Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1898-12-15
No. 40

he was the most convincin' man bout
ever see, and he got me to come to
church that night and try over somS
of the tunes. remember had a ter
rible cold that day; il was deep sot,
and my voice was below zero, SO to
speak.
We'll. seein' as had promised,
went down 10 the meetin' house, as
we called il in them days. Matilda
Savory. now the Widow Plunkett. was
there, and George Delameter, who
was TO be the tenor. and Rachel Sitter,
now deceased. and Susan Black, who
I had gallivanted round with consid-
cradle. and had 4 slinkiu' sweetness
for. There was few others 1 don't
just reeollect this minute. We first
attacked that hymn runnin'-
There is fountain filled with blood
Il put my whole soul into Ii, and all
the wind could muster. They was all
surprised to find out had such good
bass voice, and laughed in my sleeve,
because no one seemed TO notice that
had a cold. We tried several pieces,
and. after finishin', some one was sure
TO say to me: Why, Ez, I had no idee
that you had such splendid bass
voice and another would say to the
one settin' next: We couldn't get
along without Ez; don't his voice
chord In nice?'
You can believe l was honored, and
what made me feel the best was the
kinder suppressed look of pride on
Susan's face. For the time bein' I
really thought I could sing like a-a-
blackbird. Yes, that was the compare
son | made to myself. You see. was
thinkin' of Susan; her rear name was
Black. as l mentioned before.
This was on Monday night. John
Tate told us to meet again on Satur-
day evenin' to practice. so we'd be able
TO make the new church ring with de-
vout song on the followin' day. On
Tuesday my cold was disappearin'. and
my normal upgrade voice was comm
back.
II now had n chance to consider that
! had made a mistake in joinin' the
choir for when the time should come
for me to make a public exhibition Of
myself my voice would be pitched en-
tirely too high Still felt that this
opportunity to become popular with
the church folks was too goo6 to be
lost. / was young man, anxious to
be success in business and get some
of the custom which went to Andrew
Yates, who also kept 4 grocery. And
SO made this resolve: That, il neces-
sary, l would catch another cold on
Saturday rather than resign or run the
risk of singin' in no st voice on the
comm Sunday.
Saturday mornin' arrived, and !
hadn't even blowed my nose since
Wednesday, just afore l went to bed.
So throwed off my coat and vest and
scrambled down cellar, which was just
the place to get what I wanted.
hired little boy to tend store and
sot for nearly an hour on hogshead
Of molasses, sneezin' away, but de-
termined not to give up until I'd
caught first-rate cold. When came
upstairs I called out to the boy just
to see how my vocal organs was fixed,
and they put me in mind of big bass
drum that I'd heard once in travelin'
circus.
"That night was on hand punctual.
and received many more compliments,
and went home with Susan, clipper as
butterfly. For fear I wouldn't be
hoarse the next morning, / sot in the
open window of my chamber with my
coat and vest off, gain at the stars
and thinkin' of Susan while I grew
hoarser every moment.
"On Sunday mornin' my voice was in
good trim, and IL was one of the most
triumphant moments of my life as
stood up and let it swell out, while
all the people down below looked up
and watched us with admiration and
envy. My throat was rather sore and
my chest felt tight, but paid no at
tention to them.
"The choir agin met on Monday
night, and my voice heldits own. Dur
In the rest of that week laid In
stock Of soothin' sirup and camphsr
and other medicines, which / used
pretty lavishly, and with good results.
But Saturday come, and found myself
hesitatin' whether to 60 down cellar
agin or sever my connection with the
choir forever. I had observed that
trade had picked up wonderfully with
In a few days, and the minister him
self had dropped in and asked for cred
1t on a pound Of cheese, some clothes
pins and one or two other articles
l don't recollect just this minute. The
superintendent of the Sabbath-school
also came in for the first time and
bought ham and gallon Of sperm
oil. If this thing continues, thinks
to myself. can afford to catch cold
for a few weeks, until they can get
natural bass singer, and down cellar
I went, leavin' the same little boy to
tend the store.
"Well, q year went by, and I was still
holdin forth In the Methodist choir
NV business now was fourishin', and
although Mr.. Yates was a Christian,
the church people patronized me as
much as they did him. for durin' this
time they had tremendous revival
down at Jericho Center, and had ex-
perienced religion. BY being in the
choir had many chances to see Susan
home, which would not have happened
otherwise, and I valued this circum-
stance; for my regard for her had
gradually deepened into sincere and
unmitigated affection.
But then Susan up and married
young justice of the peace. who never
attended church, and was a bigger
sinner than l ever dreamed of bein'.
This took Susan out of the choir, and
let me desolate. vowed eternal cell
bacy, and didn't care who set the
Methodist church afire. That was the
last of me as bass singer. Why, reck-
on 1t up, and see how many times I've
exposed myself to diphtheria, bron,
chitis and death, and not livin' soul
was in the secret. I got so scientific
about IL that I could tell how many
sneezes would make me hoarse enough
to strike the lowest note in Old Hun
dred without strainin' for II.
but one things sorter botherin'
me all these years. Suppose Rachel
Sitter should meet me in Heaven. The
very first thing she'd say would be:
We'll, II here amt Ez Hix! Come,
here. Ezra. I want you TO sing some
OF those good old hymns that we used
TO sing In Slackville Methodist church.
That would be Just like Rachel"
well, Uncle Ez," said Tom Hicks
who had been the old mans most re.
spectful auditor, you could have
'em open the windows and put ice on
YOU when you was dying, so that you