West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1906-07-12

II, growlcd Ncighhor.
"Oh. 10. 40. That's
- your story. Ne.ghbor."
kNlNETyts Il amt no story tell
Just an able Jawed
TAR" suggested CuInlIu through be-
ncyolent BLUSH haze.
"Dclaroos story WASN'T amy lie.
though" muucred Nc.g'1bor. but
fellow would think II was TO hear II.
Now. he woUil. for Il TACT. wouldn't
heY'
III you want him. quick au1 hort. IL
would bc-whiskcrs. secret societies.
statistics and plug tobacco. tile latter
mostly worked UP. That was MAZE
Sampson.
Bluntly. wind bag; 27O pounds of
atmosphere, up on benevolent frnter-
mites. mp on politics. up on the money
question, up on everything. The seven
financial conspirac.es engaged Maje
SIMPSONS Attentions pretty cohtlnnal-
iy aud had for him practical applI-
cation. There We're never less than
seven conspiracies afoot In Medicine
iiend To make Maize Sampson pny up.
PayT Indeed. he lid pay lie was
always paying. II was not question
OF paying; not Mt all II was ques-
ton of paying up. which L. different.
The children-thcy were 'brickbnts,
tow headed. putty faced wash eyed
youngsters OF all sizes and conditions.
About Maize Snmpson's children there
was but one distinguishing character
istic-they were all boy3. nothing but
boys, and they spread ali over town.
Was there n baby run ovcrf II was
Maize SIMPSONS Was there child
lostf Majc Simpsons. Was there a
violently large beaded. coarse featured.
hangdog, gathering sort OF chap any
where arounJ--in the street, station.
roundhouse, yards, stock pensY Ii was
brickbat. sure-one OF MAZE Samp-
sons brickhat boys
The Simpsons were ut the end of the
street, and the end of the street was
up the mountain. Maize Sampson's lot
''raircd," as Neighbor put it stood on
its hind legs. His house had startling
tumble over aspect as you approached
IL. The buck cild OF his lot ran up into
the sheer. but hc marked the line sharp
~ by n kind OF horizontal fence, be.
cause the cliff just above belonged to
the corporation that owned everything
else on earth around Medicine Bend.
MAZE Sampson did not propose TO let
any grasping corporation encroach on
his lines. 80 he built, and added to from
time to time, n cluster OF things on the
hind end OF his lot-nu eruption Of
small buildings Ike plmplcs on boys
nose, running down In size from the
barn to the last drygoods box tho boys
had heayed up the slope for doghouse.
To add TO the variety some one of the
structures was always getting away I'm
the wind. and jf anything smaller than
hotel was seen carcening across lots
I'm Medicine Bend breeze IL was spot.
ted without further investigation as
Maize Simpsons. When the gale abated
Joe McBracken, who conducted the To-
cal dray line. was pretty sure TO be
seen with n henhousc or wood shed
or something likewise loaded on his
trucks headed for Maize Simpsons
Once the whole lean-to of the house blew
Off, but Joe McBrackcn stood ready
for any emergency. He met the NAV.
erick addition nt the foot of the grade
r.
hitched ON four bronchOs, crawled In
side tho structure and, getting the lines
through the front window. drove up
Main street before the wind had gone
down. Joe was photographed in the
net. and afierward used the exhibit In
getting judgment against MAZE Samp.
son for his bill.
Now, man ike Maize wouldn't be
likely to have very much Of run nor
very much OF an engine. He had tho
204, an old pop bottle, with n stack Ike
q tepce turned upside down. For run
he had always trains Nos 20 and 30,
the local frelglits. with an accommoda-
ton coach east Of Anderson. There
were times OF stress frequently on the
West End. times when every body ran
Grst I'm first out, except Maze Sampson.
Ho always ran Nos 20 and 30 west to
Silver River and back. A pettlfogging,
cheap. jerk water run with no rights TO
speak OF. not even against respectable
bandcHrs
The only things Maze Sampson did
not have to dodge were tramps, blanket
Indians and telegraph poles; everything
else side tracked Nos. ~ anl 81 and Maze
Sampson Almost everybody on through
trains must at some time have seen
Maze Sampson pulling on a siding as
Moore or Mullen shot by on No. 1 or
No. 2. Maze was 30 biz and his cab
30 little that when he got his head
through the window you couldn't sec
very much Of tho cnb for shoulders and
whlskers and things From the car
window he looked Ike fou. ,ccu-year-
old boy springlng out of ten-year-old
Jacket. Three things only made Maze
tolcrablc. First. tho number Of benovo-
lent orders he belonged to- second. Do
laroO; third. Martie
Maze Sampson was a Joiner and
sitter up. He would Join anything on
the West End that had ritual. a grip
and password. and he would SIT up
night after night with anybody that
had n broken leg or fever, and. n
nothing betteE offered. Mate. rather
than 90 10 bsh would tackle a man
4 FRIGHTENED HORSE