Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1897-08-04
TWO GOOD STORIES
s,;d 10 Have Been Told BY an Employe al
Names Capitol.

The most cheerful and resourceful
n,evarjcator in Maine is an employee of
Tho state. says the Bangor Commercial.
He is one If the state House force of
care-takers and he spends all his leis-
nre time in originating nice, large.
;uicy warns for the edification of an
admiring clientele about the States
nalatial mansion. Here's his most re-
cent attempt that is just now travelling
about the departments.
II was down on the Caribbean sea
one time" he narrates interestingly,
"and while we We're sailing along one
day. we saw a rather queer looking
object off on the water. The skipper
had a boat lowered away and sent a
crew of us off to examine the thing.
When we got up to it we found that it
was shark and that the fish was dead
There didn't seem to be any wounds on
him and SO we looked the critter over
pretty carefully. Wen, sir, there was
something mighty funny about that
fish. Do you know we found that he
had swallowed an empty pork barrel
that had only one head. II had gone
down open end out and everything that
the fish had swallowed for weeks, prob
ably had gone into that barrel. Any
way the barrel was full of fish and the
shark had fairly starved to death"
This servant of the State has also
found time this summer While resting
from his lawn moving labors, to evolve
the following interesting addition to
the history of the civil war.
1 H. al
paign," he AYERS, Il got awful hungry
for little fresh meat one day. So ]
got some Of the boys and we went
foraging. Do you know, we got hold
of the biggest-yes, the gor-rammest
biggest gobbler / ever saw in all my
life. Why, | declare, three of us rode
him into camp.
Well after the camp was quiet we
commenced to pick that turkey. About
a half dozen of us went at it. We took
hollow between two ridges so that no
one of the officers would see US. We
wasn't afraid Of any punishment. you
know, but we didn't want any of that
gobler served at the officers mess.
Well. we picked and we picked in that
hollow till it was downright full of
chap over to another hollow and picked
and picked some more. 'Twarn't long
before that hollow was full too and We
htched an army mule on to the gobbler
and hauled him over to a ravine and,
by snummy. we like to about filed that
up with feathers before we got that old
bird picked clean. l know it sounds
kinder unreasonable to tell of so many
feathers on one gobbler but you must
remember that them was War-times
and turkeys We're high. That one was
pretty near ten feet high, the highest
turkey | ever see and I've attended
some rafiies where | couldn't shake
better'n thrces If went to thunder.
While we was picking that ALTERED
big gobbler, the durndest wind came up
that you ever heard tell of. 1t was
sort of like Il cyclone and it took them
feathers up into the air en- massy.
Took EN- up clean as q whistle and we
didn't See 'em again. But do you
Know what happened? | might as well
tell you because you wouldn't guess it
II you guessed a month of Sundays.
Well sir. the wind took them feathers
right over the rebel camp and dropped
EN-, They came down just like snow.
ihey covered the ground and the wind
hoWied and driftcd them. Lots of them
Ieoei soldiers We're from away down
south and they'd never seen snow be-
lofe ana honestly they thought them
iea'heis WAS a snow storm. Seventy
hVe rebels froze to death with that idea
in their heads