Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1886-08-25

sSL-sAN y
'7his counter is to sell goods on
Want some!"
Eyes. Gimme half pound"
"He plays that well on the boys" whis-
pered Broener to me- "Did you ever notice,
with nine people out of ten, that if you tell
them Of anything you want to sell that it's
bad they'll believe the contrary! Maybe it's
because we've all dropped unconsciously into
the habit of thinking each other liars"
There was a noisy game of cards, and at
every second the well-worn pasteboards were
thumped on the table with resounding
whacks Mr. Rankin, while not selling
goods, was setting rows of tumblers on the
bar and a black bottle before them in re-
sponse to the frequent call of the players
stuck for the drinks"
Broener seemed well acquainted with the
place and its habitues My presence with
him attracted some curiosity.
"Brotherm heard some one inquire of him
in low voice, referring to myself.
mo, nephew" was his reply. 'Just out
from the states Been down to the bay to
bring him up"
"How does your claim pan out" asked
another
"Good for five dollars day yet," said
Broener. II don't want to work it all out.
Afraid shan't get another like it"
"You seem to take life pretty easy" re-
marked the last inquirer.
"Why should take life hardf' replied
Broener. "But why do you think l take
things easys" -,
Because you don't work hard like the rest
of the boys" was the answer.
II don't believe in hard work." replied
Broener, filling his pipe. II think the best
work is the work that's easiest done. knock
off early in the afternoon so that may have
some time to cook my grub decently, wash my
fannels and make my cabin comfortable
without using up every bit of strength in my
body You see expect to be lodging around
when most of you fellows that take life so
hard are cold in your graves-if you're lucky
enough to get grave. You're using up now
more strength than you've got to spare and
patching up the rents in it with whisky. It's
all very nice working in the river till you
shiver, and then coming out and warming up
with whisky every fifteen minutes. But
you'll pay for it inside of ten years. How
much rum per day did the Willow Bar boys
use when they were building that wing dam!"
"Used to send a two gallon demijohn
twice day to be filed" said a slow, heavy
voice, and the manner of saying it seemed to
imply that it was something to boast of.
'And amongst ten of you. All right. Min
ing by steam power. Speaking of whisky,
let's all take drink" said Broener. "Come!
All hands! Fall in! Forward with your
bannersw
The company present gathered before the
bar. The bottle and glasses were again set
out. All waited with rigid decorum until
each glass was filed and ready, and then
with "here's luck!' and solemn stimuli
taneous gulp, the fluid was poured down,
with an occasional rasper, "He-m," or all
eager grasping for the water pitcher, testi-
fed to the vigorous rawness of corn
whisky.
"a sad and solemn performance" said
Broener. Another screw in our respective
coffins. Boys, who bosses this bar we or
John Barleycorn"
"Barleycorn, guess" said piping voice.
"Reed's got 'em. Snakes. Alone in his
cabin for two weeks with a tive-gallon
demijohn of whisky. Saw him as was
comm up sweepin' his doorstep like fury
Asked him what was the matter. Lord,
how he yelled: tMatterl Matter enough.
Can't YOU see! The house is full of bugs
and beetles, snakes and centipedes, horned
toads and humble bees, and l can't keep
em outr vamoosed."
"He was up here yesterday afternoon"
said another. "Come walking into the store
quiet enough until he saw Rankin behind the
&ooly hin, fo,. rp,,1o I
ANYWAY, he made for him with black-Snake
whip, singing out: Whoa! Whoa! Haw-
Git up thar How Rankin did git from be-
hind that counter and old Reed after him,
up the hill The boys got after 'em and
started Reed home. Nice man to be laying
round loose Somebody ought to look after
him."
"He came here fortnight ago to lay in
his winters provisions" said Rankin. 81
asked him to make out his order. Well, he
said he guessed he'd have a sack Of flour, ten
pounds of pork, four pounds Of sugar, three
of coffee, and so on, as he went along lessening
the number of pounds until he got to tho
whisky. He said Of that he'd have barrel.
I cut him down to five gallons l s'pose he
commenced on that before tackling the
grub"
II wish" said one, ~ had his claim, any
way, on that point of rocks. They say he's
got pickle jars full of dust buried under his
tent. saw him take ten ounces one day out
of pot hole myself"
"Yes, he's one of your lucky ones. Rum,
luck and Boston sailor 60 together. Put
Reed without a cent on bar nobody ever
got color from before, fill him full of
whisky, and give him a pan and All iron
spoon, and he'll pull straight for the only
$500 chispa on the bar. Eff l could manage
Reed I'd break him in and use him for gold
p'inter, as 1 would Brass here to pint for
quail, said Big Dick
We passed this unfortunate's cabin on our
way home, and heard him cursing the tiends
summoned by his repeated fiery draughtS,
and to all but him invisible. 1t was a hOrri-
BILE sound in the darkness and stiffness of the
night, issuing as it did, from the base of
craggy mountain which lowered in the black
ness against the sky.
"They call it living" said Broener. "Poor
chaps. Its the best they can do. They're
good fellows But half Of them are killing
themselves, because, for the first time Ill
their lives, they find themselves freed from
all social restraints and in country where
man can do pretty much as he pleascs, so
long as he pays his bills and minds his own
business
They're living now," he continued, ION
the stable yard muck hill side of life, and
call it independence. That is to say, indie
pendence' with them means disregard for
dress, rough language, and cutting away
from all the amenities, manners and polish
of the older settlements. 1t is great mis-
take. They can't always remain in it.
They've got to beautify life, refine it, polish
it in spite of themselves, and ten years hence
you'll find a portion of the fellows on this
bar living in towns and cities i'll grand
houses, and clothed i'll purple and fine linen"