The south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1879-1883, 1883-08-07
Proctor Knott and the Yankee.
washington Correspopdeuce N. Y. Tribune.

| washington correspondence Ne L. IrlDuho'
Proctor Knott, who has the reputa-
ton of being the best storyteller in
Kentucky, where most Of the story
tellers live, gave an account of an in
terview with a certain Mr.. Watkins,
of Vermont, which he told with a
skill of facial expression that would
have made his fortune on the stage.
The rules about admission to the floor
Of the house are very strict and a
conversation with a member can only
be hal by an outsider by sending in
card through the doorkeeper, when
the member emmerges, hurries
through the talk, and goes in again.
AS members are pretty well occupied,
it is -eNpected-~that- these interviews
shall be as brief as possible. One day
Mr.. Knott received card of Mr.. Wat
kins, of Vermont, whom he did not
know. He went out, met long,
lean man with solemn countenance,
and this conversation followed:
Be you Mr.. Knott, the funny man?
Yes sir, said Mr.. Knott, promptly
and I'm great deal funnier than
you'd suppose, The fact is that I
don't dare to be as funny as ] can be.
I've already sacrificed the lives Of sew
eral Of my friends through a reckless
exercise of my humorous powers, and
l go about under a constant sense or
selfrestraint. al b1. lgl
Be you from the bluegrass region,or
pennyryal? sq uro4rd} ,e4li
I'm from the pennyryal.
Here Mr.. Knott began to get a lit
tie uneasy. They were just beginning
roll-call. in the, house. Mr.. Wat
kins shifted to his other foot and then
began again:
What kind of cattle do they have
down in Kentucky?u- - f9ia ''',ai
Well, we have a very fine breed Of
the megatherium there but the plei-
osaurus and the icthyosaurus, am
sorry to say, are rapidly dying out. 1t
will be a great loss to the state, be-
cause they are very tame, and have
been used a great deal for the domes-
tic purposes. A good many of the
ladies made pets of them. ia. -imAo
Mr.Watkins seemed little surpris-
ed, but he got on the other foot and
changed the subject. itj'hi baa q
Do you know Mary Anderson?
% Oh, very well. I'sqirnr3N 900 J J
Is she so purity? ~ l-]''l..i hf)Jr
Ravishingly beautiful. i4od f.toid p
Mr.. Watkins paused a moment. Mr.
Knott could hear the roll-call travel
ing rapidly towards theaKs. .n . mD ie
j. Did you ever see her play in Romeo
and Juliet? tt-9.ila .ali ~
Oh, frequently. f@ II
DO you think Romeo and Juliet the
best play Shakspere ever wrote T? H's-
Well my friend, you'll have to ex-
cuso me from expressing an opinion
on that'point. You see, I'm coming
up for the reelection, and feeling is
running pretty high in my district
now on that, very question. About
half of my constituents say that Ro-
meo and Julietis the best play Shaks-
pere. ever wrote, and half of them
swear it isn't. 0 So you see if l should
commit myself, it would damage me
verysmueh. in the campaign. h,
> oh, said Mr., Watkins. Then ne
pulled out of his pocket little Con-
necticut watch, about the size of a
quarter dollar. Do they sell many
of them down in Kentucky he quer-
ried. 81 91'l-R ad.tr 1'i'''i ''. eiaA =
Well, I've forgotten the price per
peck, said Mr., Knott; they're usually
sold by the peck. They don't often
sell bushel at a time. lsaiiiiuq l93rI
Mr.. Watkins was surprised, but he
didn't go away. lie only changed 10
the other foot. Meanwhile the read
ing clerk inside the hall had begun
on the KS, e..D a!l eNT pydl
!. Say, said Mr.. Watkins, see in the
Try-bune that it took a regiment of
men and two cannons to hang man
down in Kentucky. Now, I want to
know if that's SO. + "' - Nol
| No, sir. 1t is not so. That Try-bune
is a most untrustworthy newspaper.
The truth is this: We. know it has
been said lately in the north that we
couldn't hang man. for murder in
! Kentucky, and so we made up our
minds that we must have hanging
for the benefit of the state. There
was a trial ending just then, and we
agreed that the fact that the jury had
acquitted the man couldn't be allow
ed to interfere To be sure, he was
innocent-it was perfectly clear case
but the honorof Kentucky was at
stake, and what could we do? We
hanged him, but il took whole bril-
gade of soldiers and park OF artillery
to do 1t. That shows you just how
near that Tly-bune comes to the facts.
Mr.. Watkins staggered, but in
stantlylrallied. ao.l4 .d..Qab s,i
i Say, there's another thing 1 wanted
to see you about. I've heard that
people down your way chew and
smoke during meeting. That amt SO
is.it? ttt .t.,. ar .sps
Mr.. Knott was angry at last. No,
n q