The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1908-12-10
LETTER FROM BILKINs.

Some Facts Abont Tom L. johnson
and How He Hit the CeiIing--A
Street Railway the Next Thing In
BiikinsyiIIe-A Georgia Farmer or
Georgia Liar-sfisceIIaneous
Correspondence of The Caucasian
Enterprise.
| Bilkinsville, n. c., Dec. Z, 1908.
wuZ readin' not long ergo erbout
my old friend, Tom L. Johnson, oy
/ Cleveland, Ohio. Tom liz busted, an
so am I. Both ov us undertook ter
help mankind ..ut little bit by Civ
In them cheaper goods, cheaper rail-
road rates an sieh, an the result IL
| az usual-we wuZ given the marble
| heart an the elammy hand.
Tom Johnson wuz doin' purity
well maxim money. He had fine
home, fast horses an AUTOMOBILES.
An hiz bank account looked like the
, book-keepin' department in a big
business college.
One day when hit wuz rainin' Tom
TUX a notion that people workin'
peeple-an' awl sorts ov people
orter hev cheaper street-car fare in
The city ov Cleveland an In other
cities. He wuz interested in street
rairodes in Cleveland an in other
cities. So he reduced the street-car
fare from 5 cents ter cents. He
sed that the poor mechanic or other
laborer who had ter git up before
day an ride on the cars ter hiz work
an home ergin at mite orter do so at
cost ov 6 cents fer the two trips
instead ov payin' 10 cents az had bin
the rule in awl cities havin' street
railway systems. In other words, he
started out ter help every person in
the city who had ter use the cars ter
the extent ov 4 cents a day. An it
wuz quite an item, for in a large
city probably two-thirds, or even
greater number, hev ter live possibly
three, four, or even six, miles from
the stores, factories or other places
whar they air employed. Carpenters,
brickmasons, clerks, printers, factory
employers-in fact, nearly every
body, hez ter use the car az the
quickest an easiest way ter git to an
from their daily labor. Ov course,
it included thousands ov women who
had ter git to an from the places
they worked in aWl sorts ov weather
Well, ov course hit wuz popular.
People generally sed "Hurrah! fer
Mr.. Johnson; he il the real stuff"
They even went so far az ter nomy-
nate him fer Mayor ov the city and
eleckted him by a big majority.
Well, things went on in crate shape
fer awhile. Mr.. Johnson had done
the publick a guide turn. Fer a few
days or weeks they jingled that four
cents a day they wuz savin' in street.
car fare in their pockets an felt
grateful ter Mr.. Johnson. Then cum
change. The pollytishuns got ter
work. Maybe the owners ov street
railways in other cities an the own
ers ov other railrodes had sumpthin'
ter do with hit. At any rate, they
went after Mr.. Johnson. They set
dwl the moulders of publick senti-
| ment after him. In a short time they
got folks ter think that instead ov
savin' the people cents a day in
| street-car fare when he reduced hit
from 5 ter 3 cents a trip, he wuz
robbin' them ov at least half ov their
wages an doin' other mean things
| too bad ter mention. The way they
| went fer Tom Johnson wuz plum
site Well, what did awl them people
that Tom Johnson had really helped
by givin' them cheaper car-fare do?
They listened ter the Jodeseevus
| Daniels in the two perlitickal parties
an they sed ter themselves: 'We
must down that feller Johnson. He
| liz savin' US four cents day in the
| way ov car-fare an we can't put up
with it. We air poor wurkin' people,
poor hard-workin' business men, an
we simply can't stand hit. He liz
| robbin' us ov honest, hard-earned
pennies. He takes them out ov hiz
own pockets an gives them ter us,
hit liz true. But he IL robbin' us jist
| the same when he let's us ride on the
street-cars fer cents trip when we
L uS0IcI pay SSnCo zip. W. Will
down that scoundrel, an do 1t nifty
quick.
/ An they did. They fixed Mr..
Johnson up in CRATE shape. If he
don't have ter go ter the poor-house
yet, he will be lucky.
| I hev bin thinkin' erbout gittin
outside capital interested in a street
railway system fer Bilkinsville. But
if I do, they will be no cheap fare
I'll chare 'em ten cents ter ride ter
steps an then I'll hev the conductor
ter KICK 'em of instead ov helpin
'em off. That IL the only way tel
deal with human bein's-an' make
street railrodes pay, or anythin' else
in fackt.
i I wuz readin' in a newspaper the
other day how Georgy farmer wu'
, raisin' corn at cost ov s cents
bushel, which liz less than the freigh
. on corn brought frum the West. o.
: course, that il an exceptional crop
: fer corn can't be raised every season
| an awl sorts ov land at a cost o.
anythin' like 8 cents bushel, no