Evening star., 1920-01-04

SAY. boss. what, to your way o
| ii i:urin'. does a guy need most to be-
come a classy politician" asked Lon
| of Dopey Dan as he pulled out the
| makin's.
| Tact snapped back Dopey Dan
with a bang on the table. THE knack
| o kiddin' folks into your way O.
thinkin' without givin' no offense!
i've saw a mess o politicians wig
| gle outa tight holes by usisl wee
bit O tact, lad. but | reckon the
most oustandin case ! ever see in my
| life was pulled by liz. bow-legged
| 'grasshopper' runnin' for coroner in
| Sprakers' Basin. jerkwater town up
| on the Mohawk river, in old Moo
| York state.
| Twas durin the election year
of 1895. |, no more'n kid. was work
| in levers in number IS tower on the
| Mohawk division of the mighty Moo
| York Central railroad. Houses was
| scarcer'n hens teeth on the side of
! the river where the Central tracks
run. so / habitats over at Sprakers'
! Basin. where the habitatin' is better.
Bret Harte's 'Rattlesnake Pete an
! 'Alkali Ike towns of the golden west
didn't have nothin' on Sprakers' Basin
when it come to the rough stuff, She
| was a mans town. chockfull O. hard
| men-railroad an canal-boat guys.
who toted shooters an drunk of hard
Ticker,
! The West Shore skidded through
! the main street o Sprakers the Moo
York Central was right across the
| river. an the Erie canal sported a
| lock plumb square in her innerds
| 1.-TWO hoteleries graced the Basin
Charlie AuStin'S an Frank Ellis =
both standard in price. seven bucks
| per week. room an board-but the
proprietors never spoke an was rivals
to the death.
| "AH town business was discussed at
| the bars of the two establishments.
| which was recognized as the meetin'
places of the two rival factions. An
| there. at night. over apple-Jack
brandy, was decided the chances a
! elected
For Austin follower to stick his
| nose in at the Ellis Emporium meant
/ extra work for the coroner. an vicey-
! versy. I lived at the Ellis.
Big Ed Price. trackwalker on
! the West Shore road was my friend.
An Big Eds cousin. Lii joe
Grubb, a Austin man, was coroner.
irunnin' for reelection with Malachi
Weatherwax. freight agent an
l Ellis man. on the opposite ticket.
Twas generally allowed that OWN
| to the recent arrival of big bunch
O. canal men who'd come to do repair
work. an had hung up at Ellis. LII
Joe Grubb was dead up against it.
which tickled Frank Ellis an his
followers nearly sidewise.'
1.-TWO mornins before election day.
on my return home from work.
toiled at night trips into the Ellis
bar to get my usual 'mornin's mornih'
before hittin' the hay. only to find
Frank Ellis an Malachi Weatherwax
argufyin' fit.to kill an both men much
fustered.
"'Anybody kilt?' says !. in friv-
olous-like manner.
"."Big Ed" Prices kilt" snaps back
old Malachi with a ugly scowl on his
$50" says I. maxim, quick for the
corner.
Yep chirps in Frank Ellis as
he poured out my Ticker Ed gets
keerless-like up round the Big Nose
last night. an is just about to roll
stone off'n the track when engine
backs back an grinds him to rib
bons! See. over there-they're holdin'
a inuuest,'
TOO bad" muttered I, as fol-
lowed the direction of Ellis out
toward Charlie Austin's. where the
whole town-Ellis and Austin men
together-had assembled to gather
the latest news about Ed.
"Ya-a-s" drawled Frank Ellis as
he mixed up toddy. Twas kinder
tough! Ed might-a been more keerful
til after election. That makes four in
guests pulled over to Austin's in the
past month! An with Malachi. here.
dead certain of bein' elected, makes it
that much more tougher
"Hot-footin' over to Austins. I
gets there just in time to hear Cor
oner Joe Grubb deliver his closin'
remarks. Boys says Lii joe
with viii his boots on, An while he
was a cousin o. mine an Ellis man.