Year: 1875




When 1 wrote you last, thought
Vale Mills was on the wane; but
since then Lewis Amis has brought
on a new stock of goods, and Voss
of Pulaski has opened another store,
and Jack McKissack, who about
that time looked as if he would
soon be called on to hand in his
checks, has taken a through ticket,
and will in all probability, if he can
make connections, succeed in max
ing the round trip. So we have
three sure enough live stores in full
blast, and everything else to suit
We've got all sorts of folks around
Vale Mills that you can name, and
some that you can't name. We
have some of the neuter gender,
that is, they have not character
enough to do any hurt and of course
can do no good. We have some
little dandies about here who part
their hair in the middle and can do
it uncommonly even. They have
little brains, but they do not need
much to follow their business. We
have some very close men too
men who were never knoR oRn to waste
anything by giving it away. They
have their virtues too, but blind, ir
repressible ge- erosity is not among
this lot either. The great extrava-
gance of their lives, and the one
they never cease to speak of, was
giving three dollars towards the
building of Westinghouse. I
would like to say more about them
but can't without-telling the truth.
Truth is sometimes like a hot po-
tato, the only way to handle it easy
is to drop it. We had one who was
fiddler by birth and persuasion,
but late in life he gave up fiddling
and took up farming, but the world
lost a good fiddler by the operation
and got a poor farmer. He had an
other natural gift, and that was to
owe everybody. It was said of him
that he vas never known to shed a
tear or pay debt. He died finally,
and hope he was saved, but he may
have been lost, for accidents will
happen in the uppermost families.
He did not leave much reputation
behind him, but what he did, was
fair to middling. We have some fat
men here too, but


''There's naught SO hard for grief to handle,
As the man whose ribs are fat as candle.
Their tempers a re represented as even as the
figure 2.


Their habits as pure as the mountain dew"
drink no spirituous rum nor root
elevators. If this should ever reach
their eyes, they can, think, but ad
mire the square manner in which
their case is handled. Diogenes
hunted in the day time with a Ian
tern for an honest man; if he had
lived in these parts he would have
needed the headlight of a locomo-
tive. We have some men too who
are known far and near for their
chunks of wisdom, but like Solo
mon of old, they can talk wisdom
better than they can do it. This is
the way with all of the wise men
I've met lately. Lightning can't
strike a tree just for fun, but what
they will preach a moral sermon
from the text. They are dreadfully
certain of what they know, and not
the least uncertain of what they
don't know. In digging down to
the hard pan of these men, you'll
find a great deal of vanity, large
amount of impudence, and a good
supply ofincredulity-just the thing
for all the world to make wise foo
out of. We have some vain men
too, but there's no cure for vanity
Getting thoroughly wet comes near
er doing it for a while than any
thing else.


Some men are octagon.


And some three sided are


| IT'S mortal hard to find one,


Who is exactly square.


Yet we have some men as square as
the blocks on a checker board just
the same kind of man in the fall
that he was in the spring of the
year. You don't have to winter
him to find him out. Do just as
they agree, but they are mighty
dreadful backward about agreeing
We have some born jockeys too
some who always have on hanC
some old flag taIl pelter, with a glass
eye, to trade with anybody. There
is a great deal of genius in the horse
swapping business, but very few
assets. We have some men who
have a great specially in the whisky
drinking line. One who can fOat
more ardent spirits on an evenel
keel than any man that impartia
history gives any account Of We
have some lazy men too, who seen
to have spent all their lives in hang
ing around places and keeping rag
| ged and fat on nothing.


never knew in al u,y life


Any man to 20 crazy,


Who took things sitting down,


And cultivated his lazy.


Now, Mr.. Editor, haven't we goi
all sorts of men about Vale MiIlsi
/ Taking q square look at them all
don't you find them a rather euriou:
set? Their ambition the result Of
vanity, their honesty the effect Of
education, their charity the love oi
novelty, and their philosophy, abl'
to bear the sromach-ache of Others