The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1918-09-13
THE LATE JOHN BARLEYCORN

these days, their thoughts darker thar
the depthS OF the Black Sea, Tor they
near the knell that spells the passing
OF oooze", whether 1t be Bourbon
poi roget, Bud" absinthe, Cliquot
curacao or Chateau Renaud.
The Senate and House have bade
John Barleycorn BECOME; industry has
denounced him as the Old Man of the
Sea; the Army and Navy of the Unit
ed States have drummed him out of
camp. He passes away all at once
like the famous dog whose "name was
Rover and when he died he died all
over"
Queer old fellow! He knew Noah,
met him one day and laid him out I'M
der a tree. Knew old Omar, likewise
Robbie Burns. Was a particular pal
of Edgar Allen Poe. Hobnobbed with
kings, yet hold niche in every peas
ants cabin. Very friendly with nice
old ladies given to chills; held to be
an indispensable guest at christenings
and marriages and wakes, at Christ
days and any other old days.
Those fallows who have known tho
pleasing cIink in the ice tbe how
brouoht down the hall will sadly miss
Horace ,oved him wber ba said
"Rring ont tbo ;or of Sah;ra naar
old let nlentaons dranohts of wine
GOOD cheer ;nsn;ra " ~
Solomon in Proverbs wy; = told
ia tn "pive strong drink INTO hin, that
is ready to nerisb and wine INTO tysose
that no of baoyy hearts Jot b;p,
dr;nk and forget bic nowort1, avid 70
member his misery M nooreH
That old infidel Rob Inpersoll SANG
highly the praises of old John. "Drink,
and you feel within your blood the
star-lit dawn, the dreamy, tawny dusk
of many perfect DAYS. For forty
years this LIQUID ioy has been within
the happy slaves of oak, longing to
touch the lips of man"
George AIDE went and told them his
real name. his ewes were bleared and
his coppers hot. he tried to sleep hut
he could not. he
Found it no time for mirth and lauoh-
ter
The cold, grey dawn of the morning
after.
Shakespeare. Eugene Field, Rich
ard Hovey. Russell Lowell Charles
Lamb and Oliver Wendell Holmes all
lover John Barlevcorn.
Poor John! Strange old fellow
the more he was left alone the better
he was. vet NOT nroud either for he
held many acouaintances who snug
gled him in the back door after dark
that the neighbors might not see him.
and it hurt not his pride at all,
uo bod norsonal;+y bod 1ohn
onoo i, liz posoone foII.u ''"u I'm" ~
s;no ioIlv Sonns 1 49, b;s oeu ~
Pe9cnher M p;oLw;cL San, Wojior
ond tha rost sc thom, 1 Iohn W wei
wordar he ,onsad +ha +opo on "" va ,ha
hesitant aeya frooSo r 'O aaS do VI Wv. 4o
the bashfn1 f;llad tbe t;m;d WITH o,,stv
COURAGE and ansbad dull avas su w;tS
aame And when bo want a,y.v tha
fire died down and loft vacancv doaS
and cold N
Then, the dawn of Morn Pemsm-
her? "Waiter hiring me- about ron
grains of oatmeal and saw water
please look as nleasant as noss;bIe
For feel like - p''0
Thev used tn have bones Of conver-
tionalizing DEAR old Johp and droanod
at one time of MAKING him n n,emher
of good society He was ragnlarIv
present at ariStocratic gatber;ngs IN
the old davs as gnest in the homo
that he would absorb resnectahilitv
from the comnanv Rut alas 80
Commanding was his personality that
the company used mostly to absorb
congeniaiitv from him Then tbev
tried preaching to him. singing him
out bv name.
They started Billy Sundv after him
Billy used to nut on the tremolo He
would bring down the house with the
story of the fellow who was a sort of
ne'er do we'll and soldier of fortune
who picked m the Crinnle Creek nron-
ertv for less than a song. RiIl would
tell how this old miner got to drink
ing. A few cattle then browsed over
those hills and valleys and the taxes
were long overdue on the land and
the old miner couldn't pay them. A