side of a
rocky ridge, and the steers were sorter bull
headed and took all sorts of roads to get
down, and run over saplings, and against
stumps, and my old darkey couldn't do
much with 'em and the iron dogs would
come out Of the log when the hind end roll
ed over rock, and the log would stop
and the steers go on, and it took all hands
to head 'em with sticks and thrash poles
and make 'em turn around and 90 back
and straddle the log again; we had to
swing one big log five times before we got
it down the the big rcad-and it was ''gee
Dick, " and ''haw Tom" and "come back
here, and 'wmr you gwine" a hundred
times, and the key come out of the bow,
and the bow dropped down, and old Tom
thought he was loose 9ud started for home,
and we had time of /, all around. After
while noticed that the dogs were too
straight and dident swell around the LOG as
they ought to, so sent 'em to the shop
and bent 'em and after that we could drive
ZEN in deeper we had no more trouble on
that line-when we got all the stocks down
to tle big road, we began to haul 'em to
the saw mill, and there was a right smart
hill to go up, which was the only hill on
the way. Old Tom is a mean old steer,
He is jusl like some folks, he has fits of
pulling and fits of not pulling, and when
he does he wants to pull as hard as he can
lie took notion that the hill was too much
for him, so he wouldn't go worth cent
we hawd him, and gee'd him, and whipped
him, and holored at him and twisted his
tail, but he got sullen and got down on
his knees and played off, and we fooled
away half a day without moving a stock
Then | sent after the mules and double
tree, and fifth chain, and hitched the
mules in front and all hands hollored ''get
up there" and l cracked the long whip
and old Tom come down to his work, for
he saw he had help, and the way we jerk
ed those logs up the I'LL was a cortion.
We had no more trouble after that, until
the time to go home, and l concluded a
ride on the carrylog tongue would suit me
pretty well, for Ralph, my fourteen year
old boy, said it was good riding, and so l
mounted on the little plank seat, and took
the lines and the whip and give the word
of command, and suddenly Old Tom took
notion to run away for amusement. 1t
was a gentle grade for a quarter of a mile,
and there were little deep ruts in the road
and pine roots crossing it ever and anon
and some turnouts around the bad places,
and so | began to pull on the lines and
hollcr, Two, wo, wo, tell you, wo Tom,
wo Dick, b" but they paid no more attention
to me than if / was hog in the road, They
just went kting, and didn't miss big
stump half an inch, and the ruts and the
roots bumped me up and down like a
churn dasher. never was scared 50 bad
in my life. The darkey and Ralph come
running as fast as they could to got
ahead of the brutes, and, that made EN-
worse. | didn't dare to jump off for fear
the big wheels would get me, and then
there was those confounded iron dogs with
their big hooks hang.down, and expected
every minute to be jolted off, and have en-
catch me in the slack of mylpants, or some
where else and drag me home mangled
and lifeless carcass. | dropped the long
whip and let the lines go, and hung on to
the tongue with arms and hands and legs
for dear life, when suddenly turn in the
road brought the Internal beasts right
square up against a wagon that was COM
ing, and they stopped. left that tongue
before you could say Jack Robinson, and
sat down on log to be thankful. Driv-
ing steers is not my forte, and shall here
after let all such foolishness alone. The
folks have not got done laughing about it
yet, Carl drew a picture ON his slate of a
carrylog and steers and two big hooks
ahanging down, and a man hugging the
tongue, and when came INTO the room
Jessie was cackling, ardthe girls cycling,
and Mrs. Arp laughing like she had found
a'circus; but can't see any more fun in il
than -, o laet x,aor birdso ,,aOt
am building fence now, a good fence
and, cheap fence. We got out one humid
red chestnut posts, six feet long, in one
day, and hauled EN- home. l put en-
twenty two inches in the ground and twelv,
! feet anart. NV nlank is twelve feet long