The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1919-08-07
BROUGHT THE BULLFROG
TO EMMETT
Col. Barnard Claims the Dis
: tinction-Created Sensa-
tiOn on Train.

ed in The Index the complete story.
One of the questions he will naturally
ask, especially if he is a lover of sport
and connoisseur of those things
that delight the palate, is, "Who
planted the bullfrog in Emmett's s
sloughs ?" Here he will find the ans
wer. The story as we CLEANED it from
the Colonel is as follows:
One day, about 10 years ago, while
waiting at Middleton for a train to
carry him to Emmett, he heard the
characteristic boom-boom of a bull
frog. Colonel Jim had heard that call
before he came to Idaho, and the
sporting blood in his veins pulsated
like the throbs of mogul locomotive
He then lived near what is now Letha
and there are lots of good frog ponds
and sloughs there, or were. Memoir
les of boyhood days came thick and
fast, accentuated by the continuous
boom-boom of that bullfrog in the
slough near the Middleton depot. Ever
since he had been in Idaho he had been
conscious of something missing in his
life, and now he knew what it was. 1t
was the boom-boom of the bullfrog.
Right then and there he decided to
supply the missing link.
Excitedly he rushed in to the office
where Eli Lanktree was making out a
railroad report and made known his
desire to catch dozen or so bullfrogs
and take them to Emmett for seed.
Well, to make long story short, rail-
road reports and trains and every
thing else were forgotten in the chase
after the frogs. And when the train
arrived, Colonel Jim was on the de-
pot platform with a bucketfu of twist
ing, squirming frogs.
Boarding the train, Colonel Jim and
his bullfrogs Jared well until they
reached the trestles. There the twists
and turns as the train slipped down
the grade shook the lid off the tin can
and in jiffy there were bullfrogs in
the aisles and under the seats of the
passenger coach. They were every
where. Women screamed and gather
ing their skirts about them climbed on
the seats, meanwhile telling Colonel
Jim in language strong enough to
make him understand just what they
thought of a man who would carry
bullfrogs around as baggage and of
railroad company that would let him.
The conductor came in to see what
the commotion was about and the
sight that met his eyes, with Colonel
Jim hopping around on the floor in
an effort to catch the frogs and the
women perched in all kinds of posi-
tions on the seats and all talking at
once-the sight was too much for the
conductor and he made his getaway
to the engine and crawled into the
water tank to cool his risibilities.
By the time the train whistled for
Emmett, the Colonel had captured
most of the frogs and as it pulled into
the yards he was observed sitting on
the lid of the can, with an anxious
look on his face-the kind he wears
when someone bids ten dollars for
two-bit jardiniere. Colonel Jim and
the frogs arrived at the ranch without
further incident and the precious car
go was turnerd loose in the sloughs.
The dozen has increased to thousands,
and it is said that the daddy of them
all, now a venerable patriarch with
long white whiskers, climbs upon a
log when he sees the Colonel coming,
calls all his progeny about him and
to the tune of Ta-ra-ra Boom de Aye,
leads them in singing stirring song
in which is told the story of how Col
onel Jim chased frogs in an Idaho
Northern coach while strong women
tainted and weak men held their
breaths, the Colonel exclaiming: Dad
burn you blinkity blankety gum fooz-
leu ldIllcIH JoWco, OuiAcyCN, AoAS iSSe
ed sons of sea cooks; if ever get all
of ye in the bucket again I'll never
take another chance, and if had Eli
Lanktree here I'd make him eat every
one of ye raw, ding bust yer onery
hides" Then the entire family comes
to attention, salutes the Colonel and
disappear, while Jim chuckles and says
to himself that it was worth the
trouble after all.
And SO, in order that future genera
tions may know who brought the bull
frog to Emmett, the story is told
And now, if the fellow who brought
the first mosquito to Emmett Will
make himself known, wsH write an
other story, but itwA b N obitsasy,