The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1883-09-27
THE COUNTY CLERK GOT MAD.
Tho Truo Story of an Unfortunate Rupture
In n Pike County Fire Department..

In n Pike County Fire Department.
Ed. Mott tells this funny story in the
New York Sun:-The County Clerk has
resigned as n member of the Milford
tlro Department. of which he, together
with titty-foot hook and ladder truck
and the ex-District Attorney, had long
been an important appurtenance. He
was led to sever his connection with the
department by what he alleges was a
piece OF deception on the part of the ex-
District Attorney, by which deception
his usefulness and two panels of board
fence wero simultaneously impaired,
and bis dignity as q citizen, n man, and
q grandfather greatly injured.
According to the accepted account of
the affair, it seems that at q session of
the boys at the Crissman House the
athletic exercise came up for discussion.
and much difference of opinion was found
to exsist rs to tho individual merits Of
certain pedestrians. This discussion
grew warm, and tho cx-District Attorney
was finally prompted to remark that
when 1t came right down to powers of
endurance as pedestrian, he felt that
ho himself would never be called upon
to take back seat for any one, where
upon tho County Clerk, who had fnilcd
to agree with tho ex-District Attorney
on any point during the evening, ejacu-
lated rather contemptuously that some
people could do moro wonderful things
with their mouths in ten minutes than
they could perform with their hands and
feet in six months. This was taken by
tho ex-District Attorney as n direct per-
sonal allusion, and he obtained the
floor 70 remark that if some people
whom he might mention would mix
more water with what they drank they
would probably be better qualified for
steady pedestrian exercises themselves.
The County Clerk replied with some
heat that, water or no water, he would
bet S. with tho ex-District Attorney, il
tho latter thought he could borrow the
money to put up, that he Cho County
Clerk would walk the shoes off of him
(the eX-Dlstrict Attorney the best day
he ever saw, and do it easy. The ex.
District Attorney said that was all right,
and If the County Clerk wanted to get
mad he could get mad and be blamed to
hlm; and as for money, he could show
just rs much as any one in the crowd.
The County Clerk said if that was the
case it might not be bad idea for the
Q.
they had been sitting there all the even
ing, and he hadn't seemed to be very
anxious to sling much around. It e. not
known what the eX-District Attorney IN.
tended to reply, or what the result OF
this handy ing Of pleasantries might have
been, for just then jake Schorr, the
stage driver, who was returning from n
late train at Port Jervis, came dashine
down the road, with his team and cryinr
Fire |" "Firc |" ut the top of his lungs.
Then there was q hurrving to and fro
among the boys. The hook and ladder
truck was housed in the Crissman House
barn. The County Clerk and the cx-
District Attorney rushed for it Mt once.
The former seized hold of it at the rear,
while the latter handled the tongue
The night was very dark. The truck
was quickly taken out, and the Couriy
Clerk shouted:
"Now lot her go, boys I'll push be-
behind aud you handle the tongue"
Then he added to himself: "I'll see how
much pcdestrianism there is in that Dis
trict Attorney, now, you bet He's got
to be good one if / don't wind him be-
fore this run is over.
Away they went. The fire was up
town, three quarters of mile away
Before they had gone half n block the
County Clerk was clearing ten feet of
ground Mt every step.
"Sweet Christmas Wthoughthe, "what
an Internal gait them boys have struck
torney'll be dead before he gets there,
and l II bet on it,"
BY this time the County Clerks feet
To f1n
all. His hat was gone, and he swung
along behind the truck like kite tail in
the wind
'If he amt runner, I'm blowcd +"
he said. eff they don't get to that fire
blame soon, Or if he don't fall dead I'm
n goncr."
A still greater burst of speed on the
part OF tho truck lifted the County Clerk
machine as straight as n coupling pole.
An instant he hung poised. Then he
lost his grip. He shut his eyes and
went right on. He rushed through
space for fifty feet. Then he met 4
board fence. Hc took two panels of ii
with him as he went through it. As lac
rested in the middle of II five-acre potato
patch he said:
"Wcll, I'vc heard of good running,
but if that don't rather knock the spots
off Of anything ever done, I'm three
legged pot"
So, when tho County Clerk learned
that he had been following that truck
with Jake Schorr's horses hitchcd to the
tongue and taking it over the ground at
twenty miles an hour, and that the ex-
District Attorney had coolly ridden on
it every step Of the way to the fire, he
felt hurt. lie said that if they wanted
to run n Fire Department on such prin-
ciplcs they couId, but as for him, no.
And he resigned.