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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 10, 1905)
3V 0eeBimi??ss Mjud brig x&keL s&ed EVERY lover of Bobby Burns has just been put under a debt of gratitude to Lord Rosoberry. The cx-Prlmatc of England has succeeded In saving from demolition the venerable "Brig of Ayr," which Scotland's greatest poet made forever notable. The old bridge had fallen Into lament able decay. It had reached a point where Its time-worn stones barely sufficed to It ntr.tVinr Thp rnfiKlllr of oen- y " turles had cracked away the cement, the j stones were crumbling and the danger of collapse made the bridge of "Tam O'Shantcr's" time a constant menace to the safety of all who used It. In this predicament the practical citi zens "who compose the Town Council of Ayr decided that sentiment must give way to utility, the old bridge be demolished, and a new one erected. The decision rightfully brought a pang to the thousands who regard Burns as second only to Shakespeare, indeed among ' Scots he probably lies closer to the affec tions than even the Bard of Avon himself. Tear .down the old bridge! It seemed a crime, a sacrilege! Every consideration of reverence de manded that the poetic structure, whose every stono Is rich in memories of tho gentle singer, should be saved. Its age alone should have protected It from the hands of the destroyer, for even in England where the landmarks of the past have been carefully guarded, there arc few structures to match it in antiquity. Its history is not dependent on tradi tion. Its legal documents, in tho fast fading figures of an old charter. Is re corded that the Brig of Ayr came into ex istence In 123fi. being erected by two maid en ladles, whose souls had bren harried by tho frequent loss of life thnt followed the necessity of fording the treacherous stream. And if age were not motive enough to make for tho preservation of Ayr. the birthplace of Burns, standing lees than a mile and a half away from the bridge. that for centuries has connected tho town of Ayr proper with Newton and Wallace town, should have been an argument nothing could withstand. Lord Ikoschcrry Act?. These considerations did not welsh with the town authorities against tho need of a bridge that should be safe. They were set in their plan, and had actually gone, so far as to ask Tor bids for a new structure when public-spirited llngllshmon and Scotchmen In every see 0 tlon of the globe al5ed on Lord Roscberry to head a movement to save the old bridge. Lord Rosebcrry acted with customary "In the Absence of the Rules" Whad a pig whon we was down on the Little Chantay Seechc. The Doctor begged him off a rancher, to eat up the scraps around camp. A neat person was the Doctor, and a durncd good cook. We called him the Doctor because lie wore specs that's as good u claim as any has to the title.. His idee was that when the pig got fat he would sell him for lots of money, but long fceforo Fox'y Bill (which was piggy) had rcajched the market stage, money couldn't buy him. He was a great pig. My notion of hogs previous to my acquaintance with him was that they were dirty, stupid critters, -without any respectable feelings. Perhaps it's be cause animals get mun-likc when you associate with 'cm a great deal, or perhaps Foxey Bill was an unusual proposition: but. anyhow, lie was tho funniest, smartest brute I ever see, and wo thought a slew of him. Clean was no name for his personal appearance. Every Sunduy the Doctor took a scrub brush and tylggy down to the creek and combined 'em with the kind assistance of a cake of soap. Then Foxey just shone white as ivory, and he'd trot around In front of us, gruntln' to attract our attention, till everybody paid. "What a beautiful, clean pig atn t he just right?" Then he'd grunt his thanks to the company and retire behind the shack fdr a nap. Wo used to fair kill ourselves laughing at that darned pig. He had the most wheedlln squeal, So soft aud pleadln'; and he'd look up at you with them skim-milk eyes of his so pitiful, when he "wanted a chunk of sugar, that you couldn't refuse him. And knowin! Honest, he knew more'n some men. One day old Wind River was tellln some things (that might tt,,n.u.u u ihiui ill jjia U9UU nm, uciii muoi uictui iu kci me aaies nnd all dead right, you know "now was the namo Pete, after all? Comes to my mind it was Willyam Willyam Perkins Well But. anyhow, him and me. we saw that Injun." and so forth, This wa a Sunday, and the gang of us sittin' in a circle, fixing leathers and one thing- and another and mis zeal. He needed no urging., for he is a. deep admirer of Burns, and the idea .of wiping out such a landmark aroused in him all the energy that In the past he was wont to use in his political battles. His flrfct act was to address a letter to the town council in which he appealed for delay. This ho followed with an open letter to all lovers of Burns, in which he asked the assistance of all who had means to contribute. Letters of protest began pouring in on the Town Council by the hundreds, and all were so warmly worded that even that lethargic body became aroused to tho fact that Britain did not intend to sit Idly by. and let on of Its most pic turesque landmarks be sacrificed. Following the request of Lord Rose- bery, the Town Council agreed on a delay of four months to canvass the mat ter, and called on engineers and archi tects to make an examination of the bridge with the Idea of seeing what sug gestions they could advance. Verdict of tlic Architects. Some of the foremost experts of Eng land volunteered their services and has tened to the spot. Every inch of the sevcn-ccntury-old structure was gone over with critical eye. and when the time for a hearing came. there descended on the Town Council of Ayr such a delegation of experts as. have seldom Vbcen drawn together in any one place. By common consent the Society for the Preservation of Ancient Buildings put forth as their spokesman Francis Fox. of the firm of Sir Douglas Fox and Partners, Westminster. Mr. Fox first paid high compliment to tho local engineer for the careful repairs he had from time to time, with small money and small facilities, made on the old structure. But for these. Mr, Fox said, there would be no Auld Brig to talk about. It would long since have collapsed. Then he added that a time had como when the bridge was doomed unless some thing were done and quickly. It could hardly hold together more than a few months. If utility alone wore to be considered, he advised tho demolition of the bridge. but if a due regard were to be paid to sentiment, the old structure could be maintained. Then to the great delight of the dis tlnguishcd audience that listened. Mr. For asserted that the bridge could be saved. and without any loss of its identity. Savcd.by Cement. The plan of taking it down stone by stone and re-erecting, using the old stones. Mr. Fox pronounced to be out of the ques tlon. So many of the stones have THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN'S SELECTED FICTION. statin history faster than a horse could trot, with Foxey Bill In tho middle, cocking his head from one speaker to another, takln it all In. At last Wind River wound up the most startlin and unlikely collection of facts he'd ever favored us with for some time. Up gets Foxey with a shriek and gallops around the house Any man with the rudiments of intel ligence would know he was hollerin': "Well, that's too much for me; ta-ra- rum: i Wind River looked scart. "Say!" savs he. "Say! Thet hawg knows I'm er-ly-in' Jcs' cs well's I do!" After that old Windy used to talk to the pig as though they'd been raised together. Foxey Bill made ons miscalculation. He thought he was a small pet. like a cat. This didn't Jibe with the MO pounds of meat he toted. And. like a cat. one of his principal amusements was to have his back scratched. If you didn't pay attention to him when he squealed so pretty for you to pleace curry him with a board, he'd hump up his back like a cat, and rub against your legs. You In stantly landed on your scalp-lock and waved the aforesaid legs In the air. Of course, when the other fellers saw this comin. they didn't feel it rcstin on their conscience to call attention to it in fact, wo sometimes busied one another talkln to give Foxey a fair field. So Foxey had things his own way around the dig gin's for some time. Then conies bow-legged Hastings, our boss, with a ram tied hard and fast In the bottom of the wagon. He explains to us that the ram Is valuable, but that he's butted merry Halifax out of everything down to home, and he don't want to shut him up, so will we please take care of him? And we said No Wanitchee heap we guessed not never. Then Hastings got mad and talked to us. flyin' his hands. Such a disoblgin,, stubborn, sour outfit he never trfw, he said. What was the use of his beln boss, when we had Just laid awake nights thinkln' up disagreeable things to do to him? Was there ever a time that he'd asked us to do this or that, that every man In reach didn't rar up and Jump down his throat? He said he'd rather be a nigger rooster on a condemned Govern ment steamboat than bar tfee title of boss of such a rag-efcewin. hMe-be-n set of mules; kick. kick, kick hoOsIc feat kick, and life waso't "worth llvtn. Se tbe lie west tefclBril tke c&fcck aai THE SUNDAY ORBGONIAjV. PORTLAOT, DECEMBER 10, 1905. if S,nJ fa cracked and crumbled that once lifted J bridge, for th- structure would naturally Srom the structure they would fall to I lose all the features that gave It sentl pleccs. Such a plan would mean a new ' mental Interest, Its wrinkles and furrows. 40 By Henry Wallace Phillips pouted. Well, we liked Hastings, and this ; made us feel bad that's the way he worked us. The Doctor, he fried up a dish or all sorts In his happiest manner, and took it around In a cheerful voice. No. Didn't want food. Heart was broke. So then we all went and apologized and agreed to keep the ram. Tl.'-n Hastings recovered and wc had that cussed shcp on our hands and feet and ail over us. Well. It was like the devil cnlerin a happy home. As for Foxey. he Just took one long look at the brute, curlin" and un- curlhV his little tail; then "Hungh!" says he. and blinked bis eyes shut, walkln away from there. I've Eeen times when I'd like to been able to use the English of that grunt, to thoroughly acquaint omo gentleman of how little I thought of film. dui 1 ain t got tne gut 01 spceciu it was an awful call-down but the sheep ho didn't care. If there was such a thing as a foolish Sheeny, that's what a sheep would remind me of. But the rest of us run into practical and applied trouble In Its various branches. There's one night the Doctor starts for the cabin with a mess of flapjacks In his hands, and the sheep comes up and pushes him in the pistol pocket so that the doc tor goes sailing into the drink with a stack of brown checks hovcrin' all around him. Then Wind River shows his one tooth and rocks on his heels. Irollcrla and lnuehln". and the sheep rises up and smites him on the hip and thigh so he flew after tho Doctor like a gray-whiskered skyrocket, with a ha-ha! cut in two la the middle. "Wooshr says old Windy, as he comes up. "HI. there, cooky! Til beat you ashore!" He was a handy-wltted old Orahanna. that Windy, and you didn't put the kybofh dTi him easy. So It went with all of us. That ram came out of no-where-at-all another night an i pitted me on the stummlck so I pretty near fainted. I tried to twist his cussed head off his shoulders, but he'd knocked the wind out of me. so It was like fightln an army In a nightmare. I was glad when the boys come out and pried me loose. Ob. oh! How we hated that woolly, bleatin fool of a sheep! "Well." says Windy, "I'm Uyln fur th' Aay" he asaggles himself up with Foxey BilL Tou're ge4n to see. a Bice quiet sfeeep after that happetM.' The rest vl vs had tots of faith In Billy. but we couldn't sec where he stood a show to win. 1 "Shucks!" says Steve. "The aheep'll knock the bacon out of him. The Lord knows I don't want to sec It. but that's what's got to happen. Poor BUI ain't onto his style of flghtln at alL You know how pigs make war standin side by side, tryln to hook each other in the flank, gruntln and drclin around with little quick steps how's that goln to apply to this son-or-a-gun that hits you a welt like a domestic cannon and then chases himself off to ' the skyline for another try?" "Well. cut In the Doctor. "I ain't a sayin' how but Bill docs him. all the same bet your life!" "You talk feeble-minded." says Steve. "Nobody'd more like to believe you than me. but the points ain't on the cards. It'll be Just like that Braddock campaign agin the Injuns. There goes the British ers (that's Bill) amblln gaily through the 'woods, dressed up In red and ma renin arm to arm. for fear some careless Injun would miss 'cm. and there's the Injuns (that's that darned ram) off In the woods Jumpin up and down with pleasure and surprise. "Oh. Jimmy! hollers the Injun to his little boy. 'Run get grandpa. Towscr. mamma, and the baby Every body's goln to pick one of these and take It home no Injun so. poor but what he's entitled to at least one Englishman." "That's all right." says Windy. "But Where's your Injun now?" "Well. says Steve. flabbergasted. "tbaUs kind of true, too; he has vanished some." "I bet yoa money." says the Doctor, "that Bill docs him." "I hate to rob the poor m mind." says Steve. "And yet I'd like to lose that be make It a month's wages?" "Im for standin by my friends." says the Doctor. Til bet you up to the fl:st of January. "Got you." says Steve. "You know- where yon can borrow chewln. anyhow. Any other gentleman waat part of this 7' Steve had money he'd drew ettt of his poker same up town, so the rest of us stood not to live high until after January first. If Foxey BiH dMn't Hck that sfcee. We dlda't believe he wmM; still, he car- WeTA. sir. It wax a iMgh time waKki for the wwkt te ink C BM simply despJced the sfceey. CMt ataad sear kit. iS , we? , A to "him. The only time he'd stay by the house was when the sheep was off some where. And. of course. It was strictly against the rules for any person to aid. abet or help either warrior, or Interfere In any way. shape or manner. I was two mile out from camp one day, when I heard "Ke-bang. ke-bang. ke- bangety. bang-bang-bang-bang!" The Doc tor was loaln off all the guns In the snack to once. I hollered to Steve, him to Win dy, and then we flew for home. leaving the j calves to their own responsibilities for a while. The other boys were on hand when wo arrived, their faces shinln with ex citement, and yellin' to us for the love of Moses to shake a leg before It was too late. Poor Billy was plckln himself up. after rollln over three times, and tho durned ram was prancln away, wigglln his tall like little boys dees their fingers with a thumb to the nose. The Doctor explains to us, whilst we was waltin for the next Jar. "Thfirc's Bill." says he. "eatln his meal out of his half-a-barrel as quiet and decent a citi zen as you'll find anywheres. That's his grub and he don't like grass. Well, what must that quarrelsome hunk of horns and mutton do, but try to shove him away from there. Mind you. that ram does like grass, and he's got several thousand square miles of It to lunch on but. no. sir! What he must have Is a hunk of bread out of Billy's barrel. Now, Billy's no hog he lets him have the piece of bread then the ram wants the hull bar rel; hoops, staves and alL That's too hootln goldam many for anybody to stand, by 10 per cent, so BUI slams him one. The ram walks off and fetches him a swat like hlttin a aide of beef with a l-foot board. Poor old Bill rolls three yards. Then he takes after tho brute, but the ram runs away as usual. Billy thinks the fight is. over and goes on with his eatln. You're Jest la time to see the end of' the second round. Bill's goln to lick, him. but cuss me If I see how. He can't get at that blaatln. skippin' mess of wickedness. He don't understand at alL If tho sheep would give him one fair hack, he d scow hlsn! Look! Oh. Lordy! ' There ha goes again! Damn that sheep! It was an awful sight Sot Billy's friends .to wttness. 111 sever tell you how roady times he went rollte' down the hill, only ta come back as name and useless' a a rotr AtkUa' hte owa reSeeUw fat a Lord Roseber y Intervenes Historical and literary Landmark. Sag- OXJO K5 lookln" glass. He'd chase after the sheep." gruntln tierce, but pshaw! the crltte'rd simply trot right away from. him, wlg glln .that insulttn tall In hls face.l Old Billy's tail was colled as tight as a watch spring with rage. . "He'll do him." says the -Doctor. "He sure will! Now you wait." "I am waltin," says Steve, at the end of tho 20th round. "Waltin an wait In. The only play that I see Billy makln Is for the sheep to break his neck: buntin' him. You hand me that rifle. 111 now bet the crowd there's a dead sheep here In five seconds by the watch- I can t stand this." But we wouldn't let him cut In. Fair play 13 fair play. Boys." says wind River, sort, -am nas laid his ropes I see It In his eye!" G'wanl" says Steve. "You sec it In your own eye!" Well, you watch, says Windy. "BUI and me has been pretty well acquainted ever since that day he called me a liar look at him now!" Sure enough. Bill was nosin his barrel away from the house. I couldn't see the point exactly, but took It on faith. Ho was knocxed. gaey-west ana crconea three times before he moved the thin? a rod. but whatever he had In his mind. he calmly went on with It a3 soon as he got up. "Oh, thunder!" says the doctor. "See him now! BUly, you're an old fool! YotiU get butted plumb - Into the crick next pass!' For BUI had pushed the barrel to within five foot of- the edge of the creek. And when he heard the doc tor talk. I'll take my oath that pig looked up and smiled. "He's got hlra now!" says Wind River. "He's got him now. for all.my next year's salary! I see It in hla face: And "Windy was so dead sure he Im pressed the rest of us. So there's silence whilst old -Foxey Bill Is chewln away In the barrel, and the ram Is comin' over the grass t-r-rmt, t-r-rmt as hard as he- can paste aer. Eeaa aown. ana eyes snur. BU1. he doesn't see anything, either, until there ain't more'n three fot of air be tween 'em. and then he Jumps aside. "Swoosh!" goes the ram Into the water. and BUly straightens- out his little eurly tall and waves It in tae air like a nag. And holler! I wlsht yoa could have heard that pig. No thin' could have been more human. "I've got the deady-deady oh you. you hook-nosed, slab-sided, second cousin a GovacMMflt nut. says he. "Oh to Perpetuate This the distorted arch and the weather-worn arrises. Instead of that," Mr. Fox pointed out that the use of the grouting machine would make it possible to fill up all the cracks with cement, ana maice tne Dnage as firm as ever. He told of other old-time structures that had been repaired in this way. By means of the grouting machine, liquid cement is blown by compressed air into the very heart of the wall, no matter of what thickness, whether the fissure be wide or as narrow as a sheet of cardboard. This plan was accepted as the ideal on9 to meet the needs of the bridge. As suming the structure to be grouted up, and thus secured from falling. It was a comparatively easy matter to strengthen the foundations? by building a box of ver tical timber around each pier. An open discussion drew opinion from such other noted architects as John Car ruthers. John Strain, Messrs. Mulrhead, Greig & Metthews and Messrs. Simpson & Wilson, that the old bridge could be saved, and at a cost small in relation to Its historical and romantic value. Under these conditions, the Town Coun cil withdrew Its scheme for a new bridge, and agreed to the plan of saving the old one. The work has already started. It will cost some $60,000, which has been sub scribed by British admirers of -Burns. lillllS 'Mi 1; I'vo got. you where I want you. and the way I want you. and it's up to you to convert yourself into cash at the earliest opportunity, lor you won't be worth much in 'the market when I'm tired of my fun!" This he says as he gallops to the other side to head the sheep off, his mild blue eye on fire. I tell you It's dangerous to rouse up a fat person with a mild blue eye. A sheep don't swim much better than a mowln' machine, and.' this feller got des peratehe was for the shore, no matter what broke. And BUI ripped the wool out of him for fair a3 ho tried to scram- blo up. "Our fight, Steve!" says the doctor. "I knew he'd do him all the time! You throw up the sponge and we'll yank the critter out!" "Let him drown." says Steve. "I don't like him, hide nor hair and besides, think what he's cost me." But that wouldn't do. Hastings would have looked so mournful, happiness couldn t get along in the same territory with him. So out comes Mr. Ram. Done. Everlastingly done. All In and the cover screwed down. We pointed our fingers at him and did a war dance around him. sayin: "Agh-bagh! You will, will you? Now, don t you wish you d been good! He hadn't a word to say. And that good old Billy, he corae3 up and rubs Wind "River's legs out from under him just as natural as ever, not set up or swell-headed a bit. like the gentleman he was. The ram eat his grass and mlnaed his own business from that time on. 3Iouest Christmas "Wishes. and brother made a list Of what wo waat to get; We're worked on it a great big whll But it ain't finished yet. Brother wants a uniform. .And a. rocking horse. And a great big telescope And a drum, of course. Me, I want a real live dog. A rough rider suit. Marbles asd a truly gun That will really shoot. Brother -wants a pair of skates, I want a canoe: Brother wants a hockey stick. And I want one, too. Brother wants a Xoah's ark. I really need a knife. And I need some eow shoes, tos; Brother needs a flfe- Aj, It seems a great big list. Ana yet It's tar too smalt. Becausa It don't tell half tae thlsgs Tat Ttt wast, at all.