The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1912-06-13
Emmanuel
Catty's
RadfSh

ny d. I'Estrasfs
-Yss,- Emmanuel Catty sat up tn
umphantiy. with my patent manure
! win grow the biggest radishes In The
United States"
Emmanuel Catty was q recent emil
grant to America On the voyage
thither he had become converted 10
vegetarianism. and henceforth Intend
ed TO devote his life TO the culture
OF vegetables. convinced that fame
and fortune would crown his efforts.
IL had taken his fertile brain but
short period TO evolve q manure. com
bined OF more chemicals than could
be named In q summers day. OF It's
universal efficacy he had no doubt:
but DESTROYS Of proceeding with all
prudence, he intended to try IL nrst
on the humble but tasty and succu-
lent radish. He MANFRED his plot OF
ground. and sowed his seed accord
iagly: but. as time went On. the leaves
o. only one radish appeared above the
ground.
Never mind" said Emmanuel. '1t
will be O monster"
The weather was exceedingly hot,
but the radish grew and prospered.
Its leaves filled all Emmanuei's little
plot and broke down the fences. EN-
manuel watered 1t daily from the well
at the back OF his house: but the heat
continued. and by and By the well
gave out Then. one by one, all the
wells In the neighborhood gave out:
there was q drought
Presently the only green things In
the neighborhood were the leaves Of
the huge vegetable, which. In spite OF
the heat, continued to grow and pros
per. People came from miles round
to see the radish. Till Emmanuel piled
a huge barricade Of old meat tins in
apiece for permission to look inside
Then still more persons came. for
they knew there must be something
worth seeing. IL they had to pay In
order to see. Emmanuel's pride and
his profits grew daily. till at last 1t
was time to dig up the radish.
But. behold! 1t would not come up
Emmanuel Catty. aware that 1t would
be work Of some difficulty, had reoui-
sitioned half-a-dozen neighbors with
picks and shovels to assist him. and
large cart wherewith to carry the
radish away. But the farther down
he and his companions dug the far
Their the radish extended.
Its bulk diminished, it is true. after
they had dug down a hundred feet or
so; 1t showed slight symptoms of mar
rowing, as II intending to taper, as
do ordinary radishes. But it's perfec-
ton had to be taken on trust, for let
its owner and his companions dig as
they would, the radish showed no
signs of stopping. The tail seemed
prepared to continue indefinitely.
By this time scaffolding was erect.
ed. and the sides Of the pit round the
radish were strutted up; the whole
state had gone wild with excitement,
and three leading newspapers had
opened subscription lists to enable
Catty to continue the work Of extract
ing the radish. So the digging con-
tinued. and as Catty superintended It,
he realized suddenly the cause Of the
drought; that wretched radish had
drawn to itself all the water in the
neighborhood, and tapped the wells!
II anything, this increased the in
terest Of the public; people felt that
they had sacrificed something to the
radish, and had a right in it; 30 the
boring went on with undiminished en-
ergy. Emmanuel Catty heading the
workers and rejoicing in the thought
that he was famous at last
After some weeks, however, the
work came to a standstill; the heat
in the mine was becoming intense,
and the radish still extended Down
ward. Emmanuel nearly wept with
disappointment when the suggestion
Of giving up the task was first made.
Come what would. he vowed he would
see the end Of that radish. IL believe, 4"
he cried, that 1t goes right through
the EARTH"
People looked at each other dubi.
| ously; 1t seemed possible that the
idea was correct; but how to put It
to the test? The heat in the mine
was already sitting. Then Catty had
another idea.
Let US excavate inside the radish
itself" he cried. That will be cool
enough"
This was true; the water which the
radish had sucked up into itself from
SO large an area kept 1t cool and
fresh; besides. 1t was easy to work.
and not difficult to strut up: 50 into
the very heart Of the radish plunged
Catty and his devoted followers, bur
rowing steadily downward, and exca-
waiting the radish pulp day by day.
Some Of 1t they ate, thereby obvi.
ating the necessity for large supply
OF provisions. The hole In the raids.
| communicated with the mine and Tia