Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1898-09-29
Old Times.


dead heat of the sun. the cold breath
of air, makes one feel chilled outside
while burning up inside, and such a
feeling of lassitude, no account feel
ing. Days of cold winds and nights,
with thick blankets to cover and to lie
and shiver. Nights of hot sultry air,
not breath of fresh air, a feeling of
unrest. No sleep until near morning,
and oh, so sickening and woe begone a
feeling! A feeling of '.it's just as we'll
to die and be done with it, And just
such a month of September was 1910.
shall never forget that year | had
had the "shakes' until | was shook
pretty near out of myself. l got so I
did not have strength to shake any
longer; just lay and shivered outside,
and was burning up inside. 0, SO
thirsty! l felt as if could lie and let
a good sized spring branch run right
into my mouth.
That year the peach trees were
braking down with such loads of
peaches. / never saw so many peach
es on the farm in any year, and the
farm was covered with peach trees.
In every fence corner, all over the
fields, and they were so small you
could not peal them aud have any
peach left after the skin was removed.
So we did not know what to do with
them One day old Grandma Brown,
the wife of my old hunting tutor, came
over to see me and to tell US what to
do. For" she said, ''you have got
the dumagern' Well, / knew all the
time had some dumb thing that was
trying to put an end to me. When
she came she brought lot of herbs
and roots, such as lobelia, snake root,
and, oh, / can't think OF all the things
she brought to dose me with. But
this was enough to kill horse. When
she came and saw how how the peach
trees were loaded with peaches she
said to my mother, ''Why don't you
folks make peach kiln and dry those
peaches? You could dry enough to
last two or three years just as well as
not" So she told US how to build a
kiln. She said, "You make two
walls of rocks, laid up with clay NOR
tar; the walls two feet apart and two
feet high and ten or twelve feet long;
then cover the whole thing with fiat
rocks except the open ends, where the
fire and smoke comes out: then plaster
the top all over with clay. about two
inches thick with rim all around the
edge, just like billiard table: then
build fires in each of the fues and
when the clay gets dry, put on as
many peaches as will lie on the thing,
and have little rake to stir them up
every little while, SO they won't cook
hard dry" On the same principle as
GuC
So we had kiln made according to
directions, and my mother stayed out
and tended the peaches after they
were brought, and a good supply of
wood made ready, for it was not hard
work, just about like sorghum making.
One day as was lying around feeling
Just as no account as l could, mother
would take old Betsy and come out
and kill some of those birds that are
eating the apples and peaches; they
are just spelling the fruit" She well
knew nothing would rouse me up
quicker than ask me to take ''Old Bet
sy" and to shoot something. So [
reused up and got my gun and as
mother went along and would point to
a bird | would shoot it. had killed
two or three and was standing loading
my gun, and had the patching over the
muzzle of the gun, and was just laying
the ball on, ready to '.send home. "
Mother was standing about twenty feet
from me watching me, when all at
once she said, .'Look!" AS | turned
my head to see what she was looking
at saw coming the biggest old buck
| ever saw. He was running with his
horns laid back on his neck and the
biggest head of horns / ever saw. And
that deer ran right between my moth
er and myself and did not pay any at
tention to either of US. I don't think
the deer ever saw us; that deer was
just going as If he had some special
errand which was of Importance and
had no time to stop to talk with any
body. AS we stood and watched that
deer go over the farm and away across
the fields and over fence after fence,
we heard way down towards the Shut
In the cry of hound, and every min
ute or so just one clear, shrill cry.
Nearer and nearer it came right on
the track OF the deer. Nearer and |
nearer until here six small beauties of |
hounds came at full speed right on the |
deer's trail, and there my ma and |
stood just as we rad when the deer