The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1905-07-07
FINAL DISSOLUTION
OF NarrOwS Association OF
Village L0aferS.
Necessity Microbe Attacks Mem
hers and Wholesale Viola
tiOnS of Rules Resulted.

\. Oh. the Inconsistency of human af-
fairs, Who can say what the womb
of one das may bring fourth! The
National Association of Village Loaf
ers that was Is not. Such is the rise
and fall of the tide of time As the
mercury went up the association
added 10 its members daily such as
should be added, and the watch
word was Everything is lovely and
She goose hangs high But for
many days Astrologer Willis had
warned us that the rudy star in the
Southern heavens, in the early even
Sg, portended evil and Willis and the
star in conjunction have worked the
dissolution of the newest and noblest
of the unions of men.
When President Park climbed,
with clumsy foot and trembling
hand, the knife-scarred sugar barrel
Saturday evening to declare the dis
solution of the association, a painful
lowered over the assembly.
All knew. and yet everyone dreaded
to hear the formal announcement.
The presidents face was hard and
blanched. and his effort was labored,
like a minister of State announcing
the fall of an empire. He began:
Fellows and friends. for we are no
longer comrades. it becomes my me-
lastholly duty to officially announce
to you a fact that you already know,
that the National Association of Viii
lage Loafers is finally and forever
dissolved" Lest | be thought a
Sentimentalist ! shall not describe
the scene that followed, bot if you
would know what it was like 70 read
Plato's account of the last hours of
Socrates, or imagine the fearful
tragedy Of the crush of worlds when
Nhe Infinite shall withdraw His guild
ing hand at the end of time when
all shall collapse to chaos.
When the Assembly had finally
composed itself President Park con-
tinued, when Oliver Willis went TO
work on the Barrett's Ferry bridge
the news was brought to me but !
said, let him go. We can spare him.
Then the news came that Gene Kirby
and John Renfrow had bought
Armendt & Co.'S Store and had gone
to work, | said let them go, we can
spare them. but when the report
came in that Carson Rark was plow-
ing corn said, it is finished the
association, not the corn After
these examples, loyalty to the order
was no longer a virtue, and the whole
business had gone up the spout"
Uncle Tom Shultz arose and orat-
ed as follows: 81 am not. perhaps.
entitled to speak, as | am not
member, but want to say that it h
especially painful to me to see your
association dissolved just at this
time. had come all the way from
Select to join you. am an old
man. nearly three score years and
m, and could not expect much out
of the order myself, but wanted to
set good example to the rising
generation. There are others pres
ent who have come here at a sac
rifice to join the association. Here
is George Brown, who has moved
here from Grayson county; here is
Tom Hulse who has given up good
lob of work, and here is Noah White
who has let the weeds take his gar
den, all b join the association.
am sorry, gentlemen, sorry, that
you are dissolved"
Oliver Willis stood far off with |
Sowncast eyes and sorrowful face;
he was evidently repentant. Carson
Park leaning weightny on a lumber
pile calculated Woe is me, woe is
me, shall became a lone wanderer
up and down the face of the earth"
"There'll be two of us lone wan
derers up and down the earth" said
bud Fentress, consolingly. At this
evidence of repentance on the part
of the erring brothers hope was ex-
pressed that the association might
rise again, Phoenix-like, from its !