Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1891-01-01

ranrOad and located IN n valley created by
thickly wooded hills. To give you an idea
Of our reduced circumstances, I am com.
PEELED to say that there was but one white
shirt IN the house, and that was shared iu
common by my eldest son and myself
When he wore it ! went into the pulpit
without one, and made up for the def
cheney the best / could.
zone Sunday VIC had the presiding elder
Of the district with us. He had come the
previous night. Early in the morning he
was disturbed by this shrill question from
my sou:
" Father, father, who wears the shirt to-
day-you or meY
"Well / was in doubt who was entitled
to incase himself in that useful garment
on that occasion, but in spirit Of sell
Sacrifice / shouted from the confines of my
room, i think it's your turn, my boy
81 thought no more about the matter
until after breakfast and family prayers
were over Then the elder took me aside
and askedif there was only one white shirt
in the house. OF course it was an embar-
RAISING question, and tried to evade max
ing a reply, but he was persistent and
finally was forced to admit the truth.
Tears welled up in the elders eyes, and he
offered to part with some of his meager
hoard of money, but assured him chat |
did not need it, and as / refused absolutely
to accept a cent he did not press the matter
further.
"SLill, although the elder was o kind
hearted man and receiving but little more
salary than myself, yet he loved to indulge
in practical jokes On another occasion
he accepted an invitation to dine with US,
and my wife, who always seemed to stand
in awe Of the big, digni1ed elder, made an
extra effort to prepare a tempting repast
Oysters were scarce and very high in that
section, and consequently a luxury, but
my wife concluded that for once we should
have oysters
'Well, thanks to recent wedding fees,
she was able to buy them. Then she ex-
ercised all her ingenuity to place them on
the Table in every conceivable form that
would please the eye and crafty the taste
well, when we sat down to the table we
saw oysters stewed, oysters fried, oysters
roasted, aud oysters on the she'll 1t was
literally a wilderness Of oysters.
"Outside of oysters there was, in fact,
but little to cat except bread, butter, ap-
pie sauce and, believe, some sage cheese
Still the little woman sat with a beaming
countenance, eagerly anticipating the cid
er's delight ut the unexpected treat.
"After blessing had been invoked l, as
a matter of form, turned to our guest and
inquired;
Elder, will you permit me to help you
to some of the oysters?
"1'he elders face assumed q severe ex-
preston as he slowly and deliberately re-
pliedj
"'Well dominic, hate to say it, but
the truth of the matter is / very seldom
eat tl4em.'
81 glanced at my wife. Her face was al
most a crimson hue and tears were start
ing from her eyes, ! think felt Just a
trille savage but betrayed no sign.
"After few seconds of the most painful
embarrassment / ever experienced the
elder broke the silence by saying with IN
rullled doliberation;
"'You see, dominic l very seldom eat
oysters, because / very seldom get them,
and he burst into a tremendous roar of
laughter that almost made the dishes
rattle.
"Of course he did ample justice to the
dinner, which at the best was frugal
enough, but | don't think that my wife
ever quite forgave him for those painful
moments of suspense. New York Her
aid