Mexico weekly ledger. (Mexico, Mo.) 1855-1956, 1889-09-19
OLD 'zEKE AND HIS BOY.
How They Sold Whisky at Benton
City Years Ago, Making q
Fortune Which did
Them 40 Good.

Many of the old settlers of Au-
drain county will remember an old
fellow who, ior a number of years,
kept q little country store at BEN
ton City, on the Wabash railroad.
We will not give the true name of
the old man, for he still lives, but
will simply suppose that his name
is Ezekiel Jones, and that his sons
name is Jim. As before mention
ed, old i" 'Zeke y kept a little coun-
try store, and in addition to this
he also kept an "article" that went
by the name of"scrap-iron." Often
times rustic would stalk in with
a dry look about the corners of his
mouth and remark, "Say, 'Zeke,
got any more Nv that scrap-iron2"
Ezekiel would answer in the af-
firmative and tell the customer to
walk back into the shed and look
at it. He would do so. A small
glass was always handy, and after
a good stiff potation of ''scrap-
iron," he would come forward,
saying that 1t didn't suit him, but
the customer would suddenly re-
member having neglected to pay
for some thread he had purchased
the day previous. This was max
ing money, of course, but 'Zeke
soon found speedier method.
Whenever freight train laid by
on the side track ,the train employees
would 60 over to Uncle 'Zeke's and
refresh themselves, then after the
train had passed on and all was
quiet, the old store-keeper would
drive in stray hog or two, or,
when it was not a stock train, he
would wheel big Jumps of coal to
the shed on his barrow. So it
happened that 'Zeke was always
selling coal and hogs, yet was
never known to buy either. But
man was never yet content, how
ever downy his couch, and a new
scheme was finally concocted in
'Zeke's fertile brain. It was about
the year 1875 that he and his son
Jim purchased a mule team each,
with good wagons and harness.
The wagons they loaded with
empty gallon kegs and enough pro-
vision to carry them through their
proposed trip. One bright morn
ing saw them passing through Mex
leo on their way west. On and on
they journeyed, crossing the Mis-
souri,, and travelling for many
weary days along the old Santa Fe
trail, across the treeless plains of
Kansas until reaching the banks of
the muddy Arkansas river, near
the Colorado line. Here they
camped for several days, filling
their kegs with river water strained
through meal sack, and adding
a small quantity of a peculiar drug
that made a good imitation OF
whisky, which only differed from
the real article in its Intoxicating
effects. This bogus whisky they
sold to the miners up in Colorado
at SIS per gallon, returning to Mis-
souri, with plenty of money, which
was invested in two farms, which
were improved and on which they
settled down for a time but rest
less spirit Is the cause of their
wanderings in a distant State to-
day, without money or friends.
GAS ye sow, so shall ye reap
Old 'Zeke and his boy made q
small fortune out of their illicit
traffic in whisky, but in the end il
availed them nothing. They are
now wanderers upon the earth
without place to lay their heads
!, If names were called many of ou,
readers would readily know the old
man, and, perhaps, the son. We
are told that many hog worth
IS to So and $40 has been dumped
off of trains at Benton and given to
l'Zeke for a drink or two of rot
lgut whisky, and that all the fuel
used about his premises came from
coal trains in exchange for liquor
given train men. This was fifteen
years ago, but the statements above
given are said to be actual facts.
Uo fnH