McNairy County independent. (Selmer, McNairy County, Tenn.) 1902-1969, 1916-04-14

was seated on the doorstep with his
wife both chewing tobacco. He could
see the parade with the corner of his
eye, but the old lady could not see it,
the way she was sitting.
Seems to be purity fine parade" !"
remarked the old man. what pity
| aint a-faein' that way" said the old
lady with a sigh.
had to rough it in great shape in
the early eighties, when trying to get
a start in the world down in Florida
Part of the time | worked waist
deep in the warm water of Lake Toho-
pekaliga, helping lay jetty logs for
the Disston Drainage Company.
A number of alligators swan around
US, and got so tame they would eat
corn bread out of our hands.
We would catch the baby alligators,
about the size Of good big lizards, and
play with them some, but it was not
safe for the old sow alligator to hear
the Junk. unk, unk" sound made by
her babies, for she would come charg-
ing at us, and one sweep of her big,
thick tail would break a mans legs in
a hurry, if he got in her way,
1t was hard to get any place to
board then. and once while Assistant
editor of saw-milp (as Bill Nye
would say it) at Kissimmee, | had to
look long time before finally secur-
ing shelter at little one-story shack
of boarding kept by one Jack Ken
nedy and his wife, who was one Of
those dark-skinned people they call
Minorcans, although she spoke only
Florida Cracker language. AS | ap-
preached, she was giving her little
girl drink from a whiskey bottle,
which she offered me in turn, after
the child had taken big pull at it.
refused. Mrs. Kennedy looked at
me very hard. II s'pose you're one
of them there temperance fellers%
No, told her, simply had no use
for whiskey. "Well then, you must
be minister's son-O, no, you aint.
fer them's the wust there is. Well.
go in and take a seat, and I'll be in
after while to git ye sumpn feat"
went in. Soon the husband appear
ed outside and asked "who wuz that
feller you wuz a-talkin' to iist now?"
Jack, that's our new boarder. And
what do ye think, Jack, he refused a
drink of lickerp "Well, I'll tell you
what think of him." replied Jack,
clearing up his throat, and groaning
slightly, "he'll jump his board bill in
side a week. / never knowed hit to
to fail, that when one of these-here
fellers is too good to take a drink
when hits offered to 'em, in public
when they can git behind chimney
summers with black bottle, hit goes
'yugle, yugle' down their throats, an(
ye can't depend on 'em fer nothin'
They're hippercrits, the whole kit al
bilin' of 'em. You watch that fellel
and make him pay his board in ig
vance, tell yer ! paid in igyance,
and stayed longer with them than an,
one else thev had, for there was n,
other place to 60. 1t would take th'
pen Of Charles Dickens to describ
that boarding house. Jack was drunl
half the time, and sometimes | cam
home (?) and find the landlady drum
too, and the children crying for food
The 'star boarder," tall Texal
named Captain Potts, editor-in-chie
of the saw-mill where | labored fo
twelve cents an hour, was one Of th
worst drunkards | ever saw. TIL
very first evening he was with us
dominating everything from his plac
at the head of the table, he suddenl
, broke down, cried, and sobbed to Mrs
Kennedy; You have brought me coi
fee without any whiskey in it-moc
! hoop Mrs. Kennedy explained tina
she did not furnish liquor to he
guests, and then Potts arose males
n tically, turned his back upon US an
: staggered off to bed. Not long al
J, ter, our Mrs. r., took me aside an
h asked my advice about an urgent mat
# ter. Potts had gotten into the habi
d of coming in during the day and goin
/. to bed With his boots on, to sleep o
h his drunk. She did not keep a yer
It tidy house. but that was too much fc
o even her standard of neatness. 81.