Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1909-11-18
The OVERRIDING of
Iowser II
Copyright, by J. B. Lippincott Coz
By EDWIN L. SABIN

lation
When the golf epidemic captured
Wheatley the victims secured the
country far and wide to find grounds
suitable for links. Hi Hacock's pas
ture was selected as being the best
site, and negotiations were entered
into with Mr. Hacock with view to
leasing and eventually purchasing the
land
Hi was wary. For some time he
held off. He could not understand
why a crowd of town people wanted to
acquire SO much ground "jes' to play
shinney on To the most casual read
er 1t must be evident that Hi never
had INDUCED in golf
Finally, after he had been talked to
by the mayor, both bankers, and the
school superintendent, and other lead
ing citizens, all golfacs, he consented
and gave the lease desired
Immediately the old pasture became
a famous resort. The Wheatley Coli
club, it's friends and friends friends,
fiocked there. Business in the town
of Wheatley was paralyzed. No one
had any time for business. Out of
this fervor arose a unique incident
which l believe is unprecedented in
the annals of golf Especially is it
unique, because it is true; can prove
it, In fact, I will prove it at the con-
clusion of this narrative But now [
will let Hi take up the thread. He
says:
Couldn't see as they'd hurt the land
any, tho the plowed it an cut it
considerable llttin' it with their sticks,
an as they paid my price l rented it
to 'em. Then they come out, mornin'
noon an night, men an women, with
red shirts an knee pants tucked into
their socks an short dresses, an every
durn one had about dozen of them
there golf sticks My boys an Peters
boys, they made as high as dollar a
day totin' sticks for parties playin'
an | tol en- to go ahead, an I hired
hans to do their chores
when the players weren't playin',
they an their help-4caddies, that's
lookin' for lost balls. The way balls
were lost was caution-part of the
game, T reckon. I dunno who beat
Anyway, these women-you never
could tell where their balls was
goin to land-they'd swat at the ball,
an b'gosh, twas as likely to go be-
hind em as in front. Some of the men,
especially them little dudes with
stuffed calves, was as bad Quite
often the big fellers would knock q
ball clean out of sight-that is, out
of sight of where anybody was ex-
pectin 'twould light.
Il begun to think I'd better go over
that pasture with hoss-rake an gath
er in few hundred balls jes' for luck,
when ToWser II. come to the front.
You must have heard of Towser II
Pshaw, now! Why, Towser II. was the
famousest settin' hen in the hull coun-
ty. Set? She was a setter from
Settersville. Named her Towser after
a setter dog we used to own. Both
setters-but she was the setterest.
Zone day we missed old Towser.
an | says to ma, says I: 'Towser's
a-settin' ag'in. Johnny'll have to go
out in the mornin' an hunt her I'D.
So in the mornin' Johnny struck out,
an he follered the gully down through
the pasture, while [ SEARCHED the barn.
But where do you reckon we found
Towser? In the dried-up swamp,
b'gosh, a-settin' to beat creation, with
IA golf balls under her Fourteen, by
gum!
'Wa-al, old lady 1 thought, we
don't want on ingy-rubber chickens, SO
I'll jes' relieve you of these here
eggs. With her a-cluckin' an a-sput-
term at me put the balls in my hat
an started off.
Mex time we found her she was in a
corner under the rail fence, settin' on
Il golf balls. She'd elected 'em in
less'n an hour, I swun, an was pleased
as a peacock. l begun to see I'd
struck real bonanzie I dumped this
second lot long with the frs, in a
barrel. In about an hour more we
rounded up Towser in the swamp ag'in
Ou IOp OI 10 UdIlS. All DAY We J0S lei
her have full swing, an at night
burned if I didn't have a barrel plum
heaped with goff balls. Dunno how
many dozen, but anyway, old Towser
had done herself proud.
With goff balls with 40 cents
apiece, new, as somebody toll me,
reckoned this was purity fair days
work. I counted on turnin' Towse1
| loose every day, S long as she liked
| it, an she'd more'n earn our keep
easy. Of course she couldn't do as
well as this every stretch, for balls
wouldn't get sech head-start ag'in, but
I fggered on two dozen day
"'Twould have PANIED out all right
if the blamed fool hadn't hid herself
SO we couldn't fin her for three days
Somehow she carried a lot of them
| balls off a mile-One at time,
! calc'late-intO the timber long the
creek, an made nest in a hollel
| stump. Sot there till we come across
| her by accident, an she'd sot so Study
fearin' we'd interrupt ag'in, that shed
/ melted the balls b gosh an the ingy