Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1908-04-22
Individuality II,
Country Types

"ae was a man, take him for all in all.
I ne'er shall see his like again"
saw more individuality in six
months in the country than l had
seen in 16 years in the city. Each
man was sufficient unto himself, q
type by himself, and not reminding
you of some one else. don't think
I ever saw two men in the neighbor-
hood dressed alike; nor even wearing
hats of similar make. None of them
talked with the same manner, al
though some expressions used were
common to all. Each man had his
viewpoint, and 1t was different from
his neighbor, In stature, weight,
color of hair and eyes, speech, preju-
dices, dress and a dozen other charac-
teristics they were all separated from
one another as much as though be-
longing to different races.
One Of my neighbors was sort of
half fisherman and hunter, and half
trapper, and his outlook on life was
the most comfortable that could be
imagined. He had a couple of fiat
bottOmed boats, two lean and hungry
bounds, lot of mink and musk-rat
traps, and an old breech-loading shot
gun Of the hammer kind. His home
was close to the lake that adjoined
the river, and he knew every nook and
Granny of the surrounding country,
whether at midnight or MONDAY, as
Uon fho ~
q, b, c's. He could seat himself in
one Of his weather-beaten skiffs and
low in from the drowned lands among
the willows, an hour after night had
fallen, and never even stop to consider
che possibility of losing his way.
He knew just when the blue-wing
teal came in, and where they were
feeding: when the bass had begun to
! work ie from the spawning beds;
where the musk-rats were building
and buyrowing, and the best place to
set traps for mink. think he knew
every coon by name in the bottoms,
for q bunch of their hides always
graced the side and back of his smoke
house. and he could furnish a coon
skin On demand. He raised a little
corn, a very little, and had small
garden patch at the rear of his house.
His nets he set in shoal water and
he got much store of buffalo, and
crappie, perch, black bass and carp
therein.
When the mallards and pin-tail
came in on their flights he was early
in the "blinds," and the roar of his
ancient artillery was the signal for
drop over his live decoys. His living
was made easily, and he always got
lot of sport out of it at the same
time. In summer or in winter there
was always something to be done in
the way of fishing, hunting or trap
ping, and 30 life was a constant round
of enjoyment to him.
His philosophy was the simplest l
ever heard. Keep happy" That was
about all there was to the old mans
creed. Old he was supposed to be in
years, but his frame was capable of
standing incredible fatigue, his eye
was as true with the old "ten-bore''
as ever, and I never heard him say
he was tired. He was ready to talk
about anything but people. He al
ways listened with an amused air if
the shortcomings of anyone happened
to be the topic of conversation, but
he never gave an opinion of his fel-
low man, unless, rarely, to praise
some one. But of criticism or blame
no syllable ever escaped his lips.
Another of our very near neigh
bors was a strapping but beardless
| young fellow who had gone to the
Philippines, and after a three-year
experience had returned to the farms
with a bullet through his left arm.
| He was as blonde as a Norwegian,
and his ruddy complexion burned
clear in the sun and wind. He was
a most obliging and generous neigh.
Dor, and a reliable enemy to those he
! did not fancy. There were several
people he did not fancy, and they al.
ways retired for repairs after the
skirmish was over.
He had sailed the China seas, been
awakened at night by the cries of
savage bolomen, climbed and helped
capture mountain strongholds of
the island men, been shaken by earth.
quakes, and marched for many, many
miles through miasma and tropic heat.
He had seen both the army and navy
side of service, and had experienced
many a moving accident by flood and
field. Wearing the blue uniform OF
Uncle Sam for three years, all that he
had now was tan.colored SLOUGH hat
with his company's number scrawled
on it, and packed away in bureau
drawer was his honorable discharge
and few mementoes of the strange
and thrilling period when he carried
q Krag-Jorgensen under the Southern
Cross.
All that had passed, now, and his
lines had dropped to more peaceful
places. He had married early, and
was the Understanding man in the
township. Despite the disability of
his wound, he was tower of strength
in the fields, and thorough and
painstaking farmer. We came to be
close friends, and hunted and fshed
together, when I learned of his ad.
ventures. We worked out our poll.
tax" together one fall, telling trees
to reinforce the bridges along the
country roads, digging bitches in the
rocky shale of side hills to sluice the
water away from the highway, driving
and emptying "scrapers" filled with