The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-11-28
A BARN THAT GREW.
1t Was Still Growing When the City Liar
IIoI n;e,nnnnrn1

HUI Disappeared.
"Say, stranger how high mout that
building be!'' asked II countryfied-lOok-
ing individual, as he stood ut broadway
and Ann street, gazing NJ ut the tower
ing structure being erected there
The man of whom he asked the ques-
ton evidently Thought he would have
some fun with the farmer lie looked at
the latter Il moment, and then said "Oh,
that little house there. Oh, that's about
800 feet high. But that's nothing to sew
eral buildings that are going to be put
| up further up the street"
''Shu, you don't say so!' exclaimed
the farmer. GLOW high mout some of
them buildings going to beg'
"SiX to eight hundred feet, not count
ing the towers" replied the smart man.
,Shu, you don't say so" calculated the
farmer.
"But say, stranger, how's the people
to get up to the top of them?"
sob, tllat's easy enough" said the
smart man, thinking of the fun he was
having; they're going to have pneu-
matte tubes in them. You get into the
box and they shoot you up TO the roof
in two seconds.
''Shu, you don't say so''once more re-
marked the farmer. Your houses don't
cover much ground stranger, do they?
Now, out in my part of the country we
20 in for more land than high buildings.
My brother started to build IL barn once
that covered about rs much land as all
the buildings in your town put together. :"
sob, say, old fellow" replied the fun
ny person, you're talking through your
hat. No man could.buld II barn us big
as that - ss5-f.-rE EN-: ss' :, =.
That's all right" said tho farmer;"but
my brothers. barn wasn't no ordinary
barn, b'gosh. 1t wasn't so big at the
start, but you see it took a-growin' and
before it stopped it covered his whole
farm--a whole section, sir, about one
square mile
1T took IL growing did it? remarked
the puzzled person who had been having
the fun. "Say, mister, what are you
driving at anyhow. Who ever heard of
4 barn growing
"Wcll. theirs not many people, I'll ud-
NIT, stranger proceeded the farmer
lit was the first time that ever heard OF
one; but as | said before, my brothers
barn wasn't no ordinary barn. You see
he built il of green hcmlock, and as he
was in Il hurry to get it built before har-
vest, he couldn't wait for the wood to
dry ont Now. that wood was full of sap
when my brother slapped the barn up,
and when the weather began to get
warm the sap began to run, and that set
the wood to growing. Well, sir, you
never saw anything grow like it before in
your life. Talk about your big houses
in this town, why, they can't compare
with the way my brothers barn growed.
He would 90 to bed at night thinking he
had located the door of his barn all
right: but when he would get up in the
mornin he would have to walk II quar-
ter of mile further in order to get into
the barn to feed the horses. 1t got to be
monotonous, sir, but he stood it all right
until the barn began to run off his farm
and go over into Bill Johnson's wheat
field. You see, Bill set great store on
that wheat field. He had n mortgage on
his farm and he intended to sell the
wheat and pay OIL
But the farmer stopped and found that
he had been talking to himself. The
man to whom he had been telling the
story was Il block away, and he was walk
ing as if he had letter to post for his
wife, or an extremely important engage
ment to keep.