Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1889-06-27

ri
X{NyX sech carncter-an
Vx12MM il i thawt it whs en-
NHL{W nything like gossipin
- to relait sum of my
stored-up memrys of our town an pee
pie, why, nothin Good hire me to rite
these papurs.
1t kinder kills time in the long even
ms, when i set here, with only my cat
fer cumpany; ferwho ever knu IN old
maid that dident hav O cat?
hev knone wimmen that was sorry
tina hadent bin content to stay single,
an pin thare faith to dumb critters.
Our town wasent nllus called Tangle-
ton. Old Jerry Smith was amung the
furst settlers, an he was rich and
oaned most of the land and bossed
things, so il was Smithville in its in
fancy, so to speek.
Before the war it dident amount TO
mulch; but after the fitin begun, an
the farmers found it good place to
ship thare crops, bizness jest took
boom.
Runnin along on the north side was
a big bluff, an near the foot of it was
the rale rode track, an about mile to
the south wus the river. Jest midway
between them was the canal.
Main st. begun at the rale-road an
run strate down to the river, but in err
ly times thare was very few bildins be-
yond the canal.
The biggest store fer long spell was
KEEP by Doc Williams an Miles Alexan-
der. The Doc was quiet sort of man,
but Mr.. Alexander was large, pompus
fealing man, an goodness how he did
like to hear hisself talk
Tha KEEP a bari of whisky in tho cell
lar, an customers went down an helped
thareselves. An what a thursty lot of
men tina wus, them farmers frum the
South prary.
Then down near the canal thare was
anuther store KEEP by firm-Ricketts
and Brown. Tha, too, was clever with
the whisky, and got thare share of
traid.
Main street begun to bid up fast,
with aul sorts of stores. But tina was
mostly bilt by up frum the ground, an
a body had to run up lot of steps to
get into EN-.
Emmy one ust to Chicago wood hev,
IelJ db uOlle IuhIc, al hoNCA hhhNOA
the steps.
Old Jerry Smith was a queer sort
when sum one wood cum to him an
want to by a lot. the old man wood up,
and rays the price of it till he lost his
chance of selling; unless folks know
Jest how to deel with him.
With old Jerry to he'd the list with
sum big fggers, the Catholics soon got
mummy enuf to bid church, an tina
put it on the hill. Not long after n
skool house was bilt not far frum it,
But it was awful hard work to cline
up thare evry day.
That house did dooty till the town
begun to gro too big, an thin tina made
/ a new districk south of the canal an
| bilt skool-house thare, an sumtimes
thare was meetin or lecture thare.
But most of the preechin was dun in
| the Town Hail.
When the war was endid an our men
folks got home-all that was left to
cum-biZness doomed more and more.
| How fast the bildins sprung up-jest
like mushrooms IAN, it must be sed,
sum of EN- hadent much better lastin
qualities.
Thare was lodges for Masons an
| Oddfellows-thare wus lots of odd
wimmen in town, but tina never thot of
gettin up a lodge-an a temperance
society.
So much free whisky ruther got our
town a bad naim, an we was goin to
| try our level best to reform it. But
Tangleton wus a good Crane market,
| an the farmers wood cum thare, an hav
thare dram, too; so we he'd to content
ourselves with tryin to save our own
boys an men.
In the Town Hall, the Methodist
preacher allays put in word fer tenn
perance, an when the Baptists he'd it
tina preeched up water, but sumhow
we found it hard to fife again whisky.
Sum of our folks wus gettin tired
of town-hall and ol-house meetins
an as tina was maxim mummy, tina thought
tina ought to put on more stile II
religion. lie tell about that part next
time. JUMPER BERRY.