The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1894-07-19
Gree

-. - .'s.''..
Gree ia
lloedy do, A,.4D What you
don't know me2 W perhaps you
never will, and I'm sut You would
not want to if you did, as am a great
Dig gawky, awkward country boy, a
son Of my papa and my mothers son,
too. | tell you my papa and mother
are smart people, and have never
been able TO find out why didn't get
some OF their smartness, Pap believes
in heredity, says that the natures Of
parents descend on children. Guess
| am one exception to that rule.
What do / care il Pm not as smart as
my brothers and sisters, so I've got
sense enough to eat whom I'm hungry
that is il can get anything to eat.
Times are hard, and grub is harder in
our cupboard. I've got sense enough |
to go to bed-I never have waited for
the bed to come to me yet; and then
when Pm in the cornfeld hoeing corn
these hot days, I've got sense enough
to let my hoe rest awhile and crawl
into the shade (when pap's not about)
Pap says / like the shade to we'll, but
| tell him its because | am afraid OF
sunstrokes One day was awakened
out Of my dreams by what thought
was a sunstroke, but found out, to my
regret, it was iather-strokes-so you
are liable to have strokes in sun or
shade You think, no doubt, / have
too much to say about myself. When
| talk about myself am not raising
a stir about somebody else, and then
| don't know anybody else much to
talk about, except pap and mother.
II get to talking about us too much
will you please remember that we are
all one family. We are now having
blackberry pies three times day seven
days in the week, and we don't like
blackberries either; its blarkberrles
or nothing With IA just NOV How
good our Creator hos been TO US in
giving us this berry, which grows
without cultivation, and in ground too
poor to sprout black-eyed peas. AS l
wander over the farm, | see in fence
corners, over fields and by the road
side, the long thorny briers, loaded
with fruit-green fruit--ior the ripe
berries are gone To tell you the fact,
our people are 50 greedy that they
don. give them time TO eeler-theyy
want to can, make jam and jelly and
lay up for winter. l suppose its right
pap says we all should lay up for a
rainy day and the next time he catches
me laying up In tie shade Pm going
to tell him Pm laying up for a rainy
day. He'll remember that that's the
advice he often gives me.
Mr., Editor, this letter, written by a
greenhorn, Pm sure will not be appre-
ciated by your intelligent, refined and
city cultured readers, and il they don't
want to read it they can just skip over
it and read the patent medicine adj
vertisements, such as Hoods Sarsapa-
rilla, Pink Pills, etc. | know the
country greenhorns will welcome this
letter to their homes, as they like to
hear from one Of their number; but /
tell you what, you may ask them all
and not one will admit that he is a
greenhorn. 1t is quite humiliating to
me to acknowledge the fact, but pap
says it is always better TO tell the truth
and let the people know you are green
than to have them find it out after
you had tried to initiate the smart
man. Pap has had lots of experience
and gives good advice, but 1 don't al
ways take it every time; I'm like a
sick person taking medicine-may be
good for me, but / don't like to take it..
While writing, he asked me "what
was doing" put on Il dignifel look
and said that was writing for the pa
per. With an astonished look on his
face, as though he did not know
whether it was me or not writing for
the paper" he said "You had better
be in the cornfeld with your hoe" l
didn't stop writing to argue that point
with the old gentleman, as you know
it is right hard to convince an old
farmer on some questions, especially
questions relating to the cornfeld
Pap seems to think that the corn.
field should be the happiest place on
earth for boys. Well, it may be to
some boys, but | wasn't built that way.
/ was born and reared in the county
where everything's green-so you can
account for my greenness why, | was
almost raised on greens. Last spring
we had greens, green's, green's and
more green's. The mustard, turnips,
narrow-dock, polk and dozen other
weeds that constituted the mess saw a
hard time off and we saw hard time,
too.
Now, Mr.. Editor, if you don't pitch
these few lines into the waste basket,
| L a.. 1