News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1903-12-16
Abncr Daniel
WILL N. HARDEN
Author OF /" WesterfeIt."

Gentlemen an ladies'" he began,
clearing his throat and wiping his
mouth with Il s long hand. "This amt
no put in o mine, gracious knows. l
hain't got nOthin', an / don't expect to
lose or gain by what is done in this
matter, but I want to do what l kin
fer what I think is right an proper
Fer my part, l don't think we kin do
without a railroad much longer. folks
is a-pokin' fun at us, | tell you. It's
Gods truth. T'other day l was over
at barley a-walhin' along the railroad
nigh the turnil' table, whar they firt
engines round Ike children on flynn
jimmy, when all at once Il big strappin'
Teller with a red flag in his hand run
up an knocked me otf'n the track kerr
whallOp in a ditch. It was just in
time to keep me from bein' run over by
a switch engine. He was as mad as
Tucker I.ooky' hcer.' SEES he. d d you
think that thing was pIlyin' tag with
you an I'D tap, YOU on the shoulder
an run an hide behind a tree? Say.
amt you from Short Pine destrict, this
side O. the mountains| | told i'm he'd
guessed right, an he said, 4 lowed so,
fer thar amt no other spot on the
whirlin' globe that produces folks as
green as gourds.' Vel gentlemen.
that flOored me. 1t was bad enough to
be jerked about like Il rag doll, but it
was tough to heer my section iecred at
what makes Won say that| | axeG
I c+C iY,J to
sic O. wet class out O. my hip pocket
without griffin MY fingers. Laugh
ter, led by Pole Baker, who sensed the
meaning Of the reference 'Beca Sc
ses he, you mosshaclls over thar don't
know the wars over. \ 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 a law
agn it. Half O you uns never laid eyes
on a railroad an wouldn't have one as
a free gift I turned off an left i'm
an went up on the main street Up
thar a barber ketchcd me by the arm
an said, SEES he: Come in an le' me
cut that hair. You are from Short
Pine, amt your | aXed him why he
thought so, an he said, SEES he, 'Beca'se
you got 4 Short Pine hair cut What's
thatY SEES |. An he laughed at a Teller
cooked up in a cheer an said: It's a
cut that is made by the women out
yore way. They jest turn a saucer
upside down on the mems heads an
trim around the edges. l could tell
one a mile. They make a man look
like bobtailed mule [Laughter,
loUl and prolonged.l
Eyes, 2s said they are a-pokin' all
manner O fun ct us, an it's chiefly be-
case we hGin't %Or no railroad. The
maddCst over got on this line was
down at Filmore's store one day. A
little, Slick chap come along selln'
maps OF the United States of America
They was purty things on black sticks,
an l wanted one fer the wall O. my
room. was about to buy one, but |
thought I'd fust make shore that our
county vas on it, so | aXed the pCddler
to pint it ont to me. Well, after some
s'arch he put his knife blade on what
az NeLANN CAlA7 tCbIiNf, but, ~ anu Nv
hold. it was mighty nigh kivered with
round dots about the size of flyspecks.
What's the matter with it" l aXed i'm.
oh, you mean them dots ses he, an
he turned to a lot of reference words in
the corner of the map. Them SEES he,
them's put thar 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 a@in railroads, but they fetch
schools au' books an enlightenment.
You've gct a good many specks, SEES
he, kinder cOmfOrt.n' like, but some o
these days a railroad will shoot out
this away, an them brainy men
AMONGST you viii git the chance Cod
intends to give 'em.' Gentlemen, l
didn't IUy no map. | wouldn't IA had
the thing on my wall with the spec;s
a-star!l' me in the face. 1t wouldn't
"a done any good to scrape 'eln off, fer
Their traces would "a been left. No
friends, citizens an wellwishers. thar
amt but one scraper that w;u ever
rake our specks off, an that's the COW
catcher Of u steam engine. l say let
FER 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 agittin' 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
it knocked off by through freight. The
detective went back an reported, an
they waited to see what Preston I'D do.
BY the next mail they got a claim in
which Preston said the yeerlin'
weighed 800 pound an was a 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 a farm on
t'other railroad, an the last l heerd O.
him he was at his old trade ag'in.
reckon that's about the way Wen be
damaged nv ppttin' orr stock killed