The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1907-11-13

am to arm 50 and spend So and t o H.,
ure dat you am Gvine to lib q thou.
sand years.
h-c-:'e Word Was Gcoc.
"t"' Va; Il time when Il mans wore
was @oot. fl: somethin' in business. II
you Went to II merchant to buy he TOLD
you the truth about his goods. If yor
hadn't de money 10 pay he took youl
word and trusted you. How primitive
How silly compared to today. Fine
me a man who'll take Il tradesman's
word. Find me a tradesman Who'll
take a customers word. We look IN
on each Odder as liars and deadbeats
and rs Il matter of fact we are. We
have to be to keep ahead of de oduel
Teller. When a nan say he will dc
thus and SO you wonder if he hain.t
lynn. When he gibs you his note OF
hand you worry fur fear dat he won,
meet it. When he sends word dat he
am ready to pay it you look for a mig
ger in lie wood pile. When he has pai,
it and you have de money in your peck
ct YOU feel a o + O contempt fur him
dat he was honest.
'1n de old days when l bought a ho,
1t was a hoe. De same wild shoes or 4;
hat or groceries. De seller made his
profit and his goods war honest. Wher
you go to buy a thing nowadays unde,
dis up to date system you am swindleG
first in what YOU buy and next in dc
price Of it. Oar am swindles in cherry
ting you eat. yea and use. We no,
only swindle Il Owl people, but dc
world at large. We send de heather
Chinese Bibles and missionaries anf
tracts, and we also send him cotton.
filled wild clay to make 'em weiSl
heavier.
Nov and den. in de old days gcn,
nebber to return. l used to ask a few
nayhurs to drap in Of an evenin'. We
had Il pitcher O. cider, n pan Of apples
and some popcorn and all injoyed
deirselves. l was invited ober to de
house of Brudder Giveadam Jones dc
odder evenin'. He said it was gwine
to he Il simple affair. Oar was six
kinds of cake. wine, ice cream and ci
gars. and when de eatin' and drinkin
was ober we had music on de phono
graph. l hain't sayin' Il word of critti
cism. Rrudder Jones Arms SIS Il week
and hasn't Il cent in de bank, but dc
up to date programme must be fo!ler
ed or he would be out of de swim
Even if he can't get a doctors pre-
scription filled he must make a bluff.
What He Found In the Country.
Il hope it might be different out il
de kentry, whar it used to seem to mt
dat God ibed most of de time, and de
odder day l took a wander to git neal
him. Waal, l found a farmer who
charged me 5 cents for Il glass of but
termilk dat was gwine to de pigs. !
found a boy who called me an old mig
ger. found a farmers wife who said
l looked like a thief. l found a coun-
try grocer who asked me . cents too
much fur a paper of smokin' tobacco
l found Il constable who wouldn't lie,
me lie down on the green grass. and ]
found a farmers hired man who want.
ed me to change a bogus half dollar
fur him and cuffed me bekase l
wouldn't. God wasn't out dar. 1t was
all man, nan. man-de same sort q
men dat you meet in de city. de up tc
date man.
II looked and looked and looked, but
l found nuthin' like it used to be. It
was keep off de grass bekase the
grass was with money. You mustn't
lean agin de trees, beknse de trees wls
sold. You mustn't wander in de woods
bekase a trust owned them. You
mustn't fish in de brooks. wander in
de medders nor hunt fur ~blackberries.
Il come home disappointed and dis
couraged and wild tears in my eyes.
but I'm not gwine to kick. Progress
has dun all dis, and l have failed to
keep up wild de %purceshun. I'm a has
been. I'm a back number. Let us
break de meetin' in two and go home"
NJ. QUAD.