The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1889-10-31

,alted in front of the Grand Tycoon
II the cotton bale.
"Beniyhted brother farmer, who
hath been grooing in darkness, the
light of organized agriculturists is
now about to break upon you spake
the Tycoon. "You are now within
the sacrei precincts of the Farmers
Alliance. and in order to indeiihly fix
upon your mind great truths, we will
proceed IT, carry you through the or
deal of initiation. That handful of
guam, cast into your eyes is intended
to show you the folly of an undue use
Of this expensive commodity. A lin
tied use of guano in the right place is
proper; but you will not, hope, soon
forget the lesson taught you about its
abuse. Now carry the benighted
brother 10 the Grand Vice Tycoon for
further instruction"
l was then violently turned around,
my guards released me, and | was
told to go straight forward at brisk
trot. This [ did, but soon ran against
a ten rail fence that had been secretly
built in my path, and in the fall was
skinned from head to heels. was
soon brought up standing again, the
guanc sack removed from over my
eyes, and 1 was carried before the
fellow sitting on the pile of sacks.
With look If plying contempt this
Vice Tycoon spake to me thusly:
"Beni shted brother farmer, seeking
the light Of truth. we administered to
you the Fence Degree, in order to i'm
press upon your mind the fact that to
be a prosperous farmer it is necessary
to avoid too close intimacy with a
fence. 1t is the habit of t,o many
farmers to sit astride a rail and watch
a nigger work his crop. We trust
that the lesson you have just learned
will not be lost. The six we'll dressed
men you See over in that corner rep
resent the mercantile world, and we
will now proceed to administer to you
what j. known in the Alliance as the
Ok, or Hewer of Wood, Degree"
My guide then stepped up and ty-
ing a board over my eyes-like they
do fence-breaking steers--I was led
into the corner Of the room. Soou [
heard a great scuffling at the door,
and the Six fellows representing mer
chants forced into the room little
spotted bull calf, as wild as Texas
pony. He was brought up along side
of me, and the pair of US yoked to
gether, one of the merchants holding
a rope tied in TIE ring of the yoke. l
thought l had seen pretty tough times,
but | soon knew that my experience
was but child's play compared with
the ordeal before me. That little bull
and were turned loose, and the time
we made around that room would
shame race horse, | knew | had
to keep up or my neck would be broke.
1t had always been mystery to me
how steer could turn its yoke, but
it is no longer secret. The bull turn
ed his twice and | turned mine three
times. I yelled tor some one to head
US, but the louder hollered the faster
the little bull travelled. just as l
gave myself up for lost we were
brought to a standstill, the rope re-
moved from my bruised and bleeding
neck, and was again led before the
Grand Tycoon, who cons ,lingly ad-
dressed me thusly:
"Benighted brother, seeking wis.,
dom, the lesson you have just received
is to impress upon your mind the sad
truth that you are but beast OF
burden for the commercial world. The
merchant has u yoke of servitude upon
your neck, aud you can only look for
relief to Farmers Allianc-man
We will now administer to you another
degree showing the difference between
cash and credit"
was again taken in hand by two
merchants, who forcibly tied a strong
cord around each of my thumbs, and
in twinkling l was suspended to q
riddle-pole. That l yelled with pain
and begged for mercy, it is needless te
add. One of my torturers demanded
to know how much cash l would pay
to be released. I offered all the money
in. my pocket, which was 35 cents
He agreed to let me down for 81 casf
or SO on credit, secured by mort
gage, lien, deed of gift and waiver
note on my farm, stock, wife ant
children. l eagerly accepted, and OF
being released stepped up TO the table
and in the presence of two witnes,e
signed the paper. l was then led be
fore the officer astride the worm fence
who explained the Thumb Swinging
degree as follows:
"Benighled brother, the ordea
which yon have just passed through i
administered for the purpose of re
minding you that there is broad dii
ference between buying for cash an,
buying on credit. One dollsr in han,
would have saved you from all tina
misery; but for a .ack of the read
cash you were forced to pay ten time
the required sum. This is the last de
gree we will administer to you ut thi
meeting. There are YET seventies
other degrees required, illustrating til
different trials in farmers life, b.
fore you are y full blown member {,
the Alliance. 1 will state that the
are somewhat severer than the init,
tions through which you have jul
passed, but yon will muster up ii
re-0luti0n Il, bear them"
Il We'll, continued McKeever, l al
entirely satisfied with my Alliance e,
perience, and 1 duu't think there is
log-chain in Oglethorge county strou
enough to draw me to another NEE
ing.
4 Hoods sarssparilla Is ! purely vsgstab
Il preparation, being free from injurious ing
disnte. It Is peculiar in its curative power.