The Monroe journal., 1921-05-31
COW AUCTIONEERS RELATE
THEIR VARIED EXPERIENCES
Fine Holstein Cow, Costing About
S65, Which Sold For hut $62.J0,
Disappointment tn MIR. Williams
DARKEY TRIED To LIST HIS CAT

u
Back from Wilmington, where they
auctioned on a car load of Union
county cows. Messrs. Raymond Crit
fin and Frank Williams are recount
ing their experiences. much TO the en-
tertainment Of their friends. Each
makes the other the butt for an Oft
repeated joke. Raymond" says Mr..
Williams. was the assistant auction
eer. and he would claim about every
other COW for one of his own raising.
solemnly informing the large crowd
that he brought up the particular
cow on the auction block from a calf.
never before knew that he raised
so many" rs that so?" Mr.. Griffin
replied when told of Mr.. Williams
tale. Did he tell you." he contin-
ued. "about the s65 cow that brought
an answer. he went on: "0ne Of the
best cows in the lot was Holstein,
pretty and fat, which cost us about
$65. and which we expected to sell at
fancy price. Unfortunately. how
ever, she began 'ailing' when the car
| left Monroe. refusing to either eat or
drink. On arrival at Wilmington. her
enforced fast had given her weakly.
emaciated appearance, and she sold
for only s6250. This was quite a
disappointment TO both of US. but l
quickly forgot the incident. until on
our return trip Frank drawled out:
Raymond. do you remember that
pretty Holstein cow Yes, I replied.
| hat 4. I'M 10
Well, he continued. I don't wish the
man that bought her any bad luck,
but | hope she dies,' p" But that's
not the best one on Frank" Mr.. Grif-
fin began again. after the laughing
had somewhat subsided. "Yester-
day" he continued. ''he ran into
Uncle Nose an old slave darkey
who works the gardens for the folks
living on Morris street. and remem-
bering that his little patch had been
sadly neglected for several days, he
proceeded to employ him to stake his
tomatoes, there Mr. Griffin began
to swell up preparatory to the explo-
sion that always follows when he tells
good one) -"but when he got home
late that afternoon he found that the
old darkey had staken his Irish po-
tatoes instead Of his tomatoes!"
Mr.. Rogers Wssa't LISTING Cats
i Mr.. ]. G. Rogers, city list-taker,
and one of the best auctioneers in the
state. has had many and varied ex-
periences during his lifetime, having
sold under the hammer almost every
conceivable object from a hearse on
down; but not until the other day did
he encounter a man who tried TO list
a cat for taxation. He was coli
ored man. After writing down his
name and other preliminaries such as
his age. Mr.. Rogers enquired as to the
the value of his househould and
kitchen furniture "Thirty-fve dol
lars" was the reply This was
sumner. Dropping his pen, Mr.. Rog-
ers looked the taxpayer straight In
the eye. and demanded: Don't YOU
know that an ordinary bedstead is
almost worth that? cant help
IT," was the reply, II hasn't got mucn
of bed. no chairs and nothin' else
of any count" To this reply, Mr..
Rogers commented. Then the coun-
" owes you $685. You're exempt
from paying taxes on that amount"
The househould and kitchen furni-
ture items checked up. Mr. Rogers
started upon the more serious PROB
lem of getting down the darkey's cat
tie and horses. ''Got any cows?" he
asked. Nassau" was the reply.
Got any horses?" he persisted.
NASSAU" was again the answer.
la t.a
darkey replied in low voice, mos
sab, but Use got cat" Voices from
another part of the room drowned
out the darkey's reply to this ques.
tion. and thinking that he said yes
Mr.. Rogers had so written that word
on the blank for that purpose.
l'What's Il WORTH" he asked. think
ing of pigs while the darkey's mind
was centered upon the cat. "Oh,
bout fifty cents" he muttered. think
ling Il strange that his member OF the
feline tribe was TO be taxed. This
was more than Mr.. Rogers could
stand. "Do you mean to tell me-"
he calculated In tones that boded no
good for the darkey, that It's only
worth fifty cents?" We'll, boss
feebly protested the darkey, now Wis
libly frightened, ''it's jest a plain. or
binary old mouse-catching cat. Why
she amt hardly worth more than her
feed" Then II was that Mr.. Rogers
caught on. and he Joined in the laugh
ter that emanated from ESQ. p. H.
Johnson and some of the others pres
ent.