The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-03-25

~o'i~' IN iiocA anu the OeVll take
judicial notice Of the fact. It is one
of the unwritten laws of policy recog-
nized from the time that the memory
Of man runneth not to the contrary.
Bluff is. In a measure, instructive.
and so Is contemporaneous with be-
ing itself. Doubtless could we piece
the oblivion that shrouds the CEN
suries before man began to write hie
history we would find that our
hairy ancestors were quite pro
cluff Of 100000 B. G. like unto every
thing else in that far off period, must
nave been crude, confined, in all
probability to love and battle. The
painted and blackened faces Of the
warriors, the noise Of the drums and
other racket making Instruments were
for he purpose Of terrifying the
enemy, n tmpressing him with a
greater fierceness and material power
than really existed. This rude strate-
gem at bluff has been handed on down !
through h ages use, in It's original
form by the savage tribe and i'm
porved and developed by the more
progressive nations.
The instinct for bluffing has always
been existent in animals, and even
greater than the instinct, nature that
created them was not guiltless Of
bluff. This nature, in order to pro-
tNtt VAS SASoSu1 Twin AOCAAS oO*O
10 many animals and birds the color
az their environment thus producing
and incOnspicuOusnesS which served
as an efficient safe guard.
The female partridge Stimulates a
broker wing n scampers along the
ground away from her nest to lure
the huntsman from the vicinity Of her
young; the harmless goose is armed
with a fearful hiss; some tiny fish
swell to twice their size when in
danger, and thus we fnd with beast
and bird and fish an instinct to bluff
st the power they have not.
The dog of all age has been a
buffer, sometimes a useless one. 1t is
an ordinary sight to see a yard dog,
when you trespass upon the curtilage
of his home, rush madly towards you,
teeth barred, growing terrifcaliy, a
Neritable dynamo OF belligerency,
only to stop and circle about you II
you hold your ground.
Man has developed bluff and made
Of it a science and an art. He has
made it an intricate game, n full OF
fine points and ingenious wrinkles
and he plays it every gay: rasts
upon deception the unsuccessful
buffer is derided. ScOrn is the con-
sequence Of failure.
detection, implying as it does the
discovery OF a person in a represensi-
Die ACT, mas iYifiilc1IfOI dOly lOSuASOO ~
disaster and censure for the culprit.
Who Ices not remember the story OF
the Spartan lad who permitted the
stolen fox hidden under his clothes
10 claw to his heart rather than
endure the humiliation Of the discov-
told carried no stigma, it was the de-
lection in theft that resulted in or
probrium.
The same ruling applies to bluff
The game is permitted, but failure al
the game is not tolerated.
The bungler at poker sneaks out
bankrupted and ridiculous; the fight
er whose bluff fell short, retire:
chagrined and disgraced. Merry ole
Sir John of Eastcheap fame. will
all his nimbleness Of wit, never full!
rallied from his Gadshill fasco, an<
as yet no one has ever eQuailed tina
paunchy roisterer in h dexterity Q
Coming back"
Illustrative Of the "let me die
feeling consequent upon the failure o
bluff, you will possibly recall the in
cident Of the Richmond citizen, who
staggering homewards In compan,
with several of his friends of tn
evening. A rain began falling just a
the party swayed in front Of tn
citizens home. Said citizen beln
chock full of the proverbial hosp
rather hampered in articulation D
certain periodical ~upheavals of tn
diaphragm, that his friends com
under shelter. These gentlemen DC
ing in the condition sometimes refer
red to as lit demurred on the groun
that Mrs. Citizen might not WELDON
them under the circumstance
Whereupon Mr.. Citizen announce
in a shaky bass, blu with great W
hemence, IT am Caesar in my house.
This manly declaration would doub
less have had it's effect had not tn
window opened at that precise mt
ment and Mrs. Citizen Indignantly az
dressed Aht assembly. Go HON
gentlemen, 1 will attend to Caesar,
All things are regulated proper
we are assured, and therefore the
are exceptions to all rules. enc
these is hat the bluff or attempte