The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1903-07-09

SC'AAh - SAoOOON VIZ ShN "
the wagon tongue and threwed his feet
up around it. There he hung. The
horses run for two miles, when
they fetched up ag'in the side of a
stone wall and stopped. But Hacka'
| liah Bascom went right on. He sailed
| through the air clear to the middle
of a five-acre lot, and lit on his head
"Now, it wouldn't be natural to eX-
/ pect that a man o his years, after setch
flight as that, would git up all
ticllled to death, and go to dancin' a
hornpipe. Mr.. Hackaliah Bascom
didn't git up at all. He laid there till
some of his folks went loOkin' to see
in what part O the district he was,
found him, and picked him up.
The top of his head was rammed in
some, and the doctor said the most
likely thing he could do to get Hack
allah on his pins ag'in was to trepan it
] SO he pricked out piece o the skull
and sot an old Mexican silver dollar II
the place. Hackaliah got around IN
about a month as lively as ever.
"One day he went to town. While
he was there a thunderstorm came up.
HackaIiah Bascom had a great way o
setting in one o. the big armchairs on
the tavern stoop, tippin' it back ag'ln
a post. an goin' to sleep.
THE thunderan' lightnin' didn't pre-
vent him dom this that day he went
to town, and, besides. so Uncle David
Beckendarter says, he had been lucky
in runnin' up ag'in considerable o the
old stuff. lie got his chair little too
close to the edge O the stoop, and in
his sleep his head got to rollin' over
to one side, and pretty soon the
chair lost its balance and kerplunk!
went Hackaliah to the ground, four
feet below.
The conclusion knocked the silver
dollar out o. the old chaps topknot,
and it rolled out on the ground. Hack
allah jumped to his feet. The first thing
he saw was the silver dollar. He picked
it up.
"'Sizzlin' John Snodgrass.' says he.
What a clap that was! Struck the
bank, didn't it?'
They fixed Hackaliah up all right,
and he gave the dollar to Uncle David
Beckendarter. Uncle David gave it to
me for a birthday present, and I've
had it ever sinre-but | haven't got 1t
with me-"
The Pochuck chronicler paused, but
no one said word.
"a year ago" he continued, after an
eloquent sigh, "IIackaliah Bascom
made up his mind tibet it would be a
good stroke O. business for him to take
out a policy ag'in accidents happenin'
to him, then when the next time come
around for him to have somethin' hap
pen to him he could lay back and draw
S25 week, and if he got killed, his
folks would get his insurance money.
"He said there wasn't any sort o
doubt but what when he died it d be
OWN to an explosion or collision, or
somethin' o that sort, and he might
as well make little somethin' for his
family out of it as not. So he got a
$1,000 policy.
"After that he drove the skittishest
horses he could git, but they always
fetched him home safe and sound.
/ BiIIsollzer's sawmill was known to
have a b'iler that wasn't much safer
than Hghtin' a match III a powder mill.
Hackaliah Bascom took a great fancy
TO settin' in that sawmill day after day
and arguin' politics.
Zone day he didn't go to the mill
for some reason or other, and the biler
busted and killed the sawyer. and laid
up for two months two men that
hadn't been nigh the mill before.
"A bridge fell into the creek, so foot
below it, one day jest as Hackaliah Bas-
com drove across It, He got out of a
train at Bullsnip station one day, and
a mile further on the train ran off
the track and smashed the car he was
in all to splinters.
''He went out to shoot a chicken one
day. John Snavlcy, neighbor,
asked him 10 let hun take the gun and
knock the hen over, HacTaliah hand
ed over the gun. The barrel busted
and took off four O Snavely's fingers
and so it kept goin' all along
Hackaliah's luck seemed to have
hanged entirely, Everything seemed
to 90 ag'in him, and al last, three weeks
ago, he was took with bilious fever and
died as peaceful as a chloroformed
rabbit.
"Yes, Hackaliah Bascom is dead my
Uncle David Beckendar,er's favorite
brother-in-law. and I'm feelin mighty
bad about it. Mighty bad, l tell you
Bowed with sorrow"
The cash register iinglod merrily
, over the purchase CT couple of high,
balls. The manipulation inspected his
complexion critically in the mirror
among the glassware. Nobody said a
word until the man from toward
Pochuck rose, with remark uttered
, with some pepper in it.
I'm feelin' mighty bad about poor
old Hackaliah Bascom." said he, "but
a Teller might be bowed down with
p, sorrow till he doubled up like a jack
knife, by eats, and nobody AROUND
here'd pour anything on to it to drown
, it,"
Then he strobe out and went Pc
! chuckward.-N. Y. Sun.