The west Tennessee star. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1888, 1888-09-14
GRAN'MA'S NEW HOUSE.
A Surprise Prepared For a Dear
Old Mother.

The folks out here have had enough
to do this summer watching and work
ing over their crops of hay and barley
and corn, praying for rain to fall and
for rain to cease, carrying butter and
eggs to market, and so forth. But
they have taken time every now and
then when they have met at the store
TO talk over the matter of Timothy
Bottoms new house It is the first new
house that has been built in Tamarack
in fourteen years, and it is a serious
matter. There are big, strapping
boys here doing mems work who
never saw a yellow shingle before in
their lives. They have been suppos-
ing all along that shingles were always
of that dull, drab, weather color that
they appear to be on the old houses.
And they never knew before that
single was a foot and a half long.
How could they know it when they
had never seen more than four inches
OF one in their lives?
what are they thin at one end forp"
asked Deacon Bibb's boy one day.
SOS the water'll run Off" replied
one of the carpenters,
OAAY lGof 6ebA4 lAAN hOg anu AAC NAgDo
not know to this day why the carpen-
tors all haw-hawed so loudly.
The way Tim came to build the new
house was: His mother, Gran'ma Boil
ton, as all the folks call her, went back
East last spring TO visit around among
her sisters and the few old friends that
were stiu alive in Vermont-to see
them all once more before they died,
as she said. 1t was Tins doings.
Gran'ma didn't believe she could ever
in the world make up her mind to take
such "a long trip and be away from
home "a whole summer, but Tim is a
go-ahead fellow and when he set his
mind on it last fall it was pretty sure
to come out that way. Tim had been
to the city a good deal, and clear to
New York once, and the world didn't
soom so big to him as it did to
gran'ma, who had lived right here in
the old house since long before Tim
was born.
Well, gran'ma got away early in
April and in less than a week Tim had
some carpenters out from the city and
they began to tear the old house down
and pile 1t in the pasture lot back of
the barn. Tim, who is an old bach,
slowed the furniture away in the
buggy-room and went over to Aunt
Becky Todd's to live till the new house
was done. Every day he was on hand
doing more work than any two of the
carpenters, for, said he:
Its just like mother to come pok-
ing back here before the times up and
1 want TO have every thing ready so as
to give her a genuine surprise"
Tins a good son. said all the
folks.
"Thcre amt many a boy that'd sl1ite
around the world as he has and come
back and stick TO his ma and not
marry, said job Harding one evening,
as lot of the men were sitting on the
big platform in front Of the store.
mo. Look at Gus North said
Charley Gibson; event of and left his
ma and sister to look out for them
selves and wrote to his sister that he
was too busy to come to his mas fu.
neral"
Yes" said Jim Mason. land sent
fifteen dollars to buy flowers with
when flowers was as cheap as dirt an6
his sister wanting bread, to say
nothing OF black clo'es."
"But Tim never got so high-tonee
he couldn't come back and keep the
old farm up. or course he likes Il
have things, nice, and that's all right
He can afford TO have a new house ant
he ought to have it.
And that big room with the what
d've-cnll-it-that window that BULGE,
out-thats for Granma Bolton, an,
it's the best room i'm the house by al
odds"
So they talked on and whitfield tn,
edge OF the platform away evenin.
after evening. Sometimes a discus
sion arose as 20 what particular ide,
Tim had in putting this or that hole il
the side or this or that crook in tn,
roof; and then they would all shu
their knives and get up and kick GU
their legs and mosey over to ask Tn
about it, for he was always to be foun
working at the house until dark.
BY and by the house was closed in ant
an but one of the carpenters went away
Then some plasterers came, then
waponload of windows, with big pane
of glass I'm them, only two panes to on
sash. and after that some doors-on
OF them of real black walnut, with
silver-looking plate and Mrs. Sara
Bolton" cut into it. And they put
bell right in the middle OF the doos-
new kind OF bell that rings by a cram
instead of knob and wire like Tor
Judson's