Live Oak daily Democrat. (Live Oak, Fla.) 190?-190?, 1906-09-25
THE DEMOCRAT AND DRAINAGE.

The naughty and majestic editorial
..I'' Of the Tallahassee Sun, in the
exercise Of his plenary powers Of sup
eryision over the press Of Florida, has
at last got around to Live Oak. and.
pointing hts august and terrible stub
pencil et the mild and unassumlng
we OF the Democrat, thunders out
like the Kaiser believing through the
telephone, 81 command that you get
light on the drainage issue, and II
you don't get light, get out! Scat!
SklddooI You have no business at
the butt end of an editorial pencil
unless you know 1t all" The quota
ton marks are ours, for the Talla-
hassee Kaiser doesn't use just those
words, although he seems to mean
1t about that way. IL is a perilous
thing to do, but after calm reflection
we have concluded to risk it, dis
obey orders and neither get light nor
get out. That is to say, we shall con-
tinue to mosey along in the soft,
mystic twilight of our pro-rata share
of popular knowledge On the drain
age issue, and, what's more---now that
our Irish is up-we shall freeze on to
the job we are holding down at these
presents and defiantly refuse to alb
squatulate
But there is yet more embarrass-
ment thrust upon us by that piercing,
pitiIess 81" up at Tallahassee, and
our shrinking personality is dragged
ruthlessly into the limelight by the
statement that one of our recent "ob-
fustieated" illusions ''smacks of
Boston Baked Beans" as to its liter
airy style. All, Claude, you fiatter US,
even while, perchance, you thought
| to chasten and lay us under the
blighting touch of your choicest
sarcasm; for, know you not, o
Plumed and Spurred and Belted
Knight of the Drainage Crusade, that
throughout all the wide and fair
domain of the great Republic of Let
tiers Boston Baked Beans" is the
universally accepted, the sacred and
venerated tripartite synonym of
'Culchaw" itself, Culehaw with a
large &C" Aye, more; 1t Is the very
password, the open sesame to the
inner circles of the aristocracy of
High Thinking and True Inwardness,
and, armed with those eabalistic
words by rightful possession, you
may sit among the very elect wher-
ever gray matter Is working out the
large problems of the Universe along
strictly Boston lines. You do US
proud, sir; you exalt and magnify us
far beyond our poor deservings when
you link our humble and retiring per-
sonality with that soulful and sucu-
lent ALTERATION known and hOnOred
throughout the earth-"Boston Bak-
ed Beans" But, alas, the honor is
not for US; we must pass up the
beans and call for the eorn-bread and
collards indigenous to our native
/ heath, and, as we meekly MUNICH that
humble but nutritious diet, hug to
our heart the cherished fact that the
flavor of the patrician beans from
Boston was so strong upon US that
our cOrn-bread and collards had
been fairly mistaken for them by no
less a parsonage than the Autocrat
of the Press down here in Florida.
Boston knows us not. The sweet old
Southland is our carewOrn but
beautiful mother, and she has no
more loyal son than the writer of
these lines.
But badinage and pleasantly aside,
in all seriousness, Editor L'Engle, OF
the Sun. If you had been doing US
the honor to read the editorial page
of the Democrat during these six
months past, you would have discov-
cred beyond a doubt that this paper
not once, but repeatedly during that
time, declared itself unable to see
the merits Of the drainage enter
prise, and while claiming no full
knowledge of the subject, was yet
constrained from opinions it had
formed, to oppose the amendment.
We have read or heard nothing since
to change our attitude in that res
peet, and being clearly on the re-
eOrd-not on the fence-we have