The wageworker. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1904-????, 1907-08-23
Down in the Wilds of
Arkansas and Her Hills

, mittee had to bring Lynch and Bram-
wood to the floor in its defense, anil
if the "antis" had been blessed with
leader worthy of the name the ad-
ministration would have received a
deserved bump or two. Tracey If
San Francisco, chairman of the laws
committee, was a candidate to sue
ceed Lynch up to the time the con-
vention adjourned. Tracey is not in
the running at this moment. If we
must have a Lynch in the chair We
want the real thing, not an imitation.
The weather was beastly hot during
the convention-so hot, indeed, that
it initiated against the enjoyment OF
the week. Delegate Moffat of st. Paul
died of apoplexy, superinduced by the
heat. Several other delegates were
Frustrated. If it hadn't been for this
awful heat Lexington. KY, would
have won the 1908 convention. AS ii
was Boston won out by a decisive
vote. st. Joseph, Mo-, seems in line
for the 1909 convention.
The Pirates Reunion" was pulled
off Thursday afternoon on hillside
way up in a canon of the Ozarks.
amidst the big pines and the clear
springs. A lot of us, as we were
winding here and there through the
gorge, lodging boulders and jumping
gullies, almost imagined that We
were again lodging switch targets,
watertanks and brakemen in an at
tempt to make freight" One on
the reunion grounds there was plenty
CT fun. There were lot of the old
guard there, some of them rendOlent
and reminiscent of the old days. The
"lnulligan" stew was as savory as it
could be. The bear meat sandwiches
were toothsome to a high degree, and
the venison roast up to the mark.
There was plenty of liquid refresh
ments, and as the day was warm it
! hurt good" The boys ate their fill,
and then with foaming mugs wan
dered around or sat on the soft pine
needles and talked about the old
hand set" days, when before the ma
chine took a lot of the romance out
OF the craft. 1t was pleasant occa-
sion and those who participated win
never forget it.
The Auxiliary convention was large
ly attended and the sessions were in
teresting. For the first time in its
history the Auxiliary was asked to
participate in the opening exercises
OF the printers convention, and Mrs
Bowen, the president, performed the
task with great credit to herself and
10 her organization. The committee
from the Little Rock Auxiliary left
nothing undone to make the entertain
ment of the women all that it should
be.
On Wednesday afternoon water
melon feast and talkfest was held al
the race track, but the writer and
his wife, accompanied by Frank Ken
Lcdy and wife and Mrs. ingalls, ri
Omaha, chartered a carriage and
drove out into the Arkansas wilds
In and out among the mills, past the
, cottonfields in full bloom, through the
piEeries and the oak forests, and ovel
I the clear streams tumbling over the
t rocks, we drove and drove and drove
When one is a couple of miles ou
Of Hot Springs one is in the very
, wilds. The farm houses are merel,
! shacks of unpainted and unfinished
. native lumber. Everything look:
/ poverty-stricken, although situated il
the midst of native resources almos
5 unlimited. The country population j,
} about equally divided between white
r and blacks, and the cabins of th'
. whites differ from those of the black
: cnly in size. The farms of the whites
however. are better kept and lool
9 more fruitful. This is because tn
whites own their places while tn
t blacks are share croppers."
r We visited half-dozen negro cal
e ins under pretense of being thirsty
d and visited with the souther
Il ''darkey" in his native lair. At on
t place We found a big iron kettle bull
e bling over a chip fire.
t. Are you making soap?" we asked
0 mo, sah," replied the man of tn
. house. Dat amt soap, sab. w
= make ouah own soap, sab, but not di
I. time o. yeah. OATS some kin {
l. lin'me1t. Amt dat lin'ment, Mandy
s "No, dat amt no lin'ment," replie