Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1899-11-15
Apples, $3.50 a barrel at Lehman's
The Politeness Of Press Lewis.

The following article Is from the
Canadian Magazine, published at To
ronto, and the picture will be readily
recognized by u readers:
The palm for picturesque, compre.
hensive and polyglot swearing has
been awarded to the old bull whack.
ers" of the plains.
L have heard a freight brakeman
try to express his feelings when wires.
Ting with a stiff brake on n car go
ing down grade; L have seen strong
men jam their fingers when trying to
set up stOve-ripes, and many times
have | been with the festive cowboy
in pursuit of a refractory steer. Tae
brakeman, the stove-pipe artist and
the cowboy are not wanting in elo-
quence, but they are as infants when
compared with a "bull-whacker" ex.
horting n string of balky oxen, with
his wagons stuck in the mud of some
creek.
1t was universally acknowledged
that old Press Lewis, who used to
freight" from Fort Benton to Fort
McCloud, stood q head and shoulders
above his brethren on the road when
it came to the use of winged, burning
words. But this is the true and
simple little story of the time when
Press had to acknowledge that there
were limits to even his powers.
1t had been raining just enough to
make the long hill out Of Fort Ben
ton a veritable slough of despOnd.
The soil was "gumbo,' delightful
stuff which sticketh closer than a
brother. The wagons We're rather
heavily l~oaded-I would not 20 SO
far as to say that Press was loaded
too, but 1t IL probable-and half way
up the hill the oxen and creaking
wagons came to q stop.
q Then Press opened up; at first (llke
the skirmishers' fire at the beginning
of a battle) with mere preliminary
remarks, comparatively mild per.
sonal remarks on the characters oil
the oxen considered individually and
collectively. Then, with heavier ar
tillery, he blazed away at their an.
cestOrs far back to remote ages, en-.
bracing in his volley the wagons in
all their parts and the unfortunates
who made them.
After this he ranged yet wider, and
a special corner in his anathema was
reserved for Christopher Columbus
for having Observation-Disclosures
out-such- IA dogoned -ornery -locoed.
son-of-a-gun-of a-mud-heap."
|, About this time 1t is said that his
: remarks became so exceedingly sui
phurous that the sage bushes in the
vicinity shriveled and died.
From the beginning Press had been
literally p~unctuating his sentences
with strokes from his bull-whacker'e
whip, which was no toy. But, as faI
as results showed, he might as wei
have been quoting hymns to the oxen
or tanning them with afeatherd buster
like the everlasting hills, they stood
fast and would not be moved. Their
Press sat down by the side OF the
road, In the mud and wet, and with
a still, small voice mildly remarked
to the stubborn oxen: Gentlemen
please pull"
And now astrange thing happened
for each and every OK did straight
way brace himself and with on,
mighty pull drag those heavy wag
ons out Of that sticky "gumbo" ant
up the steep hill as though the Oxer
had been 1910 trotters" hitched tt
pneumatic-tired sulkies. leaving tn,
bewildered Press Lewis to plunge
through the mud in pursuit. -Basi
g.. d'Easum. 10