Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1901-09-27
His Run of
Tough Luck
Oversight of a Much Insured
Man in the Hem1oc1e Belt. - -
seeies'essss'sssiss'sss'ss'

1.-THE man sat on a stump at the
side of the road, just where
the road turns, little way this side
Of Geeville, in the Hcmlock Belt"
said John Gilbert, the travelling gro
ceryman. HE stopped me as l
drove up.
'Cap'n,' said he, If you're one of
'em, and insure ag'in earthquakes,
Pll take out a policy, right now
81 didn't understand him, and told
him so.
Then you amt one of 'em, and
I'm powerful sorry said the man.
was hopin' you was one of 'em, and
that your line was earthquakes,
cause then me and you could "a done
business right on the spot. l been
havin' the unmercifullest run o.
tough luck, cap'n, you ever see or
heerd tell on. and if you was only
one of 'em now, with that Tertic'lar
! line, / mout stand a chance of hav-
in things more my way little, after
all. Don't s'pose you ever had any
hard luck, cap'n?'
81 told the man had been up
against pretty hard lines, more than
once.
"'You don't know nothin' about it!'
said the man on the stump. Let me
give you a little inklin' of how luck
can cut up, here in the Hemlock Belt,
when it gifts agoin and you'll forgit
iall the tough luck you ever had or
heerd on. Somethin' like a couple o
months ago a man came along by my
place. down yonder in Geeville. lie
said he was insurin' folks agin fire.
told him that bein's as J was good
orthodox Hardshell Baptist ! d.dn''
think I'd need it. ---es,
"'"No, mol" says he. "Your hope
Your house Is liable to burn, ain't'it
even if you ain't?"
"Now, the fact was, my house wa
good un. but old and dry as finder
BEN made O. pine. When the wealth
er was real hot we use to keep we
carpet on the roof and | had "n'
smokin'" signs hung up here ant
there about the house 1t had beer
on fire nine times, but we Away
managed to git it out. So the upsho
o. this feller's talk was that let hin
insure the house agin fire; and tool
down the mo smol1in' signs, am,
told the folks they needn't bottle
with the wet carpets any more.
guess maybe it was teh next weel
when another chap come along
horseback
"'"How d. do?" says he.
az said how d 40.
81 want to insure you ag'in wind,
says he.
81 asked him il ] looked like fel
Ter that couldn't stand up ag'in
book agent or a patent right seller
and he said no.
"'"But that amt it," says he
"Your house. Hurricanes. Gales O
wind. Hurricanes could take you
house away and never bring it back
couldn't they?"
Hurricanes has got a way o
droppin' down around here, sudder
and strong and, to tell the truth,
used to have my house snubbed with
ropes to three or four pine stump:
that stood high, and I've seen hel
groan and lift herself, and make
them ropes squeak and squeal a-hold
in of her down, when some o. then
gales o. wind come suddin' ag'in her
| can tell you! So l let that char
argue me into insurin' the hous,
ag'in wind and cut the guy ropes
Don't seem to me that it was more
than ten days later when another
Teller drove in.
"'"Want to insure you ag'in light
min strkin' you" says he.
"'"See here!" says /. 81 have
been waitin' nine years for that old
aunt o. mine to die, and she's worth
$4,000. She may leave it TO my
cousin Eli or TO my Uncle Jake, OF
to my Aunt Hammer, or to the dom.
inie, or to me. You can't tell where
Hghtnin's goin' to strike, though
and I'm in state o. mind that won't
let me insure ag'in it's strikin' me,
"'"No, mol" says he. ''Your house
Forked lightnin' from the sky has
been known to skftter down and
strike houses pretty nigh as good as
this un o. your'n," says he.
"'As matter o. fact, oap'n, hghtnin'
he'd struck that house tires $imfS Al.