Mower County transcript., 1902-12-17
FARM Err BENZ S COLUMN.


FARM Err Ben COLUMN.
There's nifty little comfort in holdin'
offs and ,runnin' it SO hoggishly that
when you get thro everybody, is glad
you're out and even the dogs bark at
you with emphasis. Public offs is sup
posed to be public trust and not a
private emolument in which you get
all the rakeoffs, railroad passes, private
pickin's you can get your paw onto
without ever stoppin' to ask whether
these things come to the detriment of
the pro bono publico. Any offs holder
that has run his offs in any such man.
ner aforesaid purely and solely for
what there was in it for hisself must
feel like goin' out behind the woodshed
and kickin' hisself out into the ditch.
Any official that has made hisself rich
in offs outside of his salary to the ex-
tent of five dollars rakeoffed from what
belongs to the public is thief and a
traitor and a robber. wouldn't trust
him out of site with pullet that had
died with cholera. There's world of
differ, can tell you, in different offs
holders that are gettin' thro with their
pull at the public teat. Some of 'em go
out with the confidence and friendli-
ness and good word of everybody and
others 60 out with none too poor to
Civ 'em kick and good riddance to
bad rubbish, and this differ all comes
from the varyin' way you look upon
the offs that people hav elected you to
and which they control and own.
Christmas is comm and Farmer Ben
amt so decrepit that he's forgotten all
about his boy days down is old Jeffer-
son county and the kind of Christmas
we used to hav. Those were times
worth livin' in. We didn't hav lot of
air tite stoves and such in those days
but we had the big wide mouthed open
brick fireplace with hagstone laid in
front and the crane that mother hung
the kettles on hangin' over the fire.
That was chimney that Santa Claus
could get down and not squeeze hisself
and when we got up into the old high
backed settle we was fixed. I've crack
ed more.hickory nuts on the flag stones
on the old hearth than would feed
regiment. Every Christmas we used to
hang up our stockin's on the edge of
the big fireplace where Santa would be
sure to run onto 'em when he first land
ed and we never failed to find 'em full
on Christmas mornin'. I've not forgot
ten the first pair of boots Santa brought
me. They had a section of red leather
let in at the top in front and after I
had creased 'em out of the old skillet
and went out wadin' in the snow with
'em l was little king, can tell you.
I pity the home where Santa never
comes. Why, I used to start in on
my good behavior for a month before
Christmas because knew Santa knew
all about my behavior. It want the
size OF the presents in those days, either,
that made the good time. It was the
hurra feelin' and when you got us
children all together in the old nursery
from the Harvard graduate down to
Wayland we had a set that would be
pretty hard to discount for havin' good
times.
l hav a mind to send up to Jim Hill
and hav him come down for friendly
chat on the merger and competition
question. He is alleged to claim that
competition amt good thing and
don't affect rates when he's takin'
about the merger Of the N. P. and the
G. N. but 1 notis the other day when
he made crack for the Pacific ocean
government business across from our
Western coast to the far East, he sent
the cold shivers down the backs of all
San Francisco and the railroad manag-
ers of the central roads. Why, he cut
the rates rite in two that Uncle Sam
has been payin' and claimed that there
was good money in it at that. What
he wanted was to run the business over
his north roads to Seattle and oct the