The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1896-06-13

The Disappearance rt Nnlo~verdt HtM Ahal
HIS Family 81 Greeal.
What has become % Bill Green.
known ii the early COS lii Arizona as
Palo~verdi Dill because lie was tan and
verdant. and. later known az the Long
Green for q reason that will presently
appear?
Bill lived In the glorious Salt river
valley up under the middle hump ofold
Comeback mountain, seven odd milea
from the town of Phoenix. Here be
cultivated the perennial alfalfa, as we'll
as an abnormal propensity for drink.
TO the latter cause may be attributed.
his failure il the former vocation. HE
irrigated unceasingly-himseh, not his
land. and with tred-eyes instead Of wa
ter.
Cattlemen love nota poor pasture and
when the steers failed to come To his
brown and barren fields, Palo-verdi Bill
grew low in spirits and low iii pocket,
and crooked his elbow So Higgins.
his nearest neighbor, said, TO IN extent
that was scandalous.v
What Green, his wife and the six
young Greens lived on during this era
of depression it is not given man to
know. Some said it was cottonwood
bark for the mistress and the young
ones, while Bill knocked the red blooms
from the tips Of the sahuara cactus and
brewed a fair quality Of tizwin-an
Indian beverage that rarely fails to
knock a man out in one round.
Thus matters stood when, one bright
day in early summer, Simpson, who
keeps a general store on Center street,
leaned over his counter and said to bis
clerk: Here comes Palo-vcrdi Bill with
his batch Of Greens. Tell him we don't
want his trade and sec that you're
struck by lightning before you sell him
two-bits' worth Of stuff"
The clerk met Bill at the door heading
his yerdant procession. and promptly
told him that Simpson wasn't anxious
for any more c~redittrade.
nNer cash trade, either, j take it, re-
marked Bill, as he flashed a roll 81
greenbacks is big as his wrist and
walked away, while Simpson g~rcveled
in dust and -four behind the counter
where he had dropped in order to be out
Of sight.
Bins expenditures in Phoenix that
day are matters of history. Mrs
Green's ideas all ran to blue calico, and
she went from store to store purchasing
with q lavish hand. When she got
through, Simpson was the only man in
town who had any blue calico.
The children Of the afluent Bill in.
vested in stick candy from one end oi
Phoenix to the other, and Simpson
again, was the only man who had any
stick candy left on his shelves.
AS for Bill himself he made it q point
to drink in every saloon. pay in $40 bills
and haughtily refuse to accept change
He bore his immense load Of newly-ac-
quired dignity and other things with
surprising steadiness, and at last he
bought up a menagerie that happened
to be in town and left the place, sup
posedly for his ranch, but neither hi
nor his family have ever since beer
heard from.
Whence came Long Green's wealth
Whittier did he vanish? Here's an OPP
portunity for some n to settle q ques
ton which is perplexing the thinking
portion Of Arizona's 10000 people.
Did the m~enagerie break loose ans
make way with the Greens2 Other
wise, how would it Be possible for TIL
entire outfit to disappear and leave no
q rack behind-not even a yestige o
candy or calico2
Here endeth the conjecture. VII
liam Wallace Cook, In Detroit Free
Press.