Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1911-10-17
GREY HAIRED MEN WHO PLAY
ED TOGETHER IN LITTLE
EASTERN VILLAGE
RENEW YOUTH.
FATHERS WERE CHUMS, TOO
Clipping From Eastern Paper in Re-
gard to Famous Polk County
Prunes, Reprinted in Observer,
Re-Unites Comrades Living Here
Unacquainted.

Time i'll its flight turned backward
in Dallas last Wednesday for space
Of 55 years, while Fate stood by
and smiled in ecstacy as she
brought together two grey-haired
men who had not seen each other
since they ran barefoot along the
streets of little Pennsylvania town
in 1856. For year and a half these
two residents of Dallas had lived
within a few blocks of each other,
and had passed and repassed, un-
mindful of the others identity.
With clasped hands and moist eyes,
Birton looked at Dave and Dave
looked at Birton, as they tried to
peer through the mists of half a cen
tury and see the chum Of happy,
careless boyhOod days, when the hills
were higher, the trees taller and the
grass greener, and the songs of tine
birds were sweeter than they are
now in this commonplace day. Fond
recollection, spurred on by emotion,
delved deep in the past to bring for
ward the scenes that infancy knew
the old swimming hole, the little
thicket down in the corner where the
hazelnuts grew so well, and that 9th
er spot over in Simpsons s grove
where there were more squirrels than
anywhere else. "Ah, those were
great times, Birton." "You bet
they were, Dave!"
Read Extract.
Last Tuesday, the Observer pub
lished the following extract from a
paper issued in Indiana, Pennsylva-
MIA, in praise of the famous Polk
county prunes:
" Attorney Elder Peeler, of town,
exhibited at the Progress Office a
number Of prunes sent him by David
D. Good, of Dallas, Oregon. Mr..
Good is a former merchant of
Smicksburg. He is learning to do
big things out west, and the best
proof of the assertion are the mon-
ster prunes which were such big fel-
lows that only two could be packed
in a box"
Started Investigation.
Wednesday after its publication,
B. LOvelace, for several years a well
known resident of this city, came
into the Observer Office and inquired
where he could find "that man
Good" mentioned in the article. He
was told that he could be seen at
Shultz' s grocery. "Well, SIR" said
Mr.. Lovelace, 81 believe l know
him." and away he went to investi-
gate.
The two had been chums in Smicks-
burg. When they parted Birton
LOvelace was years old, and little
'Davy" Good was Z. From the day
that they dug their big toes in the
soil and grinned "good-byc" at
each other, no word had passed be-
tween them until their meeting here
last Wednesday. BirtOn left the
village first and both have wandered
far since.
Fathers Were Chums.
Their fathers before them were
,hums. Dawes father was a mOnIi.
lent farmer that lived at the edge of
own and was accounted for his up
ightness of character and wisdom.
3irton's father was the village un-
lertaker, cabinetmaker, and furni-
ure dealer, a sage of the place and
/ man whom everybody revered.
The boys lived much together and
lad many pleasures in common.
they fshed and hunted and played.
they attended the same SUNDAY
chOcl, and sat m the same stiff
iacked seats and carried the same
ind of "sliHg-shots. They gath
red berries from the same bush, and
hrew rocks a the same tin can, and
ow they expect to spend weeks
a a1l-iDor II o1-.5.