West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1901-09-19
Io' TIC mali TO come IN

H pos,oitiee one evening. and NW
~ as they sat around and ~
Whitfield aud wSited for the mail To- come in
S'las larily qoened;
'Eoen you've been to Dobb's Ferry a
hundred times, reckon. aud Just how fur
do YOU call it from Jericho ?"
Just as fur as it is, " answers Eben after
thinking II over for awhile
"And that's ten miles ?"
''Who said ii was ?"
II say SO. carried the mail over tina,
road for three years, aud reckon know
The distance purity we'll. I asked YOU be-
cause some one said you called is only MIN,
and half"
"And that's what I'm Sayin this mint.
It's nine miles and a half to an inch"
'Say, Eben, didn't YOU measure il with n
purity short ,apeline 2'' asked Sras as he
whiulcs away.
"lt's jest nine aud a half answers Eben
in dogged way
ats exactly ten."
"Nol an inch over nine and half
"Not an inch under ien."
"Sias Tompkins, are you crazy or born
fool p shouts Eben as his hair begun to curl
81 amt big 'nuf fool to call il nine
miles and half to Dobb's Ferry - wells
Silas in reply
They jawed about it for half am hour
longer, and they parted bad friends. In
the course of two or three DAYS Eben put nm
sign on the corner reading. 'Dobb's Ferry
IN ne and Half Miles" and as soon Ms
Silas heard of ii he put up another reading
'Dobb's Ferry-'ren Long Miles" That
made things worse, aud half dozen
fam e. were mixed up in the quarrel
Almost every night in the year the two men
met at the postoiiicc, and, though ,hrv
wouldn't notice each other. they had their
ways of huriug each others feelings. Silas
would look around to Ezra Billings and
giggle and chuckle and say:
"Did YOU hear that Dobb's Fenr had
moved inland half mile, Ezra She used
TO be ten miles from Jericho, but she's
moved up TO niUe and half to accommodate
sartin smart folks"
Eben would be hur, and wan, to get even.
aud he'd look at Jabcz White and say
Heard about that escaped luniic. Iabcz2
lhey say he's measurio' the road from here
to Dobb's Ferry with tow s,ring and il
keeps him crazy because he can't make out
nine and a half mile of it,
The two men never come to lows. but
they never met without trying to hu,t ,ach
others's feelings. If one favored aoy,hinr.
Tue other opposed il, and they were contrary
IN politics, religion and all public improve
menis. One day Eb:n GO; buried in bi,
well by cave in, and. though SiIas helped
to dig him out, the chance was one TO say
"Mebbe this narrer escape from death
will make him turn To- the truth in the
future and admit that listen miles 10 ID ,hl's
Ferry"
II wasn't four weeks after that when
Silas had saw log roll over him, and as he
lay there ilauened out Eben came up aud
looked on h IN and said
'ile seems to be goner, but If the Lord
lets him recover it will be that he may take
Ferry and save his soul from perdiiion"
Folks thought the dispute might wear
itself out in year or two, but it didn't.
1t kept right on for 20 long years and never
grew cold. Ebtn would have gone 10
Indiana to live, but he didn't want to Ieave
Silas behind to crow over him, and Silas
wouldn't go to Syracuse to run sawmill
for the same reas N. At length Ebcn lay
on his dying bed, and Just the minute the
doctor told him his case was hopeless he
said
''Ihen want you to send for Silas
Tomkins. I've got something ! want Ia
say to him before I die"
Silas didn't hang back about coming. and
after he'd arrived and said he was sorry.
Eben said to him
''Silas, how far is il TO Dobb's Ferry :"
"I's jest ten miles Eben-iest ten.
"But I'm diving man
eyes. know, bot IT'S jest ten miles.
"Its only nine and half. Silas. and
you are as big fool as you was twenty
years ago.
OTIS ten. ib.n."
Mine and a half
Silas vent away, and Eben died, and
year later Silss was called to 90. When
he real red il, he said 10 his wife.
"Martha, don't let anybody b'uR YOU
when I'm gone. lis ten miles TO D,b,'s
Ferry, and you slick to it II you have q,
1--we on cold tatcrs
81 % do IL, Silas. she answered.
~ don know whether l1l meet Eten
where m goin, bul rather expect tc. and
dufn my buttons II ! don, slick out Tor nine
and a half.
In day or two be was dead and baried.
and as the usual crowd me, 40 the post.
Office in the evening ihe talk vas all about
the two men and th.ir fc.long dispute.
Some said one was right aud s,me said The
other. Th,rsva s,rsng,r pr,s.nl. end by
and by he pricked up bis cars and asked.
"Was you folks talking abou, ,be dIs.
tance Co Dobbs Ferry
owe was says Moses Campbell. And
be goes on 10 explain ab,ul Eb.n and silas.
"Why, they was both blamed idiots.
says The stranger when be- had the facts in
hand "l am thc man VIII, opened and
surveyed that road. and its just exactly eight
and three-quaucrs of mile long