The sun., 1904-08-21
Yarns OF Early Nebraska.

| William X. Lelg hton q book called uncle
Macs Nebrasky" (Henry Holt d Coz.
contains stories purporting to be related
! by a pioneer Of adventurous disposition
in the country that has come to include
the farm Of the Hon. W.. j. Bryan. Unce
Mac is described by the author as sound
flesh and blood and bone, five feet ten in
his home-knit woolen socks, 100 pounds
avoirdupois. and every inch a man. At
the threshold Of his 10th year he has ruddy
cheeks. clear eyes and a virile port, and
could pass for fifty II he chose. His man.
| hood is OF the hardy outdoor kind; heaven S
sun has shone upon him from his boyhood,
! giving him Of its vitality; heavens rains
, and heavens winds have kept him clean;
! through years and years he slept o.
nights upon the open ground. under the
open sky, soaking in health at every pore,
| and now it is good to look upon him, good
to feel the iron grip of his big hand and
to hear the iron ring Of his big voice"
AS Uncle Mac sits in the shade of his
apple trees on farm half an hour away
from Omaha, and tells stories of the early
Nebraska a days, we are glad that he runs
on easily and naturally, not attempting
any very ambitious stunts" with the Eng
lish language. Having read great deal OF
dialect in our time, We are glad to do with
very little Of it. One OF Uncle Macs stories
is concerned with certain Governor who
was sent on from the East when Nebraska
was Territory. Big g-Governor-Afraid-of-
the-C e-Cottonwood-Stump was the name that
came to attach to this ruler. Says Uncle
Mac:
The Federal Gover ment seemed to think
that because we was so young we needed
a guardian, and they never re ckoned there
was any man out here good enough for the
place. Big Governor he come from back
East somewheres. He come up from St.
the middle of summer. and a lot Of us sfel-
lers was hangin' round waitin' for him.
We knowed right OF what kind Of duck
he was soon as he begun to quack about
his 'idears' for runnin' things. He hadn't
1nore'n got of the boat, logged out in his =
long black coat and started up the road
with Us, till he begun to let of his fool talk,
that didn't have any more to do with Ne
brasky than it did with the Jerushy Islands"
A talkative and inexperienced Governor
landed among knowing people who would
have liked it exactly the other way around
They got to the hotel. where they had so
many drinks that the negro porter had to
goes on to tell what they did to make fool
OF him and how it came about that he was
struck prostrate with alarm by the sudden
spectacle Of a cottonwood stump. Another
appointed deputy sheriff to bring in Turk
Wesley and how he proceeded to appre-
hend that grateful and considerate male-
factor.
ION my word, says Uncle Mao, Il didn't
have the first idee in this world where Turk
was, nor where I was goin to find him,
nor what was likely to happen when I did
find him. Nebrasky was an almighty big
place them days, before it had all been
split up to make States out Of" But he
found Turk quite handily. One day at
sundown he came to Gugout and stopped
there for the night. The men folks was
gone of somewheres after grub; but there
was a mighty nice clean little woman and
a couple Of half growed girls meesin' around
with gettin' supper. She told me 'twould
be ready In minute. and l set my rifle
up inside the door and unhitched my belt
and dropped it on the floor and then took
my pony out to the sod stable, hundred
yards or 50 from the house
or course, IL was at just that time that
Turk Wesley came along to be arrested.
He came along on horseback and cried
"Whoa!" Says Uncle Mac: And there
Twas just light enough so as I could see
Turk had his on, like everybody wore 'em
them days out on the trails But Turk
was arrested very bravely and ingeniouslv
with the aid of a pitchfork. He had to be
paroled next day when he and his captor
were beset by the Pawnees and the story
tells how he kept his parole and what a
sense OF obligation he had to the man who
was taking him in.
There are seven stories, and Uncle Mao
acquits himself pretty well though it must
hardly feebler than the Big Governors.