The San Francisco call., 1895-07-20
A pLUoKY ooLoRED MAN.
Representative Tarsney Tells Story OF
Slave Days in Missouri.

Representative Tarsney Tells story OF
Slave Days in Missouri.
ssSome queer things used to happen IN
the old slave DAYS in Missouri" said Rep
resentative John Tarsney just before he
started for Europe. 1.-The condition OF the
slave was never very burdensome one in
Missouri. The farm country and the near
ness of the Iowa line prevented anything
like those plantation cruelties OF which
we sometimes read. In fact. l should
Judge that some of the Missouri slaves had
as rood time as their masters.
"In illustration. / might tell queer
story, which had its scene in Indepen-
dence, Mo. Old Banker Sawyer OF In
dependence carried on the same Sawyer
Bank which exists to-day away back
in the fifties when Independence, as
the eastern end of the Santa Fe trail,
was the great outhtting point for those
daring and misguided people who med
itated fight across the plains. Among
other chattels of Banker Sawyer was Dig
black negro named Dustun. Dustun was
great mechanic, and had vast fame all
over the Western country as the maker OF
that fashion of wagon known as the
prairie schooner Sawyer had, besides
his bank, wagon-shop at Independence,
and his negro, Dustun, ran the wagon
shop. The wagon-shop did a good trade.
and Sawyer said to Dustun one day:
H.You make lot of money working
overtime, Dustun. Why don't you buy
and own yourself? Why do you continue
i'm slavery? You've got $500 or 5000 down
in nv bank now
aAnd it was true Dustun had laid up
quite a little store of money, and the fact
Of q slave with money on deposit in the
bank of his master is of itself illustrative
of the lax condition of the institution in
Missouri.
"sWhatIl you take for me?' asked Dus-
|" Seeing it's you said Sawyer, 'I'll sell
ont cheap. II you want to buy yourself
Pll take $500, while you're easy worth
$4,000
aDustun bought himself, paid $500 down,
and took the rest of himself on credit.
SAWYER made out his freedom papers and
Dustun made a mortgage on himself to
Sawyer for the $1,000. Then he went to
two years more he bought his wife and lit
tie girl Then he began to make money.
But he hadn't proceeded far nor laid up
much ahead when one night a fire started,
and the next morning found Dustuns
waeon-shop in ashes. Shop, tools, stock
and everything was burned up as clean as
a whistle, and with the lack Of forethought
| e.,
"It was plain, hard hitter case of begin
again with Dustun. He thought the situa-
ton over, and then went to his old master,
SAWYER. After ten minutes talk SAWYER
| lent Dustun $1,000, taking mortgage on his
wife and young one. Dustun rebuilt his
shop and opened up anew. He kept his
| old trade and added to 1t. 1t finally
| became very unfashionable to start across
the plains in anything but one of Dustun's s
prairie schooners. Within year Dustun
again had clear title to his wife and
| child.
Life went easy after that with the old
/ black wagon maker. He died about ten
years ago at independence worth fairly
| $50,OOO The daughter whom he bought
| from Sawyer and then mortgaged and
cleared the title to again was for long
time. and is, believe, now, a teacher in
| the colored public schools at Kansas CITY.
| Old Dustun's memory in independence is
to this day highly respected. ."-Washing-
! ton Star.
! THE BICYCLE HUMAN incalculable
amount of comfort has been scattered far
and wide by the statement of an old wheel
man in bicycle journal that as a matter
of fact the man who bends over his wheel
! is not sshumped," but the man who under
| takes to sit UP straight is round shouldered.
| He adds: "Watch rider coming head
on, and you Will think the one leaning
over the bars is bumped, while the other
class appears straight. But when they
pass and you get the rear view you find
the.back of the stopped fellow is straight,
the bend being, at the hips, the shoulders
being pushed back square by the weight
resting on the riders hands from the tor
of the bar. The rider who tries to sit
| straight reaches under the grips, and, py
pulling. draws his shoulders together
cramping his chest. Look for yourselves
and you will be surprised"