Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1909-12-03

An anxious inquirer wants to know
what has become Of the man that used
10 carry a cabbage leaf in the crown
OF his hat to ward of sunstroke. We
remember him well. He were other
things besides the cabbage leaf and
hat; items, bluejeans trousers. q
brown jeans coat, a cotton shirt, wool
en- socks, and cowhide boots, the last
named coming IN wooden box, big al
one end and little at the other, be
and tapering down TO the copper
toes for the small fry. In the winter
time he creased the boots with mutton
tallow to render them soft and PHI
able, but even then it required the
combined efforts of bootjack and the
entire family to begin his undressing
He built his barn on the crest of the
hill and his house in the valley below
so as TO be near the spring. Tradition
and the almanac governed his farming
methods. He planted his potatoes in
the dark Of the moon and his beans il
the light Of the moon, and split his
cows tail to cure her OF the "hollel
horn" He rose at 4 in the morning
fed the stock by lantern light, and sal
on the fence waiting for dawn to en-
able him to work in the field. His
wants were simple The farm products
supplied the table with almost every
thing except sugar and coffee. These
he traded for at the store" giving in
exchange spring chickens at to 10
cents apiece and eggs at 10 to Is cents
dozen. At hog-killing time he had
fresh meat as long as the sausage and
spareribs lasted. After that he went
from bacon to ham, and then from
ham to bacon, with kit ofasalt mack.
erel added about twice year His
social diversions were few. In sum-
mer he was too busy, and in winter
the roads were too bad for much trav.
ell. In spite of that he got to the coun
ty seat occasionally and served on the
jury two or three times. Once he went
to the city" as the nearest metropo-
lis was vaguely designated. After that
event he was wont to shake his head
at unexpected moments and mutter,
Such rippin' and rarin'" Read.
ers Of certain class Of magazines i'm.
| agine that his favorite oath was by
heck" but this Is a mistake. II gran.
ny" and plague take it" were his
strongest expletives as a rule, the for.
mer indicative of modified form OF
ancestry worship, while the latter
bears evidence OF a transmitted En-
glish oath, 1t In turn barking back to
the days Of London's pestilence All
in all, his was drab-colored exist.
ence, broken but not frightened by
hog cholera, quarterly interests, and
| annual taxes. Like as not, the whole
thing ended by his getting caught in
cold rainstorm; then came a sudden
chill and pneumonia, or, as they called
1t then, ''the lung fever" He left the
farm and the mortgage to his eldest
son and told everybody he was "willin'
to co." and no one seemed to doubt it
So that's what has become of him
Another reigns In his stead, but every.
thing has changed. Other times. other
manners. His successor has a house
on the hill, with hot-water heat and
electric lights and q bath tub. The
mortgage has been replaced by bank
account. Macadam roads, tailor-cut
Clothes an automobile, scientific farm
ing, rural free delivery, cows milked
with a suction pump, eggs 30 cents q
dozen, butter 40 cents pound-cash
Where is the man with the cabbage
leaf? Non est, we tell you. He is as
extinct as the dodo.