The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1888-10-06
NEBRASKA COTTONWOOD.
Its Wonderful Possibilities Explained by
Truthful Western Man.

panJS OF my car seat, the car being
crowded. He kept me from going to
sleep by squeezing me further up into
the corner and telling me marvellous
tales Of the soil and the crops that
grew in this tales being evidently
products Of the said soil and were
Favored with the aroma of Umahaw
whisky. remember he spoke of rye
straw out of which canes and fish poles,
oats a horse couldn't touch, ears Of
corn of a quart of whisky caliber, cab
bages that one man could carry, turnips
chat would go into q peck measure,
squashes a hundred pie power, pota-
toes you could pry out with crowbar,
wheat three pecks to the bushel; APP
plies? slews of them; peaches? don't
mention it! and pears? mercy sales
alive!
Said he: "The only trouble with us
is there's no timber thar 'cept cotton
wood 'longside the streams. Cotton
woods sumpun like aspens, specie of
poplar, but it's meaner' any tree you
ever shuck an ak at. In spring it sheds
cotton till it's three inches on the
ground and blows all around over the
United States-blows inter yer nose
and ticl1les it to deth, an it takes
good deal o SWARM to git it out. It's
powerful to warp when it's cut down,
and good deal liver dead than when
CROWN. Why, l started to build
rail fence out of it when fust moved
thar, n the sun cum out hot, n them
rails began to twist an curl up, an
every one O. 'em rolled to the ground
an squirmed an crawled all over the
field. thought old Satan was in EN-,
fer | didn't know much about their
capacity an accomplishments yit. I'd
cut an trimmed some long poles, n
when the sun brought EN- to life they
got frisky n crawled round jis like.
sea serpents you see picturs Nv. Mister,
I've actally seed big cottonwood saw
logs git to twistin n roll up hill.
Once went to sleep side ov a log in the
shadder n it roll over me fore | could
wake up n nearly killed me. You
! IOll HolllO W iOOl lllIlNl1 IOltuu GIL lCL
you can't place no confidence in 'em,
n you don't want to when you once
| git acquainted with EN-. A Teller went,
to sleep on a wide board, n it curled
up round him like bean pod, n we
had to split the board to keep him from
/ bein' squoze to death. Board fences is
dangerous, as they'se likely to fly off'n
give ye a bigger slap n We need; any
ways yer fence is likely to warp n
crawl around another mans field, n
its all right ez fur ez he's concerned;
it's his property then-thats the law
ther. My fust house was out of it, N
it warped n twisted so we couldn't tell
which was the gable end, N in less N
week the hind door was at the front;
crackin' night n day n no sleep, n
the floor bulgin' up II down like zif
dogs wuz fitin' un'neath, n the shin
giles got to stan'in' straight up like
squills on a pork-key-pine, an not a
door could be shet
Cant dress them boards, fer they
keep bulgin' up so the jack-plane can't
tech 'em; When they want bar'ls they
jis lay the boards out in the shine n
they curl up round, n they clinch 'em
measures hathaway, too, n cheese
boxes. Plant green fence posts N
theyse boun' to grow like green will
lers, n that's great botheration, fer
you've got to be takin' the top board
off n putin it on the bottom, er else
the cattle'll soon be gittin' under.
"My two littlest uns was playin'
teeter-totter with long jice one day n
all ov a suddin' both ends Topped up
n one went over the pig pen n tother
over hay stack. Why, | made my,
fust pump, stock n all out of cotton
wood, n the fust hot day the bottom O.
the stock began to climb up N the
pump went down, N fore could stop
it, the hull thing was reversed, N no
water.
strangers cum out thar n see cot
tonwood houses N barns n say: why,
laws, we've been havin' cyclone here,
when it's only been the warpin' N
twistin' O. that conblasted lumber tibet
won't go dead, n it never does go dead
to any alarmin' extent.
'Yas, stranger, Newbrasky is a great
State n Umahaw is its capital, but it
cottonwood's all I've got agin it n I've
got that agin it strong. | may have
been little big in sum O. my state
ments about the sile, but | haven't told
we half the truth about the cottonwood,
! fer hain't got time"
"My friend" said 1, II can vouch
for your truthfulness. When was a
sixteen-yeer-old boy and did all the
hard work and lying around in my
fathers carpenter shop in st. Jo., Mo-,
gained a profound and everlasting
insight into the possibilities of cotton
wood. You're right. I've had a stick
of it fly around on cold, dark days and
hit me unawares, and my father was
not always at the other end of it either
know it well. "A. W. BilolO, in De-
trob Free Press.
Samuel Kauffal+ Of Wrirhtsvil1e