The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-09-25
rose-combcd young ROSTERS 81 five mink

rose-combed young ROSTERS or fiv nml2
pelts.
But what are lightning calculations Or
perilous walks thro ugh intricate frac-
tional labyrinths In comparison with that
exercise OF sound Judgment REQUIRED,
when Old Man Crookshanks whose lands
have been hopelessly puncturcd& by craw-
fish, CALLED BY the broiling sun and
smothered by mortgages, asks eight
months, time on his fertilizer.
Talk about nuts to c~rack-hereIs one.
Like all the myriad band Of the im-
%pecunious, Old Man crookshanks is luiv-
eringly sensitive and though he were
buried as deep In mortgages rs n moth
IN a feather bed, 1t would never occur
to him that lie should not be classified
as a good .'risk. 80
And he's not the only one who keeps the
profit and loss account alivet-not the only
one who brings the oppressive breath OF
poverty into the t'emporium" and makes
the country storekceper almost Wish ne
were dead. There are always the women
the Virginia ladies', who 80 often AWAKEN
to find themselves pennilnssy 5hopelcss!y
ignorant Of business and without u Single
staff on which to lean save the TOUT
sprinkled saint III his shlrt-sleeYes VINO
unWlttingly$ runs Il charity mil when
nnnarently grlnds out unstintcd grlst.
How It Is all managed without the bank
ruptcy SEQUEL, Heaven only knows, And
surely Heaven ought to know, for In tne
|oiI-lnden. srgar-scented atmosphere of the
country store all llfe's little tragedies
and comedies arc enacted ( ears Ioli
by, but the scene rarely changes, y
defles progress II clingstto Its delicious
Individuality. True. the seasons palas
their own portraits In inlmitable coloTs
On the surrounding Landscape and these
colors, In n way, are reflected within Inc
walls of the store. But that Is all, IN
tho %springtime, which, by the way, IS
hentime, more eggs are to pc partertu.
IN the radiant, gildcd summertime me
rapidly accomplishing vegetable, OF whleii
watermelon is king, clamors at the chi
porlum' for material recognition. Frs
the cymblin, the tomato ana the roaHs-
Ing ear have been exchanged for ING PIE
hnid strip OF sayory bacon, the lmpris-
oned ~chinkapin bursts from It's pr'stly
nrlson and proclaims the advent OF .au,
tumn. Then come hundreds OF fruits OF
tha soil to tho country store ana the
LIGHTNING calculator must work overtime
md Maggie pertinaciously IN MS seHa-
bargains. That Is the f!eeuhs t.l!e
Of plenty-of complacently fuli sloulacus'
Last OF all comes that paralyl,as s a,a
son so dreaded In the eso,a.s'
mnncy.eatlng. remorseless winter, whose
insntiable NAV the wlsest and most pru-
dent can barely FIJI
Now, indeed, the financial fate OF me
emporium hangs In the balance TOT nuch
OF the greatly-Wanted "guano' Wh1eh,
by the way, should have been put y. tne
smell producing category, mas tial'eu@ "
make good on the ungrateful land
No longer do the flies now mum tnelr
drowsy roundclays, but a Pandora's. box
Of far more pestiferous Insects are puAT
ling in the brain OF the country mer-
chant. However lightly others may carry
| their financial burdens, the time mas
come for him to pay, But he9,ls nor
alone with his narrowing ~thoushts. rs
has company a plenty, BESIDES the red
noscd. chap-faced swarm who pour ~
for Kerosene oil, sugar, coffee. salt PORK
heans call on credit" alas), there IS the
GENIAL. toba coed spewlng company VINO
y ssemble meath tho ~oyerhanging fringe
of rabbit skins, to warm the stove aha
exchange pesslmisms conserving the d's-
appointments Of agricultural life. = good
IL crowd OF bewhlskered ldlers are these
n crowd to whom the clock mas no sls,
Inificance-a crowd who 'amiaply tresaFu
fhe storekeeper as an automat TIC enter
tainer. n nubllc convenience, q rleh'y-
rewarded host, n man who Is imperyious
10 Interruptions and beyond the reach
of irrltability.
How the merchant lives Through Il az
ana keeps his hands unstalneh by murnef,
J arson, theft and felonloas ASSAM, VIZ