The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1907-02-02
A MAN AND A DOLLAR.

That was curious spectacle in old
Kentucky the other day when man
was put up and publicly sold at auc-
ton. The performance was not as
startling as it may seen at first blush.
Itw was not step for the re establish
ment of slavery, but proceeding un-
der the States vagrancy law, by vir-
tue of which hopelessly lazy individ
uals, who refuse to do anything to
support themselves, may be disposed
of to some one who will undertake
the task of getting enough out of
them to make them pay for their
keep. The particular individual now
under consideration seems to have
been an especially aggravated speci-
men OF the genus Weary Willie"
Worthless and ''ornery" as he was,
however, he managed to find wo-
man to marry him, and it was the
faGaiiy of this woman who finally got
tired of supporting him and turned
him over to the tender mercies of the
auction block. The bidding was
not Lively on the day of sale, though
number. of farmers were present in
need of hsuds. After sizing up Mr..
Asbury ana hearing his story, most
of them concluded that no work could
be extractedfrom such lout by any
method stortof the cat O. nine tails
or the old fashioned thumbscrew.
For some time the auctioneer found
it difficult to get any bids at all for
"Mr. Asbury." He expended his
eloquence in showing that this man
was strong, robust and able-bodied.
Evidently he was amply able to work,
but the great question was would
he?" And all the farmers present
shook their heads and answered the
question in the negative. For all
the world he seemed to be an exact
reduplication of the fellow iu the old
circus clowns story, who was so in
fernally lazy that his exasperated
neighbors finally determined to bury
him alive. As the procession was on
its way to the graveyard they met a
farmer whose sympathy was so work
ed up that he agreed to donate a
bushel of corn to keep the condemned
alive until he had chance to reform.
When the deceased" heard this Of
fer he raised himself up lazily in the
wagon, wearily opened his eyes and
slowly drawled out "I-s-i-t-s- hell
e-dr" Whep the farmer said mo-"
the lazy bones dropped back into the
wagon with a weary request to the
bystanders: We'll, take me on
friends" In the case of the Ken
lucky double of the old clowns
--LATEST man," farmer named John
stone finally stepped up and bid a
dollar, saying he did SO more out of
local pride than anything else, as he
was unwilling to admit that any Har-
din county man was not worth that
much. "Mr. Asbury" was knocked
off. to him at that price, but the other
farmers were heard to mutter that it
was bad bargain. Under the law
the purchaser is entitled to the SER
vices of his man for five months.
This is at the rate of 20 cents month,
which seems dirt cheap at first blush,
but he has to feed "Mr. Asbury,"
and all accounts agree that be is a
huge feeder. We think that all our
farm friends will be curious to hear
the outcome of this singular trans
action, and it is hoped that at the end
of his rental period the purchaser
will publish a detailed account of
his experience. Especial anxiety
will be felt to know whether "Mr.
Asbury" can be induced to get up
and feed the stock these cold morn
ings and how he foots up when asked
to do any of the other farm chores.
We should think that his chief trou
bic would be realized when he found
himself "up against" the women Of
the household, as these folk are es
pecially intolerant of lazy men. 1t
is not stated whether the Kentucky
law allows the purchaser to apply the
CAD as corrective or urgent agency,
or to what extent he may proceed in
kicking and cutting. The women,
however, will perhaps be able to
apply their sovereign remedy of hot
water, and between the various forces
perhaps it may be possible to extract
a cents worth of work day out of
the hapless "Mr. Asbury. "-Ame'i-
can Farmer.