The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-10-08

81 often hear de members of dis club
talkin' bout de good old days, but I
it out we should not lib fur de past.
but fur de fucf1er. What am it to us
as we riz up in de nawnin' wedder
Caeser met his mother-in-law at de
depot, or forbid her de house? What
am it to us as we retire to our humble
coucheS fur de night wedder de orators
of Athens creased DER butes wild lard
or went barfut? AS we sit on box
lunch, we care not wedder Brutus dyed
his goatee or was clean shaved. But de
fucher am big wild events. Today we
may be full of sorrow. If so, we hope
dat de morrow will bring clam chow
der. If de present am full of biles an
chilblains an heartaches, de fucher
may be as bright as a cats eye shinIn.
out of a barl on a dark night.
It see by de papers dat sartin folks
am 'spectin de world to come to an end
in a few days. Las night several Guild
pussons cum to my cabin, DER briefs
smellin' of onions an DER eyes bulged
out. an dey want to know what dis
Lime-Kiln club am gwine to do about
it. Dey was de Scartest lot of niggerS
I've seen since de close of de wah, an
I couldn't git dem out OBJ de house till
1 had cut a big watermelon lynn on de
ice fur breakfast. laid awake all night
finkin' what dis club could do in de
case, an long bout daylight 1 cum to
de conclusion dat we couldn't help it.
If de world wants to eand. its gwine to
do it in spite of us. / hasn't got much
to say on dis subjeck. De world may
eand up on de date menshuned, just as
de papers predick, but my advice to de
culTd folkses of dis kentry is to wait
till dey smell sulphur mighty strong
befo' dey own up liftin' any chickens
off de roost, or diggin' up anybody's
Early Rose potatoes at midnight.
Il respect an admire all things good,
but if I had to praise God by findin'
fault wild de world he made an de peo-
pie he put yere, I'm afraid it would be
faint praise. De preacher who can't go
to the tneater widout feelin' wicked had
better stay away. If he wasn't on de
hunt to find wicxedness he wouldn't see
it any mo- dan de rest of us. Me an
de ole woman kin go out an dance de
Virginy reel fur TO hours an cum
home wild cl'ar conSciences fur family
prayers. We kin sot down to keerds an
not furgit to be honest an charitable
an forgivin'. We kin go to circus an
cum home and flank God dat our lives
hev bin spared anodder day, an dat
we am still left to comfort de sick an
forgive de erin. If gwine to SIGH
places makes preacher feel dat Satan
has got a mortgage on him, den he'd
better stay nome.
Zone of de things dat am allus wild
dis club am chilblains. De bizness of
chilblainS am to itch an be Uneasy. De
bizness Of de owner am to pacify de
oneasinesS. Yo' can't talk to a chill
blain, nor argy wild it, nor scare 1T away
by threats 1t takes mo- nerve to sot
still fur ten minits wild yor feet ticklin'
an tinglin' an itchin' dan it does to
face a mad lion fur half an hour. 1t
seems as if sunthin' had to be did, but
what to do am de queshun. I believe
dat genius kin attach a nutmeg crater
to an iron rod an fit de machine inside
de boot, so dat when de oneasiness be-
gins, a movement of de rod will ag1-
tate de crater along de sole of de foot
an bring on a peaceful calm believe
we nave de genius in dis club, an fur
de sake of bringin' him out I will here
by offer a reward of SIS from de treas
ury to de inventor of a successful chill
blain scratcher.
LAS to de wickedness of gwine to de
circus. femme say dat lie bin right
dar, frens, an Tze got half a dollar
laid by fur de next one. belongs to
de church, 1 rings de bell fur prayer
an Fze trying to live, so as to
reach dat good place above whar de
wary am at rest, an fro de Lawd,
doan' believe dat gwfne to de circus
has eber rubbed de hide off one single
spot. De man who can't go to a ciT-
Gus wild clean conscience an come
home de same way. had better sot out
an diskiver a kentry fur himself
IF yo' meet a man In de gutter,