The Osceola times., 1884-04-19
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e-.i- -s.isr. I'D yO1 ever sl=-. the
,--sa.-a91snz .rgands Il the sprln2
- d. tbe s-per.5s Court of Norih
Gao-azt
wsu ffvou answer 10. We Will simpiy
-, s,ts,ifvou have any idea Of fun- hall
.. ve-r xc-hles. life has been spent IN
-, W. have. o. one or two OCCASIONS
80 o., to .ee the performances Of the
,ay-ls- trained horsesEspPer-, and must
saw that II i enjoyable in the Krs' DE-
gree
FarIv MONDAY morning, and long be-
g. the c1urr eouvenes, you may behold
hen o5miug il on every kind Of an an
insl-frorn a SO horse down TO y
nu1e-aDd about 10 o'clock the fun COM
,,snc-. The ls.t one We visited was IN
an adjoining county, and the hrs' man
On the rround was a gentleman naned
T-De,e D5ck S,aiham. who has been IN
.be horseswapping business since ne
leA the cradle. He rode on the ground
about ; O'Clock. with horse worth just
:. and the oihers came up TO ask aiief
his health az \ 70 see What kind of stock
Uncle Dick had to swap on.
-Wen, boys, your Uncle Richard has
been un ier the weather for few day :,
but he thought be would come up and
500 II Won all had any stock that ! cared
about You neeln', look at that mare.
she belongs to the old lady. | gave her
To Betsy 70 ride 10 meeting She Is not
for trade unles. could get a right smart
Of boot"
I About this time Green H., the prince
I Of the trigade came careering over the
hill on a s. nag, and rode MIN like he
had been born in the saddle. lie sport
ed a wide-brimmed hat, with pair o.
spurs six inches long. Green looked
something like Napoleon at some OF hl'
Great victories that is We imagine 50
never having seen Napoieon), and a
once ioined the crowd and wanted tC
know who was on the hill that day swap
ynr stock. Uncle Dick at once banter
Ell Green and they soon exchanged by
Uncle Dick giving a pocket-knife and !
drink " boot. This was the first blood
but not the last by long shot.
4 Young fellow from Walton County
who had his moustache dyed for the oc
casion, came in leading a mule that look
ed like he had done nothing but peel th
bark off saplings around a still house 70
the last three months This young maj
had heard that il was shrewd dodg
among the educated swappers TO pla.
drunk. and he was playing il to tn
Queens taste. Ii was not long befor
he had changed his mule for a hors
worth 81 25, and gave 30 cents differ
ence.
Franklin County, at this juncture, sen
in her delegate in the shape of Johrni
Dove, the oldest trader on the ground
and a. such claimed some notoriety, an
whose word about the qualities Of a :
hOr-e was considered better than any
body's. He and Uucle Dick Statham mei
and after exchanging a few commonplac
remarks, Mr.. Dove inquired after Uncl
Dick stock and before long they tad
ed by Uncle Dick getting g and ID
saddle blanket, which was piece Of Al
old quilt, in the bargain.
BY II O'Clock everybody was sgar
ping, and, once in while drinking A
seemed T. be in a good humor, and ther
was no fuss or fighting in the Grove
They traded until night put an end to j
and the swappers retired 10 their home
and to camp outside of the town. The
got something TO eat and were ready r.
business next morning. Next day the
had trimmed their mules and currie
their horses, and the same scenes wer
enacted over. Up to Thursday nigh
Uncle Dick had made eighteen swau
had S2j in money, three pocket kniye
two brides, two quarts Of whisky and
horse worth just about as much a. th
one he brought
Any writer, with good descriptive pow
ers, could find material in the hors,
swapping crowd to fill several dim
novels. Ifany one VINO can enjoy sue
fun would only visit Monroe cou
he could see for himself that notl
ing that has been written is exagrerate,
and that the halfhas not been writer