Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1903-10-07

from Ills seat near the stove ana slow
~ walked forward till he stood fac.
ing the audience. Immediately quiet
reigncd, for he was a man who was in
yariably listened to.
"Gentlemen am ladies'" he began,
clearing his tllroat and wiping his
mouth with his long hand. This amt
no put in o. mine, gracious knows. /
hain't got nothin', an don't expect to
lose or gain by what is done in this
matter, but 1 want to do what kin
fer what think is right an proper.
Fer my part, don't think we kin do
without n railroad much longer. Folks
is a7pokin' fun at us, / tell you. It's
Gods truth. T'othcr day was over
at barley a-walkin' along the railroad
nigh the turnin' table, whar they flirt
engines round like children on a flynn
jimmy, when all at once big strappin'
Teller with n red flag In his hand run
up an knocked me off'n the track ker-
whnllop in a ditch. 1t was just in
time to keep me from bein' run over by
switch engine. He was as mad as
Tucker. sLooky' her. SEES he, did you
think that thing was playln' tag with
you an nd tap you on the shoulder
an run an hide behind tree? Say,
amt you from Short Pine destrict, this
side o. the mountainsY told i'm he'd
guessed right, an he said, I lowed so,
fer thar amt no other spot on the
whirlin' globe that produces folks as
green as gourds.' Well, gentlemen,
that 1oored me. 1t was bad enough to
be jerked about like a rag doll, but 1t
WAS tough to heer my section jeered at.
What makes you say thatT axed
i'm as l stood thar tryin' to gilt pas
sic o. wet glass out O. my hip pocket
without cuttin' my fingers. Laugh
ter, led by Pole Baker, who sensed the
meaning of the reference.l 'Beca'se,'
SEES he, you mossbacks over thar don't
know the wars over A niger from
over thar come in town t'other day an
heerd fer the fust time that he was
free. Two men over thar snapped
wives without KNOWN thar was law
agtn 1t. Half o. you uns never laid eyes
on a railroad an wouldn't have one as
free gift turned Oh an left I'm
an went up on the main street. Up
thar barber ketched me by the arm
nm said, ses he: Come In an le' me
cut that hair. You are from Short
Pine amt your Taxed him why he
thought so, an he said SEES he, 'Beca'se
you got Short Pine hair cut What's
thatV SEES l. An he laughed at Teller
cooked up in n cheer an said: It's
cut that is made by the women out
yore way. They Jest turn saucer
upside down on the mems heads an
trim around the edges. l could tell
one mile. They make man look
like bobtailed mule.' Laughter,
loud and prolonged.l
Yes, as said, they are a-pokin' all
manner O. fun at us, an it's chiefly be-
case we hain't got no railroad. The
maddest ever got on this line was
down at Filmore's store one day. A
little, slick chap come along sellin'
maps of the United States of America.
They was purity things on black sticks,
nm wanted one fer the wall o. my
room. was about to buy one, but
thought I'd fust make shore that our
county was on 1t, SO l axed the peddler
to pint It out to me. Well, after some
s'arch he put his knife blade on what
he called this county, but, 10 and be-
hold, it was mighty nigh kivered with
round dots about the size of fyspecks.
What's the matter with it?' nxed i'm.
oh, you mean them dots SEES he, an
he turned to lot of reference words in
the corner of the map. Them ses he,
them's put thur to Indicate the amount
o. ignorance in locality. You'll find
'em in all places away from the rail-
roads. A body kin say what they
please agin railroads, but they fetch
schools an books an enlightenment.
You've got good many specks, SEES
he, kinder comfortin' like, but some O
these days railroad will shoot out
this away, an them brainy men
amongst you will git the chance God
intends to give 'em.' Gentlemen, /
didn't buy no map. L wouldn't "a had
the thing on my wall with the specks
a-starin' me in the face. 1t wouldn't
a done any good to scrape 'em Off, fer
Their traces would "a been left. No,
friends, citizens an wellwishers, thar
amt but one scraper that will ever
rake our specks Off, an that's the cow
catcher of steam engine. say let
'er come. Some objection has been
raised on the score o. KILN cattle.
That reminds me of a story they tell
on old Burt Preston, who has farm
on the main line beyant barley. He
was always a-gittin his stock killed SO
fast an a-puttin' in heavy claims fer
damages, until folks begun to say he
made his livin' by buyin' scrub cattle
an sellin mashed beef to the corpora
ton. One day the road sent out a de-
tective to watch i'm, an he seed Burt
drive a spindlin yeerlin' out O. the
thicket on the track jest in time to get
1t knocked off by through freight. The
detective went back an reported, an
they waited to see what Preston nd do.
By the next mail they got claim in
which Preston said the yeerlin'
weighed 500 pound an was fine four
gallon milk COW. They threatened to
Jail i'm, an Preston agreed to with
draw his claim. But he got downheart-
ed an traded his place fer farm on
t'other railroad, an the last beerd o.
him he was at his old trade ag'in. I
reckon that's about the way we'll be
damaged by gettin' our stock killed.
That's all got to say. gentlemen.
Let's git this road an scrape our fly
specks Off"
The house shook with the applause
that greeted this speech. Even the OPP
position seemed to be wavering Only
Bartell kept rigid countenance. He