The Coolidge examiner., 1935-05-03


he has doue in hls lifeline nn H
lneuse amouul of hard wors lii>
hands are thick heavy the fingers
blunt Yet ahen be parts the l,-nVes
to Show you his best fruit Those
hands move defily. and there Is
something about them too. which
suggests dcvout person handling
ihe Bible.
~ig you don't Ike farming he
says cheer'ully there's nuihlug 60
n. always dld ike 70 take care
~ things around farm. Nv hos
and ! ship a load ~ cattle year
az rule. aud two cnriots % hogs
We sell some wheat. too. most years
But my mnln pleasure always bns
been ln my lawn and house and ear
den. and iu raising n hundred n
one different little things just 70
see what a fellow can Do
Tie led me 70 n loft room IN one
~ The barns. where he was Assem-
bling his exhibit FOR the coming
county fair. one yenr be showed
eighty three distinct varieties ~
plants. an raised on the place IL
carries the sey % thar private shop
and exhibit room IN isis OWN pocket
and leads yop there with the delight
of a boy.
whats thlsT" he asked me. smii
INK. II was bunch of thrifty cot
,tn plants "Aud thcseT A serr
iceable maui md a pair of stout
douhlc.trees. made by his own hands
from osaEe-orange trees grown on
the place
"Irs jusf sort % hobby" he
said. = always IKE 20 have some
thing new
And I've always taken pride In
having nice home We had our
eye on this place O iouE time he
fore we were anything like fixed 70
buy it What caushi my eye was
the lawn aud The white house with
maple trees around e. and the grecn
shutters II looked 10 as Just about
the hest place 20 I've in the county
nnd we think so sfill That foun
tain wasn't iu when we Eot u. and
The rose gartlrn--we did that. too
Curious ism; 81. bow many farm
ers never get around 20 making
themselves = homer Just scraplue
20 huy the piece 81 land next 20
them Driving themselves and de.
uyln- themselves. and telling them
selves that some time. way or In
the future. they're going way OF
s0mewh here be 90 the coast
and have an awful good time
My father was n miller In Yer
mont. He fought IN the Civil war;
aye years when ii was over. be
came out here. homesteadlng-I
often think about II. Then came ~
and the grasshoppers drove Us out.
II drove out a quarter of the set.
tiers. that year. Not many came
back. Bot we did.
There were eight OF us children.
all born In n log house. We rode
bareback 10 schools frame build.
ing. about fourteen By twenty. set
up on the rocks: all open under.
There would be- as many as sixty
one scholars sometimes 10 winter.
All the way from Eve 20 twenty Eve
years old Three long benches:
low one In front FOR the little tack.
ers: then a high one. for the older
ones 10 write on. then another one
for them 20 sit on And stove.
And one teacher-bui a good one.
Sarah McNaughton was the first
teacher | went 10 school TO: she
was fine. But the one I remember
best was Jacob J. Jackson. He
boarded with us. and got me 10 20
on. more or less. with my books
There wasn't any high school IN
the county when / got through
school.
"we used 20 20 barefoot all win
ter. Never had head colds. either.
The only thing that seemed 10 get
US was contagious diseases. like
dlptheria. when I was thirteen II
went through the family and the
three youngest died.
Il herded cattle from the time
was eight Then / worked out quite
a little. | worked for Henry Elias.
the best farmer that ever farmed
outdoors. When / was twenty-four.
I bought my first farm; 100 acres.
S14 an acre. $500 down. II was
good river bottom. but I got hit by
the panic.
Il patched II two and a half
years. In 1895. the year got mar
rled. sold a load OF cattle at 1885
a hundredwelght on the Kansas
City market. I'd paid SIS a head
for them. The price l got was Is
cents above the market that day:
they were small cattle. That deal
put me out OF debt. and I haven't
had what you could call any real
trouble since"
on the questionable sent him by
the Department OF Agriculture. a
space was left for Anything Else
You Consider Important" In this
space Elkins wrote:
aNIy family my homo my naigh.