The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1883-05-26
Croekctl's Coon Trick.

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nessee. was elected to. Congress. 4
In this canvass he played the ia.
nous "eoon skin trick which he
relates as follows;
swell, started off to the cross
roads, dressed in my hunting SHIRT,
and my rifle on my shoulder. Many
of our constituents had assembled
there to get Il taste of the quality
of candidates at Grating. job
Smelling, a gander.shanked Yankee
had the grocery. A large posse
of the voters had assembled be-
fore | arrived, aud my opponent
had already made considerable
headway with his speeehifying
and treating, when they spied me
about u ritlc.sh0t from the camp,
sauntering along as If were not
q party in the business. There
comes Crockett" cried one. 'Iet
us hear the Colonel said another,
and so | mounted q stump and be.
gan to bushwhack in the most mp
proved style.
81 had not been up long before
there was such an uproar In the
crowd that | could not hear my
own voice, and some OF my con.
stituents let mo know that they
could not listen to me on such q
dry subject as the welfare of the
nation until they had something
to drink, and that I must treat.
Accordingly jumped down from
the log and led the way to the
shanty, followed by my constitu.
cnts shouting IIurra for Crock.
ett!' and Crockett forevcr!'
"When wo entered the shanty
job was busy dealing out his rum
in style that showed lie was ma.
king a good days work of 1t, and
called for a quart of the best |;
but the crooked critter returned
no other answer than by pointing
at a board over the bar on which
he had chalkcd in large letters !:
PAY to-day and trust tomorrow
Now that idea brought me up all
standing; it was sort of corner.
ing in which there was no back
out; for ready moneyin Tennessee
in those times was the shyest thing
IN all nature, ard 1t was most par.
ticularly shy with me on that oc-
casiOn.
"The voters, seeing my predica.
ment, fell off to the other side,
and I was left alone and deserted.
| saw as plain as day that the tide
of popular opinion was against me,
and that unless got some rum
speedily should lose my election.
SO | walked away from the shanty,
but in another guess sort from
the way ] entered it; for on this
occasion | had no train after me,
and no voice shouted 'Hurra for
Crockett Popularity sometimes
depends on very small matter,
indeed; in this particular it was
worth quart of New England
rum aud no more.
swell knowing that a crisis was
at hand struck into the woods
with my rifle on my shoulder-my
best friend in time of need-and
as good fortune would have it,
had not been out more than q
quarter of an hour before | treed
a fat coon, and In the pulling of a
trigger he lay dead at the root OF
a tree. j soon whipped his hairy
jacket off his back. and again bent
my way toward the shanty, and
walked up to the bar, but not
alone, for this time | had half a
dozen of my constituents at my
heels. | threw down the coonskin
upon the counter and called for q
quart of rum, aud Jsb, though
busy in dealing out rum, forgot to
point to point to his chalked rules
and regulations, for he knew that
a coonskin was as good legal ten.
der for a quart Of rum in the West
as a New York shilling any day in
the year.
"My constituents now focked
about me and shouted 'Hurra for
Crockett!' and finding the tide
had taken a turn, | told them sew.
eral yarns to get them in a good
humor, aud having soon dispatch.
ed the value of the coonskin, /
went ont and mounted the stump
without opposition, and clear
majority of voters followed me to
hear what | had to offer for the
| good of the nation. Before | was
half through one of my constitu-
ents moved that they would hear
the balance Of my speech after
they had washed down the first
part with some more of Jobs
extract of cornstalk and molasses
and the question being put it was
carried unanimously. 1t wasn't
x...l~sI .....a..~.. :. all s-r.s