Abbeville progress. (Abbeville, Vermilion Parish, La.) 1913-1944, 1916-12-09

state as it was used To being howl
ingly referred 10 by the forensic stumI
orator from the old stand in the court
house yard-a political campaign be
Ing the widest delight that Zekesbury
might ever hope TO call its own.
Through years the fitful happenings
of the town and its vicinity went OH
the same-the same. Annually about
one circus ventured in. and vanished
and was gone, even as a passing trum-
pet-blaSt; the usual rainy season
swelled the "crick." the driftage chok-
ing all 'the covered bridge" and back
ing water till the old road looked am
phibiOuS; and crowds of curious town
folk struggled down to look upon the
watery wonder, and lean awestruck
above it, and spit in it, and turn mute
ly home again.
The usual formula Of incidents pc
culiar 10 an uneventful town and its
vicinity: The cOuntryman from "Jes-
sup's Crossing" with the corn
stalk cOflin-measure, lOped into town
his Steaming little gray-and-rpd-hecked
roadster gurgitating, as it were, with
that mysterious utterance that ever has
commanded and ever must evoke the
wonder and bewildcrment of every
boy; the smallpox rumor became pre-
valent betimcs, and the subtle aroma
of the asafetida bag pprmeated the
graded schools from turrct to fOunda-
ton stone the still recurring expose
of the pOOrhOuSe management the
farm dd with the scythe across his
shoulder, struck dead by lightning; the
lOng-drawn quarrel between the rival
editors eliminating in one of them
aSSaulting the other with "sideStlck."
and the other kicking the one down
stairs and thenceward al libitum: the
tramp, SuppOSitiOusly stealing n ride.
found dead on the railroad the grand
jury returning sensational indict-
ment against Il bartender non est: the
temperance outbreak; the revival :"
the church festival; the Free Lee
lures on PhrenolOgy, and Marvels of
MeSmeriSm.' at the town hall 1t
was during the time of the laSt-men-
toned sensation, and directly through !
this scientific investigation, that | |
came upon two of the towns most re- |
markable characters. And however
meager my outline of them may prove.
my material for the sketch is most ac-
curate in every detail, and no devia-
tion from the cold facts of the case
shall influence any line of my report.
Z For some years prior TO this odd ex-
sE--s,SSce had been connected with a
daily paper at the state capital; and
iatterly prolonged session of the leg
fsiature, where | specially reported, |
having told threateningly upon my
health, | took both the advantage of |
Il brief vacation, and then the invita-
ton of young bachelor senator, to |
get out of the city for Il while and |
baSk my respiratory organs in the
revivifying rural air of Zekesbury-
the home of my new friend.
"It'n pay you to get out here" he
said cordially. meeting me at the lit
tie station, land I'm glad you've come,
for you'll find no end of odd char
acterS to amuSe you" And under the |
very pleasant sponsorship of my sen
atorial friend, ! was placed at once on
genial terms with half the citizens of |
the little town--from the shrt-Sleeved
nabob of the county office to the droll
wag of the favOrite loafing place-the
rules and bylaws Of which resort, by
the way, being rudely charcoaled on
the wall above the cutters bench, and
artistically eliminating in
an original dialect legend which ran
thus:
''F'r instance, now, when some folks
gifts
To relyin on theyr wits,
Ten to one they git too smart
And Spite ii all, right at the start
Feller wants to jest go slow
And do his thinkin' first, you know.
# i can't think up sOmepin' good,
l set still and chaw my Good ~
And ii was at this inviting rendez-
vous. two or three evenings follow
ing my arrival, that the general crowd.
acting upon the random prOpos' lion Of
one of the boys, rose as man and
wendell its hilarious way to the town
hall.
"Phrenology." said the little. old.
bald-headed lecturer and mesmerist,
thumbing the egg-shaped head of a
youag man | remembered to have met
that afternoon in some law office;
''phrenology." repeated the professor
cor rather, the term phrenology-is de-
rived from two Greek words signifying
mind and discourse: hence we find en-
bodied i'm phrenOlogy proper the sci
ence of intellectual measurement, to-
gether with the capacity of intelligent
of the varying mental
forces and their infexibilities, etc, etc
The study, then, of phrenology is, to
il whOlly-is. | say. the gen.
eral contemplation of the workings
If the mind rs made manifest through
the certain corresponding depressions
and protuberances of the human skull
when, of course, in healthy state of
action and development. as we find the
exemplified in the subject
before us"
Here the subject" vaguely smiled.
"You recognize that mug. don't your"
whispered my friend. IT'S that corus-
eating young ass, you know, Hedrick
lin Cummings Office-trying to study
law and literature at the same time,
and tampering with The Monster That |