Newspaper Page Text
The New York papers announce the
marriage of Mr. Watson to Miss Watson.
My ! Watsons ought to follow this union.
Maj. J. W. Thomas has removed into
his new residence at juncture of Cedar and
\ ine streets, Nashville, —a Capital corner.
We are glad to see that Mr. B. F. Nevill,
of Chattanooga, is again engaged with the
N., C. & St. L. Cos., as passenger agent.
Nashville is now his office.
Thanks to T. C. Evans, a prince of ad
vertising agents, who sends unique calen
dars for 1880 to the Dixie Farmer; also
an advertisers’ hand-book of easy reference.
Vice-President W. A. W r heeler spent
the holidays at Chattanooga. He was on a
visit to his cousin, Xonophen Wheeler,
United States District Attorney for East
Tennessee. The distinguished gentleman
was called upon by prominent citizens, re
gardless of party.
The Nashville (Tennessee) Young Men’s
Christian Association has begun the
publication of an “Association Bulletin.”
It is published semi-monthly, and will be
mailed regularly to subscribers for 25 cents
per annum, in advance. It promises to lie
an important auxiliary to the association’s
usefulness.
Five Sundays in February. —We have
heard of many unreasonable things to oc
cur “ February 80,” but the lifth Sunday in
this short month does occur three times in
every hundred years. It can only occur on
leap years, of course, and then when the
first day of the month is Sunday, as will be
the case this year.
The trouble about a “ fair count ” is not
in Louisiana, but Maine. The Republicans
have been beaten by the Democrats and
Greenbackers combined. The “ fusion ”
ticket carried by too large a majority, think
the Stalwarts, and serious trouble has been
imminent for several days. Gov. Garcelon
showed proper nerve for the occasion. His
attorney stated in his absence, the other
night, that there had not been a fair count
in Maine for twenty-three years.
The most unique Confederate monument
in Tennessee stands in the Court-house yard
at Bolivar. It represents, in the carved
marble, a tented army, with battle flags,
etc., and cannons reversed. The following
sentences are quoted:
“ Hardeman county erects this monument
to the memory of her sons who fell in the
service of the Confederate States. ”
“In hope of a joyful resurrection.”
“ Though men deserve, they may not win,
success.”
“ The brave will honor the brave, though
vanquished.”
When the vote on secession was taken,
there was but one vote for “ No separation”
A great desideratum of the Southern
States is a diversity of labor and associated
effort in hundreds of small industries ; such
as plaining mills, tanneries, laundries, wag
on, chair, bucket, broom, basket, and agri
cultural implement manufactories ; and,
particularly, neighborhood cotton mills,
such as the Clement Attachment, dispensing
with gin screw bagging and ties. The
smoke should issue from more steam pipes
in town and country. The Clement At
tachment alone would work a revolution in
our condition. The dissatisfaction in the
old world, especially Great Britain, by the
depression in the value of their cotton fab
rics, and failure in crops, will c ause a di
version of their capital and skilled labor
to our hospitable shores. Let laggards
standout of the way, the tide is coming.
Much of success in farming is in propor
tion to the use of improved plows, hoes,
tools, and wagons, good stock, and a liberal
quantity of manure. Superficial work will
not sullice —deep tillage is needed. Shal
low plowing fails to mix the ingredients of
the land and to incorporate the manure
with the soil. Of what is the advantage to
expend money in the application of ma
nures, and yet have sorry team and indiffer
ent plows to cultivate the crop? Better
not waste money on the first, without a suf
ficient investment in the latter to make the
combination effective. The large yield of
manured land is not the result of manure
alone, hut of superior cultivation as well.
Deep tillage—a sina qua non of good crops —
is impossible, without strong horses or
mules, and plows; and all inefficient with
out manure. Their value is correlative,
the effectiveness of each depending upon
the other.
Tiie Chicago Tribune states that
at a donation party at which six
farmers were to contribute a jug of
milk apiece, on man—a very mean
man, Jake Mason—thought it would
not make any difference if he con
tributed water in place of milk; so
he filled his jug with water and took
it to the donation. Wbeu he got
there, ho turned it over the bung
and it ran into a barrel where all
the other farmers had poured their
milk. Mow, what do youthiuk was
the result? Why, every one of the
six farmers happened to be us mean
as Jake Mason. They all had
brought wator.
If moderation is needed any
whero on the farm, it is in the
driving of cows. A boy or a dog
that will hurry, and, therefore, wor
ry the cows, as they are taken to
and from the pasture, should be —
to put it mildly —attended to. Boys,
do not run the cows homo, oven if
it is getting late, especially if it is
on thd way to the yard, and their
udders are full of milk. * -
From the Dixie Farmer.
BILL ARP-HIS LETTER.
——
He Addresses the “Grand Brotherhood”
and Looks on the Cheery Side of
Farm Life—We Must “ Unlearn,” So
as to Keep Up with New Inventions.
All hail to the Dixie Farmer! and I
hope it ain’t too late to wish a happy New
Year to all the Dixie farmers. What a
grand brotherhood your new head-light em
braces ! What a noble people you have to
work for ! The Dixie farmer does not make
much noise in the world, nor gather a for
tune quickly, but then he lives well and
feels his independence, and gets along kind
ly with his nabors. Lawyers and doctors
and dentists are useful and clever, but they
are a fussy set, and always seem envious of
one another; merchants and bankers say
their prayers and go to meeting, but they
will cut under and take the bridle-path to
get trade and business ; railroad companies
conspire together to break down competing
lines; workmen strike for higher wages;
politicians keep up a continual commotion
in saving the country, and the busy world
seems to be in a hurry to get ahead of some
thing or somebody: but the farmer moves
along amidst all the ferment and confusion,
calm and serene, enjoying good health and
a good conscience, and looking at the strife
as a boy looks at a monkey show.
It’s a wonder to me that everybody don’t
go to farming. Lawyers and doctors have
to set about town and play checkers, and
talk politics, and wait for somebody to
quarrel or fight, or get sick ; clerks and
book-keepers figure and multiply and eount
until they get to counting their foot-steps,
and counting the stars, and the flies on the
ceiling, and the peas in the dish, and the
flowers on the papering; the jeweler sits by
his window all the year round, working on
little wheels, and the mechanic strikes the
same kind of a lick every day. These peo
ple do not belong to themselves ; they are
all penned up like convicts in a chain-gang;
they can’t take a day nor an hour for recrea
tion, for they are the servants of their em
ployers. There is no profession that gives
a man such freedom, such latitude, and such
a variety of employment as farming.
While I was ruminating this morning, a
hoy came along and said the dogs Lad treed
something down in the bottom. So me and
my boys shouldered the guns and an axe,
and look Mrs. Arp and the children along
to see the sport. We cut down a hollow
gum tree, and caught a ’possum and two
squirrels, and killed a rabbit on the run,
and had a good time generally, with no loss
on our side. We can stop work most any
time to give welcome to a passing friend
and have a little chat, and our nabors do
the same by us; but if you go into one of
these factories or work-shops, or even a
printing oftce, the first sign-board that
greets you says, “ Don’t talk to the_work
men.” Sociable crowd, ain’t it?
There’s no monotony upon the farm.
There’s something new every day, and the
changing work brings into action every
muscle in the human frame. We plow and
hoe, and harrow and sow, and gather it in
at harvest-time. We look after the horses
and cows, the pigs and sows, and the rams
and the lambs, and chickens, and turkeys,
and geese. We cut our own wood, and
raise our own bread and meat, and don’t
have to be stingy of it like city folks. A
friend, who visited us not long ago, wrote
back from the town that his grate don’t
seem bigger than the crown of his hat since
he sat by our great big friendly fire-place.
But these city folks do beat us in schools,
and preachers, and musical festivals, and
shows of all sorts. Most of us are too poor
to send off our children, but they will get
enough learning, if they hanker after it,
for newspapers and books are cheap, and
what one knows now-a-days everybody can
find out, if they want to. It won’t do to
learn too much, nohow, for we have got to
unlearn a heap, and start anew in the age
of progress. When I was in Rome, the
other day, I went up to the Shorter College,
and found Prof. Lynes working in his little
drug-store, weighing, and measuring, and
melting, and mixing all sorts of chemicals,
and I found out he didn’t know anything
about pints and quarts, and ounces and
pounds, and inches and feet, and yards, but
everything was weighed and measured by a
new system. His smallest measure held
about a table-spoonful, and the next one
ten times as much, and the next one ten
times as much as that, and so on. There
was no Troy weight for one thing, and
apothecaries’ weight for another, and avoir
dupois for another, but one set of weights
answered for everything, from a hair to an
elephant. Then he showed me his yard
stick, which he called his meter. It was
about three inches longer than a common
one, and was divided up into tenths and
hundreths, instead of inches and fractions.
Some folks say the old yard-stick comes
from the length of the arm of King Henry
the Eighth, and some say itcome from three
barleycorns make an inch ; but they meas
ured round the whole earth to get this one,
and took one forty millionth part of it and
then made thirteen yard-sticks out of plati
num, and put them in glass cases, and give
one to each of the great kingdoms and gov
ernments, and they call them meters. The
Professor says they have adopted the new
system in some of the old countries, and are
trying it in New York, and it will soon be
all over the country. So we old folks have
got to unlearn the old way, and fall into
line with the rising generation. But it all
seems mighty simple and natural, and it
will do away with so many fractions. I
never did like fractions, nohow. We old
farmers will feel mighty awkward sending
to town for a killdv ' of tobacco, or a deca
logue of molasses, or ten meters of calico,
or some such outlandish names; but I
reckon we can get used to it, or get out of
the way and let the young folks run the ma
chine. I remember when we didn’t have any
dimes nor half-dimes, and everything was
in the meanest sort of fraction. We had
thrips and seven-pences and
which went for 6j and 12-1 and 18| cents;
but the dimes and half-dimes are heap bet
THE CARTERSVILLE EXPRESS.
ter, and save a sight of figuring. I see the
cotton men now quote it by points or tenths,
and I like that. Very soon we will have
no pecks, nor half-bushels, nor gallon meas
ures. The old scales will have to be thrown
aside. The carpenter’s square will retire,
and the cook-books be remodeled. All our
lands will have to be surveyed over again,
and as the new yards are longer than the
old ones, we won’t have quite so much land
as we did before, which will be all the bet
ter ; and if it will shrink up some women’s
feet that I know, it may be considered a
success.
So let the new system come along, and
the sooner the better. One of my nabors is
opposed to it, and takes on terribly ; but
really I don’t see why, for he hasn’t hail
anything to sell for five years, and don t
need any weights or measures of any kind.
I told him, the other day, he reminded me
of a feller who heard that a bank had broke
and he run all the way home to see how
many of their bills he had, and found he
didn’t have any on that bank or any other
bank. Yours, Bill Arp.
Cartersville, Ga.
PROSPERITY BY FARMING.
Prosperity can never come to our people
until they stop canting about hard times,
go to work, and practice economy in its
fullest extent. Solid wealth comes from
the soil. Fortunes are not made in a day ;
if they are, they arc as likely to be swept
away in the same short period. A great
mistake made by a large class of our citi
eens is in the education of their children.
There seems a desire to elevate the offspring
above the parent. This is all the more sui
cidal, as history proves the scheme impos
sible. Our public school system, though
beautiful in theory, is subject to great abuse.
Too much education for a working man is
almost as bad as none at all. The proof is,
that a highly educated child despises man
ual labor, and, as a rule, will not perform
it. Consequently, the professions of law
and medicine are so overdone that it is a
mere accident when one of their followers
succeeds. To become a great and influen
tial merchant, a classical education is not
necessary; and the amount of drudgery
that the youth has to undergo to learn the
rudimentary part of a merchant’s educa
tion would make it painful for the high
graduate. Our farmers should send their
children to school ; but they should not
only teach them to work, but let them feel
that they are to succeed to their vocation in
life. The farm should be cared for with
that object in view, and then, with close
economy, little by little, money may be ac
cumulated.
On nine farms in ten, there is an annual
waste, which, if stopped, in ten years would
represent an amount that would be star
tling. A great variety of crops should be
planted, so, if one fails, the others may fare
better. Produce everything at home, and
the surplus will then be ready money. It
is a bad sign to see farmers coming to town
with a loads of truck, and going back
home loaded with store-goods, and per
haps not a dollar left in his wallet ; yet
such is an every-day occurrence Man’s
wants are more ideal than real, and it re
quires a deal of moral courage to put on
the brakes and say no. But it must be
done, or poverty will always hover around.
Before the war, there lived in Madison
parish, Louisiana, a lady whose husband
was considered a rich man until after his
death, when she found out that the estate
was insolvent. Heart-broken, she went to
New Orleans, and laid her case before a
prominent merchant of that city, begging
him to help her out of her troubles. He
investigated the case, anti thought he saw
the remedy, provided the lady would follow
his advice. “ Madame, I will take your
business in hand on one condition —that
you live upon your plantation, and give it
your personal supervision. Raise your own
hogs, make your own cloth, shoes and farm
ing utensils as far as possible, plant an
abundance of corn, and let your surplus
labor be devoted to cotton, but keep from
sending to the city for supplies ; in other
words, buy nothing you can produce at
home.” The lady went back, kept her word,
and in less than ten years she had paid all
her husband’s debtH, had the property un
incumbered, and money to her credit in
bank.
That is what the bulk of our farmers
should do. Make everything for their own
wants and the surplus for market, and in a
few years the long-looked-for prosperity
will come. Omega.
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.
New Year Ueremouies—Tlie Same Old
Programme Military, Naval, and
Diplomatic Splendor Pennsylvania
Avenue as a Line of Military Defense
Against the Indians—Modern Mimicry
of Diplomacy.
To day’s New Year calls, in Washington,
were a repetition of the familiar programme.
The President, Cabinet officers, Judges of
the Supreme Court —nearly everybody, offi
cial and non-official, received; and every
body called. The New Year receptions at
the capital are good, if for nothing else, to
display the imposing reserve strength of the
army and navy. It has been the policy of
our Government to bring the chiefs of the
savages to the Eastern cities, to impress
them with the strength of our population,
the extent of our resources, and the hope
lessness of their cause in the irrepressible
conflict. This policy has had no apparent
effect upon Indian wars, because the savage
is unable to distinguish those who have
been taught French, engineering, and waltz
ing to qualify them for their executioners,
and the shop-keepers and dandies who
promenade Pennsylvania avenue. The ac
complished “ pups of war ” from West
Point, and the exquisite civilian, look pre
cisely alike when the former is masquerad
ing in citizen’s dress, as is their custom for
364 days ot the year. The way to make
the Government policy effective would be
to bring the Indians here on the first day of
the year, ami let them see our officers in
their war-like panoply; they would then
realize, from their epaulettes, scarfs, gold
braid, and buttons, what terribly destruc
tive fellows they are, and what a numerous
reserve we keep at the capital, with Penn
sylvania avenue as a line of defense.
But the New Year official ceremonies are
instructive and impressive in at least one
other way. We are reminded or. the first
day of the year that we have foreign rela
tions ; that we, as a people, do not live to
ourselves, nor order the fashion of our
National household ; that Republicanism is
not such anew departure as the apostles of
new-fangled steam, electricity, and printing
presses would have us lielieve.} that, in
spite of the discovery of anew continent,
the width of the Atlantic Ocean, and our
vaunted secession from monarchial forms
and formalities, we are compelled to ser
vilely copy that which the “ efi’ete despot
isms” perpetuate only as a venerable tradi
tion. When we see the foreign diplomatic
corps, the gorgeous embassadors of Russia,
Turkey, Austria, Denmark, and the Canni
bal Islands, with their numerous attaches,
any one of them with twice as much gold
braid and tinsel as our own resplendent
army aud navy officers, our minds are car
ried back to the day of Talleyrand and
Matternich, or farther to the age of Riche
lieu and Maechiavelli, when the policies of
nations were not discussed, and the secrets
of courts were not anticipated and exposed
by the press, cabled to the four quarters of
the globe for the information of all the
world, and, finally, for the information of
the diplomats. When we see the modern
embassador in bis arduous and delicate
diplomatic work of calling at the White
House one day of the C 65, presenting his
compliments to the President, wishing him
sftul Mrs. Hayes a happy New Year, our
hearts (not our pockets) may swell with the
reflection, that, in spite of the press, steam,
the Atlantic Ocean, and the Atlantic cable,
we, also, have the proud privilege of pay
ing a few millions a year, at foreign courts,
in support of this venerable, antique, use
less mimicry of diplomacy. C.
Washington, D. January 1, 1880.
By and By.
MARC ARE 1" J. FRESTON.
What will it matter, by and by,
Whether my path below was bright,
Whether it wound through dark or light,
Under a gray or golden sky,
When I look back on it, by and by ?
W T hat will it matter, by and by,
Whether, unhelped, I toiled alone,
Dashing my foot against a stone,
Missing the charge of the angel nigh,
Bidding me thiuk of the by and by.
W T hat wiil it matter, by and by,
Whether with laughing joy I went
Down through the years with a glad
content,
Never believing, nay, not I,
Tears would be sweeter by and by.
What will it matter, by and by,
Whether with cheek to cheek I’ve lain
Close by the pallid angel, Pain,
Soothing myself through sob and sigh,
“All will be else wise by aud by ? ”
What will it matter? Naught, if I
Only am sure the way I’ve trod,
Gloomy or gladdened leads to God,
Questioning not the how, the why,
If I but reach him, by and by.
What will I care for the unshared sigh,
If, in my fear of slip or fall,
Closely I’ve clung to Christ through all,
Mindless how rough the path might lie,
Since He will smooth it by and by ?
Ah ! it will matter, by and by,
Nothing but this : That joy or pain
Lifted me sky ward, helped me to gain,
Whether through rack, or smile, or sigh,
Heaven —home—all in all, by and by.
Chicken Cholera.
A correspondent writing to the Poultry
World, says: “Under the above heading,
in the September number of the World,
your correspondent “ M. ” gives as his the
ory of chicken cholera that it is ‘ caused by
a certain amount of solar temperature,
moisture, and vegetable decom|K)Bition• ,
Now my experience does not accord with
‘ M.’s ’ theory. I have recently lost a
number of tine Dark Brahmas, and 1 am
sure moisture had nothing to do with their
having the cholera. Since June they had
the range of three or four lots planted in
corn and potatoes; had good shade, and
were furnished fresh water to drink three
times a day, and were fed twice a day on
corn and cooked feed ; and aside from the
water that was put out for their use, there
was no water within their range, which is
high and dry. As to the “solar tempera
ture arid vegetable decomposHion,” I am
unable to say what influence they had in
starting the disease or making it unman
ageable; but Ido feel sure that cholera is
contageous, and that my fowls first caught
it from a Light Brahma cock that deserted
a Hock that were dying with the cholera,
and came a distance of four blocks to my
chickens. Of those that got sick all died #
On two former occasions, two or three
years ago, I had the cholera among my
fowls, but saved all those I treated. My
remedy was coal oil and pills, made from
different proportions of blue mass, cam
phor, capsicum, and opium. I was of the
opinion that the remedy was “sure cure,”
as some of my neighbors had used it with
good success. But this season it failed en
tirely.
Up to the time of the cholera bird get
ting among mine they were apparently in
good health, and I have frequently washed
their roosts with coal oil, and allowed but
few to roost together; had furnished them
lime and ashes in which to du jt themselves.
So I think there is no doubt but that chol
era is contagious ; and it is important, in
the treatment of the disease, to remove at
once from the flock every bird that shows
the least symptoms of being diseased.
. * . C .... . .IV . ■ *
Improving TIIO Soil.
Many farms are every year becoming
poorer from constant cropping, and the
question among the agricultural class is:
How will we reclaim our land or bring it
back to its former fertility ? We read and
wo look to our best farmers for relief, but
few have yet diverged from the old ruts,
simply a rotation of crops, impoverishing
the soil like one milking a good cow and
not feeding her properly and expect a good
flow of rich milk.
Commercial fertilizers .are often too ex
pensive, counting first cost, then the freight
by rail for several hundred miles. It has
been acknowledged by good farmers, and
scientific men generally, that red clover is
oue of our foremost fertilizing plants, and
that buckwheat is next in value. The for
mer penetrates the soil with its lap-roots
and rootlets loosening up the soil, while the
stems and foliage gather chemical proper
ties from the atmosphere. Now, as these
are facts, we have a good fertilizer near at
hand, if properly managed. Our motto
should be, till a less number of acres and
do it better, and gather oti‘ of one acre
more than some do off of two, and make
“ better gains.”
Clover is our best plant to utilize. I
would advise the plowing of the land for
clover early, as soon as dry enough, in the
spring, where land is thin or badly worn, to
the depth of three or four inches; then
harrow down fine and level, sow the seed
about at the rate of one bushel to eight
acres. The seed should be tested before
sowing, by trying some in a box of good
damp soil set close to the fire. The seed
should be new seed to insure a good stand.
Immediately after the sower, let a boy fol
low, with a lot of fiue brush drawn by a
horse, in the same manner as brushing in
turnips. Borne get a good stand by sowing
on wheat land in the spring, or with a light
sowing of oats, but land must be pretty
new to insure a good stand, and sown early.
To make the best use of clover as a fer
tilizer, take a good sod plow and cutter,
and turn the crop under while in bloom
(say in June for winter wheat), five or six
inches deep. After it has lain a sho*'t time,
harrow thoroughly the same way that it
was plowed, and cultivate two or three
times during the summer before seeding
time with corn cultivator; set light so as
not to disturb the sod. Harrow, roll and
pack well before drilling in your wheat.
The next year sow wheat, or reserve for
corn.
Another way of handling clover with
good results is as follows; Let the crop
grow in the spring for hay; cut it as soon
as the bloom fades, and stack, or put into
the bam. Then let the clover come on
with the second crop for seed; cut the seed
off, and then break up late in the fall,deep.
This will deposit a lot of seed in the bottom
of the furrow which, if not disturbed, will
lay dormant in the ground. Plow shal
lower the following spring for corn, culti
vate well; cut up the corn in large shock
rows, and plow deep enough to bring up
the dormant clover; harrow and roll the
land ; thoroughly drill in your wheat early
in the season for the latitude you are in ;
save your barn-yard manure and straw
manure, and with it try and get your land
of average quality, by using it on the thin
ner Bpots, which occur more or less on every
farm. Brother farmers, try these experi
ments as I have described in this article,
and see if it will not give you full cribs,
wheat bins, and a fat pocketbook.—J. C. C.
in Prairie Farmer.
REMINISCENCES OF EARLY DAYS
IN TENNESSEE.
Editors Dixie Farmer:
Judge Jo C. Guild has given to the pub
lic an interesting account of his early life
in Sumner county, his attending a ball in
Nashville, and having a tight with a flat
boat captain, his fellow law students telling
him the next morning that the city marshal,
old man Brooks was looking for him, hi,
big scare, and flight around capitol hill*
hiding in the gulley at the Sulphur springs
taking a bee line for Gallatin, not daring to
stop until he reached the end of “Williams
lane,” when he mounted the fence, took a
seat under a big oak tree, and looked back
for Brooks on his old pony.
This “ William’s lane” is a historic spot
when taken in connection with the early
days of this country. A. D„ 1804, William
Williams, of Halifax county, N. C., came
to Nashville to see the surrounding country,
and on his return purchased the Evans
grant, containing 640 acres of land, and in
the following year he, (riding the imp. stal
lion Coeur d’Leon, whose decendants after
wards figured on the turf in Tennessee,)
and his brother Josiaii, moved to the farm
and pitched their tent at the “ big spring.”
In after years William let Josiah have the
land lying West of the public road, each
purchasing additional lands in the rear —a
high and strong fence was built on each side
of the road thus forming the well known
“Williams’ lane.” The fourth and fifth
mile posts on the road between Nashville
and Gallatin were in this lane. Half th - '
length of the lane was as level as a race
course, and equestrians in looking ahead
were often tempted to try the speed of their
steeds at Itheir best gaits when the “half
mile stretch,” as it was called, was in good
order. The farmers around kept well post
ed in those days as to what was going on
at the Nashville race course, for many of
the well-to-do farmers owned thoroughbred
horses, and when Haney’s Maria, Poliey
Powell, or old Walk-in-the Water, was to
make a trial of speed snd endurance with
some bold opponent, business stopped. On
one of these occasions a number of them,
mounted on good saddle horses, were re
turning from the races. About half of the
number had new hata or boots, won on “old
Walk.” One of the number was John Y.,
about twenty-one years old, who was rent
ing a part of the Springbill farm. He rode
a bay gelding that ran and paced quite fast,
he carried in one hand his old hat (wearing
the new one) and across his lap a pair of
boots, won from A. & B. As they came
near the level part of the lane, John pro
posed io give A. a chance to *win back
hat, but A. declined, not fearing the bay
horse so much, but he saw mischief in
John’s eye. The latter then bantered B.
for a pacing race, which was accepted ; for
B. knew his sorrel could distance the bay,
and he was anxious to win back the boots.
A short distance back John had pulled from,
a wagon a white oak lath, but no one no
ticed it. B. rode with spurs. The word
was giveu—go —the bay a length in front,
but soon B. had the sorrel going the right
gait under a steady pull, and was half a
length ahead. John stood up in his stir
rups, raised the lath over his head and
brought it down across the sorrel’s hips,
making a report a loud as a pistol. Both
horses broke, but John kept the bay be
hind, and used the lath without stint on B.’s
swallow-tail blue broadcloth that was
streaming out behind over the sorrel’s hips.
8., in trying to hold on, stuck the spurs
deep in the sides of his horse every jump,
which added fury to fright—John yelling
like a wild Indian, B. alternately begged
and cursed, but in vain. The end of the
lane was reached, but on they went, up and
down the hills, and out of sight for more
than a mile, when the sorrel flew the track
and let the bay pass. The crowd galloped
on, and before the riders had time to rein
up their steeds, return to the post,dismount
and fight it out, the judges interfered, and
B. joined in the laugh.
Owing to the winter rains, and snows, and
freezes, and thaws, and rains again, this
lane much traveled became muddy. It be
came as notorious for its mud in winter as
for its smooth, level stretch in summer; all
produce was transported in those days by
wagon or boat, and the lane was dreaded by
all teamsters. John went one evening with
a cart load of rails to repair his fence on
the road, and he avoided the muddy and
almost impassable lane by going through a
gate that opened into the lane above the
mud; ascending the ridge he met four large
covered wagons, with five or six horses
hitched to each, just coming up from the
opposite side, heavily loaded with goods for
the merchants. The driver of
the first wagon stopped John and asked if
that was Williams’ lane ? “ Yes, sir.” “ We
heard of it before we left Kentucky for
Nashville; is it very muddy now ?” in
quired the teamster. “Ob, no, sir,” said
John, “ I came through it with these
calves and this load of rails ; your teams
will go through it like a streak of greased
lightning; good evening,gentlemen.” John
spent an hour repairing the fence and then
walked back to the top of the ridge to
see the fun. The men and horses were
making desperate efforts to get through, but
first one and then another gave up, with
curses loud and deep upon the infernal
steer driver that had beguiled them into the
place. The following morning John saw
the drivers unloading the wagons, and con
cluded it might be better for him to let his
place alone for a few days, at least until ti e
Kentucky teamsters were gone.
About this time the Hon. Jo C. Guild
was elected to the legislature from Sumner
county, and instead of walking to Nash
ville, (John, who related the circumstance*
to him,) says he thought he would be dig
nified and ride in the stage coach. Dennis,
the driver, a son of the Emerald Isle, was
as good a driver as ever blew a stage horn
or snapped a whip over a four-in-hand, but
the fates were against him that time. It
was dark and raining when he entered the
lane with his four grays, already jaded with
their long muddy tramp. He pulled them
up on the ridge a few moments to let them
blow, then cracked his whip, and into the
mire they went, John says he saw the
coach there the next morning, and heard
that Dennis told Guild be must take his
chances either to sleep in the coach or crawl
out and get on the leader as best he could
and ride bareback to Nashville. Judge
Guild chose the latter, and cooned it out t
old Charley. Dennis unhitched, and put
ting the mail bags on Dick mounted, and
the two waded out. When they got to
’Bquire Williams’ big gate, Judge Guiid
said to Dennis he wished to have a talk
with Esq. Williams about some important
State matters that he wanted actedjon by the
Legislature, ’especially about internal im
provements; he also wanted to have the Es
quire’s opinion about some race-horses. So
the new-made legislator passed the night
with Esq. Williams, and thus avoided the
humiliation of riding into the capital bare
back on a stage horse.
How changed is everything now from
those days of long ago! Esq. Williams
was an able advocate of internal improve
ments, and a leader in building the Nash
ville and Gallatiu turnpike. Judge Guild
acted an important part in building the
railroad from and to the game places, each
located a few steps west of the old road.
Seated under the same old oak tree, spared
by ibe woodman’s axe and unhurt by the
storms of centuries, where young Guild
rested more than half a century since, and
looking west, instead of seeing Marshal
Brooks, I see the horseman, the young girl
U’.ing a pleasure ride in phaeton, the spring
market wagon, the family carriage, the long
train of coaches and cars, drawn by the
iron-horse, all moving to and fro ; the race
course, the muddy Jane, now a field of liv
ing green, promising next season an abund
ant harvest. Viator.
Good Home-made Guar Cotton-seed
swamp-muck, and stable-man n**, mixed,
and little lime thrown over,
—Don’t crowd your fowls in the hen
houses. Give them breathing-room, space
to move about in, and ample roosting ac
commodations. Your hens will not lay
well if you stive theca up in close quarters.
They must have air, and be so situated that
their bodies will not come into contact, h J
night or by day—as far as ibis is possible
to be managed.