Year: 1875

From the San Jose Mercury
"Not any in mine, if you please"
said Jim Boggs to our reporter, as they
were about to indulge in friendly
glass of lager beer at Alex. Muller's,
upon whose Widespread lunch table
Jim discovered plate of fragrant
Limberger; "I rayther soured on
cheese, leastwise on Limberger, at the
ball at Salinas. L never told you
about it, did I?' said Jim. "Well, it
was when they had mud and fog at
Salinas, you bet. The mud was so
thin and the fog was so thick that you
couldn't tell which was which. Old
Peters had just built his hall, and the
boys thought it about the square thing
to start off with dance-a right nifty
one; and when the Salinas boys let
themselves out sunthin' had to come.
You can bet your bowels on that and
stand a right smart chance of gettin' a
spare set of in'ards.


1t bothered 'em some to git their
! boots in shape, cause in them days if
| a feller walked on his hands his boots
would be still three feet under that
DOLBY mud. So they finally concluded
| to bring their boots to the old hall
alongside the ballroom, and have
Pete, the boot-black, shine 'em up,
and then when they got ready the fell
lers could get 'em there, and into the
dance without ary speck.


So eleven of 'em brought their boots
and sent for old Pete and told him to
throw hisself and not mind expenses;
and when he had got done to put in
sunthin' so they could git EN- on with
out being pounded on with maui.
And then the boys went and had So
ciable game of piteh-seven-up for the
drinks.


Pete blacked the boots clean up to
tops and when he got through with
'em and stood 'em in row you could
see twenty-five Petes-it looked like
the house was full of darkies-and
then he fixed 'em so the boys could git
'em on quite easy and quit.


After Pete had gone, along cum that
, i.Af>--.-l >s.-~y G~.-.- To- H. 4>~i-,- .
look at them boots and then scratched
his head like he was trying to think of
sumthin' and he started for Johnson's
store.


"rd like little of that old Limber-
ger of yours" says Sam to the clerk.
And Sam told him again.


mot much-you won't like it," said
the clerk; "but you can help yourself;
it's out in the back yard"


Sam started for the back yard, but
the clerk yelled to him to hold on.


"You amt fixed to go after that
cheese,n said the clerk.


| So he gave him an onion TO hold in
his mouth and put a clothes-pin on his
nose and told him to keep to the wind
| ward of the cheese and not come back
through the store.


1t was heavy job, but Sam got
away with the cheese and got back to
them boots; and he jest mashed up
that Limberger and put right smart
chunk into each of them boots, and
chen he went and split kerosene and
cologne on the floor and burnt up two


three old shirts, and he got up a
smudge, you would have thought a
'pothecary shop was on fire, and then
Sam jest Lit out.


The boys came in for their boots at
about ten o'clock. They were purity
| we'll set up, and they materially put it
up that the things that Sam had
strung around was what was the mat
| ter, and then got into them boots and
| Mighty nifty they looked in the
ballroom, and the boys that come in
from the ranches had to take back
seat while them shiny fellers waltzed
| in.


1t weren't long before their pardners
began to look wild like, and their
noses got sot up like old women's
when they go pokin' round the house
in the night time, askin' everybody if
they don't smell cotton burning; and
then the fellers would quit and
go outside and stand on one foot and
twist their necks off trying to look at
their heels, and ask the other fellers if
they saw anything on their boots be-
sides blacking; and then desired to
know who some fellers was; and then
they'd go back and dance again; and
then the rest of the chaps went out
and looked at their boots and cussed
and eat cloves, and jest said what
they'd like to do, and they tried to go
on with the dance, but it got too hot
and the gals wouldn't dance, but sat
by the winders and said it was awful;
and one or two fainted and the chaps
got white around the gills and the ball
jest busted. Then every feller made
remarks and insinlations about some
other chap, and there was five or six
fights; and when they got home they
went snuffin' around the same way
and finally concluded that it was in
the atmosphere; snd then when they
pulled off those boots it was in the at
mosphere SO it would well nigh knock
bull down; and eleven pair of boots
went out of eleven winders and eleven
of the maddest fellers you ever see lay
awake all night thinking what they'd
do in the lornirg with shot-guA.


Next day they found out who got
that Limberge,, but Sam Jones had
gone to Monterey. He came back in
about two weeks and packed shot
gun all the while. Whenever he came
across one of them cheese fellers he'd
make him throw up his hands till he
explained it to him.


II were at the ball and I've had no
use for Limberger since,n said Jim.


Anybody might know that Bailey
was back in Danbury. Alluding to