Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1897-03-18
From TarheeI1ana.


voutly to be wished for in my case
and to counteract this effect of good
living and luxurious ease, | have re-
sorted to daily tramp;ngs over the
rises and along the depressions of this
hill-beleagured town. On these flesh
repressing excursions | have a pleas
ant companion of nearly the same age
and aVoirdupois as myself In days
gone by he was an interchangeable de-
voice to the rod and gun. coursing
streams and climbing hills all day
long with scarcely quickened pulse.
But time and flesh work havoc with
the strongest and heartiest, and | find
in his labored breathing comfort for
my own fatigue. firing in unison,
We slack the vigor of our ownward
pace, or halt and rest at mutual pleas
ure. | hope to give a favorable re-
port of this self imposed training later
on. One thing is certain: the streets,
the suburbs, the hills and the ravines
which make up Asheville and its SUR
roundings are becoming familiar to
the fashion of our shoe-soles.
The average North Carolinian is
happy: the State Legislature adjourn
ed yesterday. with a whole bagfull of
mischievous legislation dead in the
shell. By the skin of its teeth Ashe-
vile escaped the dispensary, and in
the county of Buncombe eight pegs
uuprovided with holes are dressed in
deep mourning and refuse to be COM
forted. The anti-lease bill died
a-bornin', and Gov. Russell affects to
be very angry, though there are those
who say that, way down in his boots,
he is gratified with its defeat. He will
project the question into the next cam
paign, and endeavor to make it a tidal
wave which shall again toss his party
into power, through the popular preju-
dice against railroads.
The mountaineer of the Old North
State is a rough, uncouth, innocent
looking human, but he is not fool,
and he who picks him up as such in
business transaction is quite likely to
drop him without ceremony. The
farmer, when he makes his tobacco
ready for the market, knows how to
pack it so that the outside always
shows up fair and bright. The inside
platter may go as it likes, but the out
side must be clean and tempting to
the buyer, who, Notwithstanding his
experience and astuteness, is not in
frequently taken IN.
But this sharpness in trade is not
exclusive to the tobacco raiser. The
other day citizen of this town bought
a load of hay on the street from a
farmer. The wagon with its load was
driven on the scales and weighed. The
amount pulled down seemed excessive
to the buyer, and he didn't know but
a boulder or two lay concealed within
the contents. He had heard of such
tricks being played upon the unwary.
Therefore, after directing the farmer
to his stable. the purchaser engaged a
bystander to distantly follow the hay
and observe it's unloading. The un-
sophisticated farmer drove to the place
designated, halted, looked warily
about him, and said, "All right"
Then there popped out from under the
hav a fellow-citizen whose rotundity
warranted his tipping the beam at not
less than $50 pouudsi The purchaser
took the hay, but made the round-bel
lied gentleman sit on the wagon on its
return to the scales. and charged his
weight in the sum total of the tare.
Although nearly always a "biock-
ader," and thinking it no wrong, but
a virtue, to blk his Uncle Samuel of
his revenue on tanglefoot, the noun
taineer in his dealings with his neigh
bors is generally just. He is very
bospitable. aud, if he doesn't suspect
YOU of being a revenue agent, frank
and friendly. The weary wayfarer
commands the best his condition af-
fords. But let him get the notion 10
to his head that you are ''nosing
round" the woods for stills. and his
demeanor completely changes, wheth-
er he is in the business or not; for. if
he is not blockading. his neighbor is,
and a strong community of interest
binds them all together. They are
usually true to each other, and it is
only when there is failing out"
among neighbors tha: Information re-
oardiug crookeduess is conveyed to the
revenue agent, except when they mu-
tually agree to spring a case for the
mileapes aud fees there are in it. To
come to Asheville and see the sights
at governments expense and pay is a
bio thing to the remoter denizens of
the mountains, and the scheme is not
unfreouently worked Ito the queens
n Such a case has been told me