Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1889-07-27

~ 1S& All my life was called
<N gossip. I skorn
6NyHk sech caracter-an
XNAk If thawt it was en-
nything like gossipin
to relait' sum of INV
stored-up memrys of our town an nac.
pie, why, nothin Good hire mo IN lite
these papurs.
It kinder kills time in the LONG even.
ms, when 1 set here, with only INV cat
fer cumpany; fer who ever KIM an old
maid that dident hav a cat?
I hev knone wimmen that was sorrv
tina hadent bin content to stay SINGLE.
an pin thare faith to dumb critters
Our town wasent allus called Tanple-
ton. Old Jerry Smith was amuno The
furst settlers, an he was rich and
oaned most of the land and bossed
things, 80 it was Smithville in it's 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 q
boom.
Runnin along on the north side was
q 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
~ 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 alarge, pompus
fealing man, an goodness! how he did
like to hear hisself talk!
Tha KEEP bari of whisky in the eel
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 a firm-Ricketts
and Brown. Tina, 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
felt at home thare, an never minded
the steps.
Old Jerry Smith was a queer sort;
when sum one wood cum to him An
want to by 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 figgers, the Catholics soon got
mummy enuf to bid a church, an tina
put it on the hill. Not long after
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 a meetin or lecture thare
But most of the preechin was dun in
the Town Hall.
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 AN, it must be sed,
sum of EN- hadent much better lastin
qualities.
Thare was lodges for Masons an
Oddfellows-thare WIS lots of odd
wimmen in town, but tina never thot of
gettin up lodge-an a temperance
society.
So much free whisky ruther got our
town 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 skool- house meetins,
an as tina was maxim mummy, tina thought
tina ought to put on more stile in
religion. lie tell about that part next
time. JUMPER BERRY,