The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1884-01-24

eject that AcN imam 3 casual meetings j
with the young woman were cOmprO- /
missing in their tendency, and that I'M |
less McWilliams was enough in earnest /
To clear her name ofreproach, he should I
leave the country until the society of I
OIL City forgot him. THIS was arrant I
humbUg, as every liberal minded WON /
AN in the oil country viii attest; but. as
! have said, McWilliams was easily inn /
posed upon. Like a thorOugh-gOing
oil man hr refused to let anything stand /
between him and the OF we'll Of his
dreams, and in Il straightforward, hon
est sort of way, he married the Young
woman out Of hand.
Mrs. McWilliams ought to have been
happy; bat il the unsolicited tc-ti-
mJuy of disiutcrcsted Witnesses /
may Zoe allowed as evidence,
IL would seem that she was
in 2 state of constant dissatisfaction
and misery. With q wariucss truly
Sc Itch i'm its origin and tendency, Nc
Williams refused to launch into cNtrav-
agancu in living until the capacity OF
the iithOle lease should be known. This
yeNod Mrs. McNiiliams beyond endur-
anc", and il came 20 pass cary in the
winter, when the lease IA led to pro-
duec anything but the driest kind of
dry wells, that the indignant wife, de
claring utaJ Now lIiams had failed in
his duty toward nor, left the oil c0un-
try TO try her fortunes elsewhere. After
paving his wifcs deits. McWilliams-
now pcuujless ami fricnd,css seated
himself on q stump on the hillside above
Iithoie and admitted 10 himself with
dun feeling Of satisfaction, chat he was
down ON his luck.
MeiFiIIiaus luck had deserted him
st. rrvF \
long time for fortune $ wheel to stop
i'm trout Of him; and now that it had
stopped flying spoke had knocked
him down. Most strong ami healthy
persons viii resent q blow, even from
fate. With a Scotch slowncss to wrath
after picNing himself mp and seating
himself on the stump above the town
MCWillims observed that his luck hal
treated him cruelty. Sitting there,
watching the busy wells around him,
the puts Of steam that Goa,cd away
like Snowy banners from painting en-
g.nes; hearing the rattle of machinery
and the claug OF busy hammers, and
noting with sullcn brow the PROSPERITY
OF hundreds of men beside him, Me
\ Williams gave reign to his swelling
| temper and with sturdy arm aimed
I blows at fate.
The process of it was altogether I'M
recognized by McWilliams. This re-
volt at fate was i'm another form, but a
remuneration of a religion, and the ulti-
i mate issue was neither argued with nor
/ questioned. The subtle sophiStrv of
unknown argument within him did not
/ find its way TO his lips. SO far rs can
/ bc learned his uttorances were cmphat-
/ ic and commonplace. "Nell, said he,
/ 81 guess I'M pretty low down now;
! luck's all gone to thunder, and no mis-
/ take. LUck2 To the deuce with luck,
! Who said anything about luck? There's
! no such thing. Hard work makes it
/ hard, steady, pounding work.
The debate within him sent out no
| bulletins to the public for several min
/ Utcs. At length, when the sun sutfused
/ his thoughtful eyes with golden ra-
/ dance from the western hjlI-tOpS, Nc
] Williams reused himself angriIy, and
! with n little ITO the dickens with
I luckn strobe down to the town.
Fate must have paused in surprise to
. see its gTlndchild, Luck, 80 gricyOuslv
! Haunted by q hitherto harmless slave.
/ She must have respected him then, for
] McWilliams was beyond her power.
He had taken his destiny into his own
hands.
The morning Of the twenty-ninth day
of January, 1856 saw McWiliiams at
work with a shovel ON the edge of his
lease. lie was DIGGING q Watcr-Well.
''Mos, likely find qUickSand OF coal
/ bed here, - he mUttered gUimlV.
'Drjllad for oil and found saltwater on
the upper cdua. Things seem to 90
by coutrarie- with me- Luck having
no come 'tion with this well, neither
pujcksand nor Goals were found, but
water, pure, fresh spring water, in vol
Ume sufficient to supply half the town.
Later i'm the day .McWilliams put into
the well a boN-pump of his own manu-
fagturc, and with the help OF q dozen
barrels and few lengths of two-inch
iron pipe established the McNiIliams
Water Works.
McNiiIiams was pretty low down on
his luck at this me; for he was less
than newer of wood he was a draw
en- OF water. In litholc in lS65-66 the
drawing OF vttor was much more
profitable than il hal been in ancient
PaIy tine In dry months wat.r re-
tailed at ten cents per drink and one
dollar per bucket; but i'm the closing
days of january sixty cents per barrel
was the ruling price. Even in the dry
months there was little danger of 4
water famine. for as the price of drink
uE-vater increased, the demand feu
va W. SUM .tIl 4 \A'.llL ltltal - iNNlitN- a
saloon keeper who had come to Pitbolc
e. with Lcg of liquor ON his back ana
tn rtoCn era .kod glasses i'm his pockets.
% was enable TO buy "a diamond pm rs
BIG as "a walnut and to run as the popu-
8 lar candidate for Mayor At the time
when McWiili1m : broad ba k began
to heave up and down with the motion
of the pump handle. water was CHEAP
b enough to drink. and yet not too eN
pCuSiVe for an occasional cleansing O
~OilCd linen; so that at the end of the
first days pumping McWilhams con
>jdcrcd himself Justified in looking for
ward to the time when he might put il
u boiler and engine and a steam-pump
At the close of the second day Me
Williams was so well satisfied with hi,
defiance of fate, fortune and lucl
| that he determined 10 quit his boarding
place, and, for the sake of economy
, take UP his residence in an abandoned
/ CuUiue-hOuSc on his lease. The engine
$ house was all that remained of his at
5 tempt to strike oil; the derrick, boiler
81 engine and other machinery having
been sold TO pay his quondam wife
debts.
p With his hands engaged in purcl,
4 mechanical labor, the busy mind break
p away from the mental office of the BODY
and scars into n world of its own. TIL,
70 minimizing hand plodS on, the quiet eyt
t performs its part: but the mind, roam
/, inc mt its viii. builds castles, towns an,
/ cities. paints pictures in bright array a
D close of day. until ambition, filled witt
2 light and hope, returns to cheer an,
I SOothC the wearied senses that in homes
, labor wore the hours away. Suddenl,
S awakened from its lethargy, McWill
D / Jams strong mind ran on before. ant