The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1899-01-29

In the f'seventies," before hop growing was
developed in the west-those were the times.
Men were poor today and rich tomorrow.
Went to church one Sunday in lumber
wagon and drove to the tavern the next
with a team and landau. bought farms and
houses and pianos and-then came the
change and all things went from many men,
and mortgages sat and glowered upon the
ruins of past prosperity.
In these long winter evenings when 1.-THE
boys collect themselves on the barrel tops
and old boxes down to the store,' the con-
versation, after the effects of the war, the
local political situation and the weather
probabilities have been duly discussed, is
sure to come around to the old times in the
hopyards when prices was high and every
Teller had pocketful of money, even II 1t
was paper" Then, If there is a stranger
present or any one who by any possibility
could have missed hearing the story at some
previous repetition during the last three de-
cades, old Ezry, tho dean of the hop-drying
faculty, rubs his hands and tells the story
of 81 Coles hop deal, interpreting the rela-
ton with frequent interjeetions of qualified
surprise, which may be regarded as in
spired by his own eloquence by the ex-
citing nature of the history which he un-
folds.
e."Speakin' of maxim money on hops makes
me think of old ST Coles Golly, how he did
raise hops Big yard and more paounds to
year l dried for him hops was worth rs
cents paound, and. golly, ST had 10000
paounds good, clean hops as | ever burned
sulphur under. He had worked hard for
years to pay for his farm, and he had whit
tied and whitfield at his mortgage until he
had got her down pretty small, so that year
he did not waste o time In foolin', but the
first buyer that offered him rs cents, golly,
he let EN- go bang; delivered em to Utiky
an come home with fifty-tew thousand five
hundred dollars and seventy-fiye cents. All
good long green money. Wal, naow, that
was a farish sum all in one lump, an eff
you could have seen Silas come drivin' in
a drivin' of his boss with one hand, and a
wavin of the roll with the other-trewly-
I thought he had gone crazy. 'Hooray,
boys he says 'Hooray Golly Hooray!
and then-golly!-he run in the haouse and
he called his wife and he called his eldest
son and he called his youngest son and he
called his daughter and-golly!-they all
come. and Silas says, golloy! says he, Come
here and they all went into the parlor,
and 81 did not say dumbed word, but
he took the money and began spreadin
of 1t aout on the floor Layin' of 1t daown
until-golly!- the parlor carpet was more
than half covered. Then, when he had her
all spread aout, 81 says: 'Golly, I have
always heard folks talk abaout rollin IL
money. Naow, there's the money all spread
aout and-golly! boys-rol!'
Then old ST got daown and he rolled and
rolled. and Mrs. ST she got daown and she
rolled, and the two boys rolled and the
daughter rolled and, by finger, even the
dog rolled, and, golly! they all rolled in
the money.
oval, Sias, he picked her up again and
put her in the bank and then-goly look
aout-things had to fly. He paid off the
mortgage and built peak on the house and
a bay wnder and he planted evergreen
trees in the front yard and had EN- trimmed
raound and square and three-cornered and
all kinds of pretty ways and-golly!-Si got
hisself a plug hat and his oldest son a
airgnn and his wife and daughter wore silk
dresses all the time and got panner and
began both takin' lessons. Then 81 got
ter likin ter wear his plug hat pretty well
and he did not work much because he did
not like ter dirty it, and he began to hang
around the tavern and then goin' to races
and then-gollyi-he bought hisself a race
horse for a thousand dollars and began
racin' hsself Wal, the money raced faster
than the boss, and Sias bank account be-
gan gettin' low but Sias he says, 'Golly,'
Watt says he, till I sell my hops again.
But when fall CONGRATULATIONS was only
10 cents paound and-goly!-the next
spring 81 was sold aout for 10 cents on
dollar, and the race boss and the silk
dresses and the pianner and the plug hats
gollyi-they all went and Silas and his folks
went west somewheres and-golly!-I never
heard of them since.
'Naow 1t does seemto me that IL was
heavy raiser of hops and had a big yard
and sold my hops once for so cents paound
or more and got a pile of money-golly!-I
wouldn't buy no race boss or plug hat.
would just salt the money daown and
golly!-quit raisin"