The weekly Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1911-1922, 1911-08-31
WHERE ARE The Old
BOYS?--ARMST TRONC
Former Plymouth Resident Who Grew up
Here, Writes About The Days of
His Youth And Tells Tales Out of
School.

latter was a marvel in mathematics,
and | still remember with awe how
he could find the value of Y. no
matter how carefully that value
might be concealed.
| And there was I.uthur Dill. who
could catch fish up at the dam when
no one else could get a bite. |
think his father had furniture
store.
But the real furniture store of the
town-of the city beg your par.
don-was kept by Jonathan Palmer.
and his son. Will was boy to re-
member A slow but lovable. de-
pendable chap. wonder what has
become of viii Palmer He had a
brother-in-law. little fellow named
Fleming-quick and sharp and COM
panionable. 1t seemed to me Good
Fortune could hardly be so unami-
able as to overlook him.
There was Elmer Dunham. a bit
older than myself, and gifted. as I
never was. with the faculty of pum-
melting people he did not like. Il.
is a precious possession, and so many
Of MS have to get along without il.
He pretty nearly met his waterloo
one day when he and Bert Pershing
got tangled up In front of Renbere-
er's harness shop. which was next
door to a saloon. But in the end
,, Dunham's greater experience in
pugilistic argument prevailed over
PersMng's superior theories: and the
red-headed bov won.
Merrick Nichols was still a little
older, and only boy when they
made him superintendent of our
Sunday school. Merrick was print
er, and promotion put him in the
editorial chair of the Republican
along in war time; and | sold him a
poem for dollar one day 1 have
no intention of quoting the poem
here. Time is very kind now and
/ then. and covers up lots of things
that we couldn't defend. Merrick
| meant it in all kindness when he
printed my poem in solid nonpareil
with loaded long primer introduc-
tioh. stating that the author was q
: Sunday school scholar. and lad
who had never used tobacco nor
whiskey. And Platt Mcdonald. who
was editor of the Democrat. made
]. the palpable comment that the poe
try would probably have been better
if the morals had been worse. Like
character in one of Bret Hartes
poems. Platt was ga most sarcastic
man.
But ! remember going home with
that dollar bill and figuring out how
princely an income | was now assur-
ed of. since | had written the poem
III an hour. and there were ten work
ING hours in each day. Visions of
plush parlor furniture and rice
pudding three times day came to
me as | calculated-and hoed pota-
| toes.
And there were Charley and Ray
Alleman. sons of Schuyler Alleman.
and grandsons of my distant rela-
tive. William C. Edwards. I don't
suppose there is any question of their
success in life. For if "biood will
tell. they had an excellent endow-
ment.
OF those boys little older. / re-
r'cmber Adelbert Coffev, who seem
! ed to be so certain of life's kind
treatment; and Will Patterson. so
sure to win it whether or rot life
was disposed to be kind.
And the Buck boys-three of tnem
| think. They always seemed TO M
doubly charged with energy and al
most extravagant in their expression
of it. | think they had rather
+, more ginger to the pound than any
of their contemporaries.
! They were a little younger than
myself, as were the Thaver bows.
George and jim. sons Of the one big
wheat buyer of that early day: sons
of a man whose word was good as
wheat among all the farmers Of
northern Indiana.
Where are all the old bows who
were boys when ! was boy? T
have not mentioned tiths of them.
I FORGET many. I have intentions
ally omitted many as the Fitzgeralds
and the Lamson brothers, and Solo
mon Jaeoby, wh.' really belonged,