St. Landry democrat., 1883-05-26
MONEY.

After the audience had assembled in
Barn Hall to listen to the sixth of the
John Spicer course Of lectures the
speaker took his usual stand, bowed,
and proceeded as follows:
Ladies and Gentlemen: My subject is
Money. Money is the best thing there
is to get [applause], because when you
have money you can get anything you
want to. / mean if you are where it is
or can send for it, and the one that
owns is willing to sell and you have
money enough. The ones that own
tatfy and other good things are willing
to sell, and most always you are where
they are or can send for them-I meaa
where the taffy and other good things
are or can send for them-but you do
not always have money enough. No!
Oh, no! from the audience. Money is
very hard to get. [Applause.l People
do not give you money for nothing Il
mean people that are not your father
and mother, or your uncles and aunts,
or your grandpa and grandma, or
some kin to you. 1t is very hard
to keep from spending money when
you have any. [Applause.] The
reason it is so hard to keep from spend
ing money is because there are SO many
things people have to sell. [.'That's
it, from the audience. My father
says Robinson Crusoe lived in a good
place to keep money in. When you
have cent in your pocket you keep
thinking about it and taking hold of it,
and first thing you know you have
bought something with it, and next
thing you know you have eaten it all
up. I mean eaten what you bought up.
Fellows try to get money in a good
many ways. One way is to pick upold
iron to sell to the man that buys it..
Sometimes ashes barrels have nails in
the ashes, and sometimes you can find
nails and spikes and other old iron by
crawling under places and around
wharves. Another way is to sell bones
to the one that buys bones, but I've for
got what he wants them for Back
yards are frst-rate places to find bones
in. Once / almost got bitten by a dog,
trying to get a bone that dog buried up.
Once my cousin Tom found most a
whole dead horses bones up in a pas
ture. 55z{E5s. sstft
You can get money by keeping hens,
if they lay. Red pepper is good forthat.
Once I sold a hen to another fellow, and
while he went to get a basket, she
laid. / did not know whether that was
my egg or that other fellows, and he
did not know. My father said we must
call a meeting of the hens and let them
settle the matter. My mother said she
knew way better than that, and she
broke the egg in dish and stirred quite
lot of sugar up in it and gave us two
spoons and we both ate itup.
Once I got sixty cents by selling a
kitten. First my aunt bought her for
sixty cents, but she scratched the baby,
and she gave me ten cents to take her
back. Then I sold her to my grand
mother for ten cents, but she could not
keep her from clawing the cushions and
carpets, and she offered me ten cents
| to take her back, and took her. Then
| I sold her for ten cents to a woman to
catch mice, but she was too lazy to catch
any and stole things to eat, and she said
she would give me ten cents it would
take her back, and did; and six times
ten makes sixty.
Iknow good many money stories
that my father and my aunt and Tom
and other people have told me. A girl
about seven years old wanted to give
her mother something for birthday
present, and poor woman came along
] with some good holders to sell for ten
cents, and the girl bought one, and
one of the cents the. girl paid
her was an old one that wouldn't
pass, and that girl knew it wouldn't
pass! TGroans from the audience. /
know big fellow that borrowed cent
of little fellow ever so long ago and