Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1895-05-10
IN The KENTUCKY MOUNTAINS.
A Family Passing Rich with "a Fortune Of
Iwenty-seNcn Dollars.

4 had "A glimpse of life i'm the Kentucky
mountains one dry that / will not soon for.
get said "a capitalist 10 reporter I
made "A trip into that section "a the repre-
sentative of a syndicate 20 look at some
coal lands | went "a, far a. | could by
rail and then took "A horse and rode into
the wilderness Toward night ! brought
up AT "A lttlc cabin, OF which ! had been
previously informed, and made arrange
mcnts % spend the night there This cabin
was about % feet long 10y about l. feet
wide. ON the ground floor IL was all one
room. Above was "a lOiI 10 which access
was gained 10y means of a ladder and "a
hole i'm the floor There was little corn
growing around the place and there were
two hogs. I'm the rear of the cabin was
low shed, open AT one end and with
a slanting roof II was just big enough 10
hold "A cow mt night The COW, which was
n lean woehegone animal, the two hogs
and the corn constituted apparently the
entire assets Of the place.
In this establishment were living a
man and his wife and eight children, the
oldest J ? years They lived on cornmcal
and milk with occasionally some pork.
Both the man and the woman were bare
footed The elder children had clothes
younger were not 50 fortunate. The man
was slow duh sort of fellow, who had
lived in restitution 50 long that ne had
become used to it, The woman was differ
emit Her face wore an expression of abjcct
despair II painter had wanted IA model
for a picture entitled 'Hopelcssncss, he
need have gone no further After supper
the man went out 10 feed the hogs and the
cow and do other chores.
Il talked 20 the woman for about an
hour, and succeeded with great difficulty
In getting her story. Her pride stood in
the way Of her telling me anything for q
long time During all the time in which
she talked the expression of dull listless-
ness, 10 which her face had become habit
uated, never left Il but once. Then look Of
something like happiness came over her
features. This was when she said that
they had not always been poor. We
weren I always this way, she said. We
We're well off once We saved enough, him
and me, so that we were rich. We had s27
laid away once That was her idea Of
wealth. Twenty dollars She went
on 10 say that the children had come fast
that a sw had TO bee bought and that she
cost SIS. The children had fallen sick, and
a doctor had TO be brought in from civili-
cation, and he cost 80, and So il went till
their fortune had gone, and they had moth
ing left of that magnificent S27
The next morning | paid them my
lodging l had slept in the loft, and the
family had slept in the room below. Mono
Of them took of their clothes l had
brought with me a huge lot Of roast beef
sandwiches and ate these for my supper
and breakfast for had been warned that
/ probably could not get anything 20 eat
there. Before leaving took S27, and wrap
ping it up in a newspaper left II on the Ia
bic in the middle of the room. Then | rode
away, feeling vastly pleased with myself
and knowing that there was one noun
taineer's family in Kentucky that had re-
covered it, lost fortune louisville Cou-
ripr-. journal