Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1889-12-22
SHOOTING on cHRIsrIAs.


! Oh. vos II was a long time after 7 mar
ri,d. bu, that's got nothing TO do with the
! notwithstanding. You see 10 happened
! this way. bad q new gun thas up 10 tnat
| time had fallen q little short of my Cypec-
| tatious. Whether mad been using little
| too much ammunition IN loading OF not J
| don't know. but anyhow / changed the
! load. Just a day or Two before a man
| living not far from my place down IN leNas
/ had baCgcd nineteen parirldgts, and be
| gan 20 think Tint would have TO do some
! good shooting or give up the gun.
/ Well. as [ SAID, l changed the load, and
! tins Christmas morning tho weather
was lust tip-top for partridges and one
! Of the men said there was lot of them
/ over i'm some fields not tar OF, so ! started
! for them. Almost the FIRST thing saw was
/ the fellow who had Aillcdniuetcen couple
! Of DAYS before. and with ms gun on his
! shoulder Ice WIS making tracks for the
! Same huuting-grOund towards which WAS
! hurrying When ! saw him just mode mp
| my mind that / would get moro birds than
! he did If he'd 10 stay On the ground p
week. Hardly had | reached that deter
! n.nation than whIrl went q blg coyoY
! from bunch ofW0Ode little 10 m rGnt:
| Although the range was 70 Httl' long i
! banged away and missed everything.
HOW HE BrAr THAT orHIE FELLow.
The birds went over towards tie other
/ fellow. ns thcy seem 10 do always, and
! bangl bang, hr dropped one with every
! blrrel. [ was mad. We followed the drove,
! and missed right and left again, wiile my
/ friend and rival dropped two more. bf that
! time We had ncaTed the field and The work
/ was hot. Iuless than half 1n hour the other
! fellow bad ten birds and had but one. But
| that one killed hy the last shot seemed TO
settle the whole business. After that II q ID
! not seem IA though ! could miss shot.
| Bird after bird dropped 20 my Gun. and ls !
! grew confident ny rival grew discohccrie1
/ and nervous lie missed some az the
easiest shots. bis gun began TO behave BAD
/ ~. and altogether he was hrohch HP.
/ When the darkness settled down so thlch-
| lv That we couldn't see th" birds we coii-
pared baps. lie had eighteen birds and
around me lay twcnty-elgnt fat partridge;
/ IL was hard work, but glorious sport, and
! had como out ahead. and through the
/ two miles that lag between Inc aud home
/ that rqwe-hgg seemed light ~ % feather,
| and You may rest assured that II Wa q
| merry Christmas night that ended 10y my
| going 10 bed and dreaming that W@s sur
rounded 10y parirdSes tnat was si'uS IL
! tcring with Ratchet"
HAD HIMSELF KIcKID.
Heniamin Patchwork. Of Ohio, is one Of
! the accepted story-tellers of the present
| CONGRESS. and lust now one Of its busiest
/ members. His Christmas story l. bret and
| characteristics Now lr. Butterworth ls "a
| Quaker. but rs full of genial good humor
| "a can be. This Is his .storv and the wav
| he toij If What, a Christmas story?
| We'll. don't think ] know ANY, rubbing
Ithr back of ono hand softly with q oig
! hnndle of papers. Most of my holidays
of late wears are spent busIly and happily
but pll tell YOU Of one Chusima5no not soloH,S
.oo thouoh. that | remember very well.
lar and S.tg.pmber over there" pointing
Tie So9G'H. Cannon. Well, | remember
70 5hG Christmas week when he ana AcHod
! each other for each other, and Joe Kicked
! the hardest. i was just before the hoil-
! dav adjournment. and bill IN which we
were both Interested had come up. do
not inst remember now how IT was, but
! either we misunderstood each other or
were not paving attention. but we let 1t be
/ voted down without advocating rs passage
/ or helping il III any way. The next day
met Joe III q vacant cOmmttce-rOom, ana
| he SAID: Look here. Ben, why didn't YOU
! HELM that bill through. Why didn
/ VOu = / asked hun. We Dotn talked inc
/ matter over and then concluded that we
ongbf IN be kicked. We resolved ourselves
| into a committee Of the whole. ratified the
uncenial conclusion, and appointed each
other committees Of one 10 do the kick
| ing-actual physical kicking, mind you,
ALPHABETICALLY administrator the work
began. Joe told me to kick hrzt.
| That's where he had me, for after
1 / had kicked him, he had standard Of
force TO guide him. and he used it. think
! he must have kicked about three times IA
! hard as did. but be says he didn't. All |
/ know about il is that | remembered the
! Ii,l whom | sat down To my Christmas din
ner few days later. There's a Christmas
story" aud he disappeared into commit
/ tec-r0Oin.
sCAST cHnIsTMAs DINNER.
Congressman John NJ. Farquhar, Of New
! York, whose imperturbable GOODNESS made
| him prominent in real battle. and now
stands HIM in good stead on the floor Of
| the House, Is too much OF n soldier yet to
LEI Renaissance carry him further back
| thanlthe camp-fres Of the late war. IL
| Was the Christmas of 1868 that stands out