The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-08-12
CooNsKINs AND POLITICS.
TBY M. OUAD.I


Hut Hatton was the coonskin buyer
away up at Dawson's Cove on the big
Cumberland Mountain, and he had gone
his way in peace and had nothing to
worry Kim when stranger came along
and stopped at his cabin for dinner. He
was a man of CAB. He was also a
dabbIer in politics. He put strange
thoughts into Hut HattonS mind He
aroused new ambitions. He sent the
coonskin buyer off on a new and
strange trail.
Hut decided to run for the 1egisla-
ture. All the mountaineers were with
him. He didn't have to promise any
thing in particular, but he wanted to
show his liberality and he promised
immunity from the revenue laws; he
promised pensions for sufferers with
mumps and measles; he promised that
the price of railroad ties should go up,
and that the price of whisky should go
down. He even promised front doorbel1s
for all the cabins, and that bears, coons
and possumS should be more plentiful.
Hut Hatton was elected by the largest
majority ever given candidate in his
district, and in due time appeared at
Nashville. He saw men whom he took
to be legislators step into carriages at
the depot and ride away to hotels, but
the memories of DaWson's Cove were
still fresh in his mind when he shoul7
dered his carpet-bag and headed up the
middle of the street. OF course men
smiled and women giggled, and the
hoodlums called direct attention to the
member from Coonskin county, but Hut
Hatton minded them not. He was
thinking of mumpS and measles and
pensions, and was wondering if he
hadn't bitten off more than he could
chew. He sought and found a humble
boarding house. and in due time he
took his seat in the hall of reDresenta-
tives, but every hour in the day he
wondered where he was at. There was
a difference between being big man in
Dawson's Cove and a big man in Nash
vile. A member less devoted to the in
teIests of his constituents would have
given it up the first day. He was an
object of curiosity On the street and
among his fellow legislators, and he had
to realize that he was also a subject of
ridicule, but he shut his teeth hard and
brought his fist down on Ets knee and
exclaimed:
Dog gone my cats for ever lettin' go
of coonskins, but now that 1 hev let go
I'll stick it out if it busts mel When
I learn the hang o. this thing DaWson's
Cove shall hear from me-
The member from Coonskin county,
as he was facetiously termed, found
trouble in catching on. and though
diligent attendant aud a close observer
the days passed away and he did not
progress enough To even move an al
journment. He could tell a prime"
cOonskin three rods away, but there was
a mystery about lawInaking that puz-
zled him. He might have sat The ses-
sfons out without once addressing the
speaker officially had not circumstances
interfered. He was still trying to find
which way was up hill and which way
down when delegation from the Cove
arrived. The railroad had refused to
raise the price of ties to seventy-t4vs
cents each, and the mountaineers were
weary of waiting for those pensions and
frcrt-door bells. Bears hal be st,me
less plentiful, and it was generally
agreed that such a scarcity of coons
and possums had not been known for
twenty-five wears.
Things were tut of joint up on the
Cumberland. and as they had heard
nothing from Hut they had ventured
the journey to remind him of his prom
ises and get hustle on him. He was
easily found. and his knees wobbled
when he faced the delegation However
even three months of political life had
given him a reserve force He nut fine
best face on the matter he could. and
when pushed to the limit he took a des-
perate resolve. Somewhere he had
seen a sign reading IF You Don't See
What You Want. Ask for IT." He
wanted something-severaI things-and
he determined to ask for them 4 xvob
bly, feeling came over him as he thought
of rising in his place and asking for
the things he had promised his CON
stituents, but he could see no other
way out OF It. man must have been
a pm ioAt AOA several years DefOre he
can wriggle out of ali sorts of holes.
including broken promises.
An hour came when the member
from Coonskin county arose and was
recognized by the speaker. The house
had caught on and was as quiet as
death. BY a supreme effort of will
power Hut got rid of his ''skeertness'
and summoned up his CAB. and in his
quaint way and queer vernacular he