The age-herald., 1897-08-01
OME OLD STORIES v.
 IN A NEW vEiN.

By the way, was down in little Ala{
 bama town few years ago. The county | fair was in progress. One of those old-
 fashioned one-ring circuseu, with a clown | of the Johnny Lamlow variety vas show | ing. werd to it with a crowd of young 1 people. We all sat on the top bench. eat- | ing peanuts and having a merry time [ Just in front of us sat two women One
 of chem was of the ordinary type from
 the low country. The o,her was a prim- 1 itive old maid. She was perhaps 55; she l was tall, angular and dignihed She had l evidently not been to town before for
 many years. The sight of a man was
 strange to her, and from her appearance
 she yet had aspirations for the marital
 state. She was prim. Curls which had l evidently been carefully rolled around a
 reed he night before dangled over her | forehead from beneath the folds of a poke bonnet Upon her hands she wore old l fashiorisd black mits She sat erect and
 looked straight before her into the ring.
 The performance had been going on for | some time when the clown ambled m. | He bore in his hand a newspaper, and he announced with many f1ourishss that he l would read poem written to him by he l able editor. With those foolish motions l which a clown indulges in to amuse the | children he pretended to be far-sightcd.
 He held the paper at rms length to read, | but apparently that was noa far enough 2
 to suit his vision. Then he rested it | against the center polo of the tent and
 proceeded to back off until he got b he | edge of the ring. Still his point of vision - | was not satisfied. He thought a moment. 1 A bright idea seemed to strike him. suir- ing the idea to .he moment he rushed to y7
 and then folded gr=at horse blanket | many times over until 1t was fully a foot l in thickness. He laid this over the paper. | Then looking Into the ibankei, he pre- tended to be able to read the print and proceeded to recite his poem. The old maid, who sat in front of us, | looked upon the clown in perfect amaze | ment She then turned and looked at US | in apparent horror. She clustered and
 gathered herself close to her compa nion. | Then she stood up and turning to her companion said:
 1 Mary, if that there clown can read | that there paper through that there | blanket then these clothes I've get on | ain't no protection to me- and I think I | had better go"
 1 And with these remarks she scurried l over the seats holding her shawl and l other objects between herself and the clown until she disa ppeared from the
 tent.
 Ham, Snollygester Ham, the Georgia | humorist was here the other day en route to Tennessee, where he went to 1 lecture
 Ham is a queer chap. He's making a 1 mint of money out of featuring. He | actually wears good clothes, he looks | sleek, fat and we'll fed. He has his clothes made by tailor now, and he pays | full s30 for every suit.
 And yet I vel remember when Ham | used to come down to Atlanta in a Jim | Swinger coat all slick at the back-a coat | which his grandfather wore two genera l tions before his appearance. | Hams first appearance outside If h's | country bailiwick was in the Georgia 1 legislature a half score of years ago, | where he made himself talked about by humorous speech on the subject of terra | pins He had introduced a bin "by re- I quest to protect the female terrapins on | the Georgia coast. l Ham had never seen the ocean. nor had he ever seen a sea terrapin, but he | had seen gophers and had been told that l terrapins were of that species. | | thing about the subject they are to talk | upon he made hit.
 | Though here but a few brief moments, 1 Ham couldn't help telling a story. He l was talking about the white men-the 1 business men-who had voted the repub- | lcan ticket in the south last fall and l especially about those over in Go argia, l where Mark Hanna and his man. McKin- l ley, have appointed nsgroeS-black, | woolly and woozy regrees-to high off, i fees in the state.
 "Oh, they are sorry they did it-these | fellers who voted the repub < ticket" | said Ham. "They won't do |, any more. l If they do there win be nobody so poor | as to do them honor The people will
 have about as much use for them did l the widow of old John Stoneceypher, over
 in Hall county, Ga. John was 10 &C., | count, he wouldn't work, but layed around the house and consumed what his | industrious wife and his boys and girls
 made on a little farm. John turned up ! missin one day Search was made for him, supposing he was off drunk Fin 1 ally in the course of a week some neigh
 bor suggested he had possibly been
 drowned. They dragged the creek under | the foot log and there they found Johns | body The remains were in a sad con l dition, Identification depending princi- | pally upon his apparel. They brought | him home and laid him out on the floor
 of the one small room of his late r6s- 1 dence. The stricken widow set her arms | akimbo, and looking calmly down upon
 him, said Well. he's pretty dead, mt l he?" Seeing something unusual about l his mouth she stopped down, caught hold
 of it and pulled out an eel. The head
 of another took its place and so on untiE 1 she had half dozen squirming on the | floor.
 | Well, what shall we do with him." | sympathizngly asked one of the party, T guess you had better take him back | and set him again for eels," said the cid 1 lady. .It'S the only thing he eyer !