The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1912-10-17

FarmerD
Maine is not the land of fable and
this narrative, though founded upon
an incident some years past, is au-
thentic enough to be entertaining il
not instructive. The characters in
yolyed are a tipsy citizen of Skow-
hogan, armed with a rifle, some pure
bred merino lambs and their farmer
owner.
Our tipsy citizen (for the sake of re
spectacle connections now liyinel We
will introduce as Freebo LoWton; the
farmer will fit we'll 10 the name of Col
burn. and the lambs. though deserving
of better attention, must pass unnamed
Freebo loved beer. whisl>ey every
thing, in fact Of like name or nature.
Freebo also liked To hunt a second
sporting tendency, perhaps less Eaictul
than the first lie Was s31i naturcd
and happy when drunk it. he had Il
gun in hand he was equally urbane
md full Of felicity. even when sober.
Nothing in or out of the Gospel or the
Koran could describe paradise more
exactly than Freebo's state of mind
fully possessed of lag and a rife.
Looking glasses, hammers and chill
dren are proyerbally bad in combna-
ton. 1t might be thought that fire
water and firearms, thus associated.
would lead to unheppy results, and
that they did so as a matter of Fact
gives warrant for this tale
One bright September morning
Freebo took the gun and the bottle at
the same hour and started out fun Of
bliss to wander over the nearby nils.
On his way out of town he had oc-
casion to enter Colburn's pasture. \
fence of barbed wire interviewed
Trouble ensued. The encounter ended
with victory for Freebo, for he. passed
the fence.
One labor accomplished only prepar-
ed the way for another. Animals.
perhaps, attracted by his antics in the
fence. now confronted him. Painting
with his recent eXertions. Freebo real
ly did not welcome new dangers, but
his sporting instincts rose to the sur
face and, taking the best aim of which
he WAS capable, he took several shots
at the sheep, for such was the fierce
chara tor Of the animals that had
cross d his path. Some fell and 9th
ers fl Farmer Colburn, notified Of
some ING unusual by the rife shots,
arriy,j Il this critical moment just
as Freebo is congratulating himself
in his beclouded mind on a second
victory
Colburn, though naturally peaceable
and patient, was properly Mortified and
enraged at the sight before him. tbs
said be sopke harshly to Freebo and
even threatened violence to his person.
1t is not reported that he asked for
any excuse for the destruction of his
lambs-quite likely it may have seem
ed to him that no excuse was possible.
Not so with Freebo, however. His
mind worked slowly, but notable ut
terance. one heretofore without paral-
lei, was the result. He might have
said: 81 came, | saw, ! conquered.
The vanquished fence and the slain
and fleeing sheep would have justified
that. but he did much better. In reply
to the angry farmer he said
Sir. you do me wrong. Your
lambs attacked me with great fury,
and. sir, I'll have you understand that
no sheep can bite me and live
In the language of the time this eT-
cuse, if such if might be called, did not
go down with Farmer Colburn. That
Lowton had shot his lambs in self-do-
fence seemed a monstrous insult, Low
ton was Thrust through or over the
barbed wire with more expedition than
his entrance had been effected, and
the elder Lowton. Philos by name,
soon thereafter received bill of lih-
eral proportions from Colburn for his
killed sheep end wounded lambs.
Father Lowton had paid some bills Of
like character before. bat for some
reason, in this instance, he decided to
put up fight. The case got into
court, and the attorney engaged by the
Lowtons actually had the audacity to
urge the self-defence theory He in
troduced Lowton's clothes, torn by the
fence and showed the scars upon his
body. having Lowton testify that they
were marks made by the teeth of the