Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1876-1904, 1889-12-21
THE FLATVILLE RACE.

| In every small community there is
to be found one person who Is singled
| out by his fellow men as the butt Of
| jokes, of one nature or another Some
times it is half witted fellow who
irnagines himself bright; sometimes il
Is very conceited individual whose
vanity is played upon; and at other
| times, and in other places, it may be
a man Of ability or worth, who has a
weakness or shows unusual feeling
when guyed Elatville was no excep-
ton to the rule. 1t was a town Just
large enough, SO that every one knew
everybody's business 1t had its prac-
teal Jokers, and 1t also had its special
victim of its many jokes
Capt. jackson wasn't devoid of aver
age intellect. nor was he at all con-
ceIted- He was one of the jolliest
largest hearted men in the town, and
his hospitality was known throughout
the whole county. But he always
took joke in such good nature that
the jokers kept at him with the main
purpose of seeing how long suffering
he would be. and incidentally to get
no end of sport out of the practical
jokes
Capt. jackson was a man of consid-
cradle wealth, which he had inherited,
and as he was a bachelor, with no one
dependent upon him, the jokers felt
no qualms of conscience when their
little jokes resulted in the captain be-
ing forced to put his hand down into
his pocket for some of his loose cash.
AT one time party of his acquaint-
ances laid a plot calculated to fairly
upset the jolly bachelor. They CON
lcocted a formidable legal document
which had the appearance of genuine
suit for breach of promise, and as the
clerk of courts was one of the jokers it
was placed in his hands. A deputy
sheriff was induced to take the paper
and wait on the captain, and notify
him that suit had been entered. But
the joke didn't brighten the captain at
all. After the sheriff had read the
document the captain Strengthened up
and said: Well. we'll | don't know
the woman, but if she thinks enough
of me To place the loss at ten thousand
dollars lihe sum mentioned in the
why, drat it, I'll marry her
and you can tell her, and that1l end
the case.
This disappointment didn't put a |
quietus on the jol1ers, however. The |
captain was forgetful, and one day he |
left his gold headed cane at the Office |
Of a LAWYER The lawyer saw chance
'or a joke, and the next day, meeting
he captain on the street, he quietly
that n party of young men
were planning a surprise for him, to
come off in couple of days. and that
the present was already selected.
Capt. Jackson smiled and ordered a
spread for the appointed night. When
tl,a r. bn 10 I'D
Der of choice spirits waited upon the |
captain. One of the party made a
Iong winded speech and presented him,
On behalf of his associates, with a gold |
headed cane. The captain responded
and invited the party to visit the din
ing room Here they found a grand
spread, and this was followed by cham
payne and cigars. The next morning,
n looking at his present, the captain
ii as the identical cane for
which he had hunted the house over
Turing the week previous. He took
he joke in good part, and did not let /
he jolSers know that he had discover
ID the trick.
The captain had one hobby, and that
xas Aorses He attended every race for
niles around. and always succeeded IN
osing money on the result. He would
ret tips and .bet ON the strength of
hem, only to find the horse on which
MS money was placed bringing up the
ear He bought every horse war
-anted To beat the fastest in the town,
and matched each purchase against
he cracks. He always found that the
warrant was worthless, and the horse
would be sold for half what he cost
he captain OF course the jokers had
, hand in these horse sales, and reaped
golden harvests out of the private bets
With the sanguine owner.
Capt Jackson lived on the Q es-
ate. outside of the center. The woods
,n the estate furnished the best hunt
ng ground to be found in the whole
county The captain was fond of the
sport, and although he was generous
% a fault. a man must be valued
friend to get permission to gun in the
Jackson woods
One day IN September a STRANGER