Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-11-21
A COON SUPPER.
How Congressman Dockery Election
eered the 'Black Belt"
The Negroes RECALLED With Supper Of Coon
'Possum, 'wret Potato and Red Eye,
With Tariff Tor Des TT.
Srecial TO the Gazette.

Special TO the Gazette.
HAMILTON, Mo. Nov. 20.-For some
days pnst the coiored population of TIL:
neighborhood have been dropping mys-
terIous hints of "d+ bang up coon sup
per we had with Mr.. Dockery.'' The
colored race has thickly settled the bot
toms along the creeks In this section OF
Caldwell county aud it has always been
strongly Republican when election day
came. This has been one portion OF
Congressman Dockery's district which
has always been hard for him TO handle
aud he has been at his wits end to find
some means OF capturing the colored
vote.
The story as it now leaks out, is that
trusted lieutenants some days before the
last election and made q trip through the
'black belt, giving out mysterious n
vitat!ous TO the colored voters. They
were told TO meet at certain time ut a
certain blacksmith shop at certain
crossroads, and they would there be
RECALLED with one OF the best suppers they
ever ate. They were caution ed to keep
the matter very quiet, as tbs supper was
TO be given to a select few.
Immediately following the invitation
there was a great stir among the noted
colored hunters of the region, aud for a
week about fifty men and twice that
number of yellow dogs were sc ,uring the
woods and corntields along the bottoms.
The result of the weeks work was
twenty-six fat cornfed coons, thirty
'possotns and large quantity OF sweet
.Dntatoes, the sight of which was alone
Calculated to make any darkey's mouth
water.
At 10 o'clock on the night designated
there congregated at the little black
smith shop $50 black and three white
men. 1t was wierd scene as the fitful
glare of the forge fire would at times
light up the faces of those assembled and
then leave the place in semi-dsrkness as
ii flashed aud paled with the motion of
the bellows. On oil sides were piled the
supper. Coons, 'possums, sweet pota-
toes and peculiar fiery liquor which Is
evidently indigenous to this section,
filled the bill of fare. In the center of
the shop was Congressman Dockery
seated on an anvil eating 'possum and
telling stories, while all around stood his
guests, the ebony hued voters of the dis
trct. The furniture of the room was
scanty. IT fact, it was sans floor, ex-
cept the one furnished by nature, sans
chairs, sans table, sans everything eX-
cept coons, 'poss ums, whisky, sweet po-
tatoes, darkies, Congressman Docaery
and his two friends.
The DOCTORS stories kept the crowd in
roar OF laughter, and when the feast
of good things had plenty Of time to i'm
press the minds of his guests the con-
gresham made little political speech.
He told them how the Ubiquitous tariff
bill had brought hardship 10 the poor
colored man, and how he, with the other
Democrats, would take off the duty on
stove wood and place ii on coon skins.
DR.. Dockery has undoubtedly been in
gatherings where there were more noted
men around the board, but il is safe to
say that he has never been happier than
he was while sitting on that anvil eating
coon and 'possum and telling stories to
his colored constituents. That he solved
the problem OF catching their votes was
proven by the fact that the 'black
belt' gave HIM an almost solid vote
--...ES54F1S'S
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