The Penn's Grove record., 1885-08-29
Petrihed Too.

When Governor Scott, OF virginia.
returned from his first visit to the
the part Of Virginia known as KEN
lucky, he declared that the soil OF
Kentucky was so fertile, that If a ten-
penny nail was planted in 1t, 1t would
grow UP into a crowbar. He was
eloquent IN his description of the size
of the trees and the density OF the
forests and zane brakes. He averred
that he saw herds of elk there, and
that the horns of the bucks were ten
feet wide from point to point. When
asked how those elks could get through
the forests and cane brakes he described,
he replied that that was their business,
tot his. While in Kentucky he gath
cred q leaf OF Buffalo clover which was
larger than q silver dollar, and was
accustomed to wind up his ampllica-
lions in regard to Kentucky, by assert
ing that the soil was so very fertile
there that a clover leaf grew to be
larger than a dollar and would then pull
ont his pocketbook, produce . dollar
and then take out a dried clover leaf and
put it upon the dollar, thus demonstra-
ting that it more than covered it. He,
on another OCCASION, boosted that on
the strength OF that single leaf OF
clover he had palmed off some of the
biggest lies hat human credulity aver
swallowed, Governor Scott, it mu st be
admitted. was quite q proficient ia the
art Of lying.
But the liars of Texas, in holiness
and originality, have far surpassed Gov.
Scott. Take, for instance. Jack W,
well known along the Rio Grande. The
readiness. ease and grace of his extem-
p~orareous lying commanded respectful
attention wherever he went. No local.
ity could be mentioned in y casual con-
v~ersat1on but he would show himself to
be familiar with it, and that In some
way it was connected with his family.
When an allusion was made to the SUI
p~er1ority Of Goshen butter, he merely
obsef we'd that old Goshen, who first M
troduced it into general use, was his
uncle. When on another occasion an
allusion was made to the Natural
Bridge of Virginia, he remarked with
an air of modesty that he knew all
about it, and could give its dimensions
with precision if desired, as his father
was one of the constructors that built
1t. He was quite an artist in his way
But the most brilliant, original and
ready of all liars, was an old army scout
that settled in Western Texas. He had
won such a reputation that a General in
the army in passing his cabin on his
way to a military post, halted and
called upon him, informing him that he
had heard of him 80 often all along the
frontier, that he desired to make his
acquaintance, and hear him tell of the
strange sights he had seen in the far
West.
The old scout ~thefeupon proceeded
to say that he had indeed seen strange
sights out West. That on one scout
ing trip he had come upon a high
mountain that consisted of a single
crystal OF diamond. so very clear that
he could see through it herds of deer
and elk on the other side; and that
when he was going around it to get at
them, he came upon q buffalo that was
in a standing position, and was entirely
petfitied. even the end OF the animals
tail, which was in An erect position
over his back, as he was about to charge
when ~petrifaction set In, was also pet
riied.
Stop" said the General, 'Now I've
got you. The attraction of gravitation
would have caused the end OF the tail
to drop down"
mo-" replied the scout, "thst was
petrified, too"