Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1905-06-19
Some Texas Smoke.
New York Sun.l

"When my oil is down and begins
to gush," said C. Donchecare Dicken-
sheets, secretary, manager, director,
promoter, and great scheme producer,
land I get my S00-acre patch of po-
tatoes in and my rice irrigating plant
working, down on Sam Wilson'S pralr-
lie am thinking very strongly OF build
ing an airship after some plans OF my
own that I've thought up. and Just en-
joy myself, sailing over this Sabine
country, gazing down on that OIL well
spouting, those Eaters growing, and
that canal feeding water to those new
born rice fields, and, while I'm at it.
incidentally settling in my mind def
nitely the plans of my railroad from the
great Louisiana timber belt to the
Gulf OF Mexico. And there you are.
An airship. That's the idea
I Colonel Jim .Furlong, who keeps the
Holland hotel, parted his Santa Claus
whiskers, to let the braze from his $500
Christmas gift diamond scarfpin shoot
thru them.
The stranger who sat next the jamb
of the fireplace was nice. clean look :
ing old man. The opulent words
spoken by Comprehensive Citizen
Dickensheets were still astounding his
tympanum when the fire from Colonel
Jim's scarfpin caught in his eye. He
winked and biinked so that Colonel Jim
kindly shut up his whiskers. and the
light went out.
..'Pears like, from the way it sounds
and looks at me-" said the stranger,
that I'll be dadburned if believe
one of YOU fellers ever used 'coonskins
for money"
IAN ideal" eagerly exclaimed c.
Donchecare Dickensheets. "'Coonsklns
for money!! There you are!
"'Coon skins are worth a dollar a.
piece. There is no end to 'coons here
and hereabout. Yhey visit more hen
coops O. nights than the two-legged
ones do. Dayidson's man, at john
sons Bayou, trapped two 'coons every
night, last week in his hen coop.
Mind you, only one hen coop! Two
'coons every night for a week! Four
teen 'coons. Dollar a coon. Fourteen
dollars.
sNow, s'pose he had had, say. ten
hen coops. Two 'coons apiece in each
coon. Twenty 'coons a night. One
hundred and forty 'coons a week. Dol
lar coon. One hundred and forty
dollars a week. See the idea?
.Now, there's no money in just rails
ing chickens. Too much risk. Dam
ger of overstocking the market. But
cooping up chickens to draw 'coons to
the trap! That's scheme!
1.-TWO 'coons per night per COOP
Dayidson's man showed that it can
be done. Well, then. Say hundred
coops-two hundred 'coons nightly
fourteen hundred 'coons weekly - and
there you are.
"why say! There's room enough
round here on the prairie for 5000
coops! See the barrels of money in 1t.
Dadalmighty milldam! organize the
Coon Enricing Hen Coop Company to-
morrow, with a capital big enough to
put in a plant of not less than 1000
coops. and = coon skins for money?
Why. say, stranger! Hang around here
for a month or so and We'll show you
coon skins for money ranked up like
cord wood!
The nice clean looking old man gasp
ed once or twice and moved a little
further away. Then he said:
ssWhat 1 meant for to say, speals1n
of coon skins for money, was that I'd
he dadburned if I believed any o. you
fellers ever had to use coon skins as
a circulatin' mejum between man and
man same as if they might a-been coin
to nav for the luxuries and the neces-
saries of life, from bread to corn juice.
That's what l meant for to say herin'
and SEEM what have heered and seen
settin' here"
"Then mean for you to say that
YOU wouldn't be saying SO if you knew
ANYTHING about how we had to run
thinrs UP in the Texas Panhandle in
the good old days." said Col. Jim Fur
long. THE coin of the realm was In
denomination from a rabbie skin UP to
a bear hide.
rabbits, 'coons, foxes and wolves
we're the chief long green Of the Pan
handle in its balmy days. There were
sort o. the money of the people. Buff
falo, bear, bountain lion and such were
regular government bonds.
| "a fellow could start in and have
ltolerable nice tine on. q couple OF coon