Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1889-08-30
JAMES wHITcoMe RILEY.
Two Pathetic and Humorous Stories Re-
lated by the Hoosier Poet.

oS"GS VIII VIVID ni-ETs
Two Pathetic and Humorous Stories Re-
lated by the Hoosier Poet.
Mr.. Riley, who was dining at an Italian
restaurant bit the end of one Of those
crowbars Of bread that are served lii those
caravansaries, while his listener. report or
for the New York SIGt, begged him to nj:
a story. He finally consented TO tell this
combination Of humor and pathos:
81 was wandering up one Of the principal
streets Of indianapolis one Decoration Day,
when met rugged old farmer from the
interior who seemed to have lost his way.
} AS he wandered aimlessly along
approached him and asked: DO you en-
Joy the exercises of the dayp Wall,
so, So he answered; but amt here for
fun. / come up to go to the buryin' ground
up there on the hill. My boys buried up
there He was in the army, you know. He
had 10 lie about his age 70 get in, but the
angels II forgive that one lie. Lord, how
he did fghtl I've hearn the other soldiers
tell about it. Wall, he went into the battle
o. the Wilderness an got wounded awful.
They telegraphted TO me, an l went right
down. He wanted TO be took home an
fetched him. On the way up he grew
worse, an he said to me il he could
live TO get home an see his ma he
would be satisfied. He KEEP getting weaker
an weaker, but he held on till / got
him home. His ma tried to muse him
back to life, but he KEEP on runnin' down.
He called me up to his bed one night bout
sundown, an said, sez he: spa, 1 wanter be
buried up in town (meanin' here in In
gianapolis), an l want you TO keep my
grave green"
Here the old farmer wiped the tears
from his cheeks with his big brown hand,
and then brought it down on my shoulder
in determined manner, and exclaimed: :
'Ah, mister, I'm agoin' to keep that grave
green il ! have ter paint itp "
One Of the most affecting stories that Mr.
Riley tells is that which gave him the in
spiration for his pathetic poem: "Cause
I've got curvature Of the spine" 1t voices
the boastful, CHEEKY sentiments Of little
deformed child who glories in his deform-
ity, and whose only fear is that his aunty
will not know him when she gets to Heaven,
where he is, because there, as she has told
him, he will be erect and free from de-
formity like the other angels
The idea for that poem," said Mr.. Riley.
twas suggested by rough, rugged man
that I met on one of my tours. l had been
lecturing in little interior town, and had
to get up at daylight one cold morning to
ride to the nearest railway station. The
man who drove me over was one of those
rugged characters that you meet in the
rural regions-one Of those men who deem
sentimentality weakness and tears some
thing to be ashamed Of AS we rode along
over the creaking snow he said Il
hearn you talk last night. / remarked:
Indeed l hope you enjoyed it, Yes,
said he, fust rate My little girl was
there She likes that sort o. thing. She's
great on po'try You may hev seen her.
She sat on the front row. She's little
girl, not very tall You must a-noticed
her. l told him that did not recall having
seen her. and he continued She amt
very big She don't weigh morn fifty
pounds. You see, she's got curv'ture of
the spine. Her mother died when she was
little thing, and havin no one to look
out fer her as mother can, she fell
down stairs one day an hurt herself.
She never got over it. l hev took
care o. her the best know how, but she's
never growed. Sometimes l think she'll
never be no bigger Tho tears weiled to
his eyes as he talked He was ashamed to
show the evidences of his grief, and turned
Asiae dh hs thS Ha,as mostnre iiiS' from his crcs
with one of the heavy leather mittens that
he wore and said | dunno what's the mat
ter with my eyes. One o. my hosscs is
lame, an put some liniment on his log this
mornin'. l must IA got some of it on this
YER mitten ~ mina ~