The Sunday Oregonian., July 18, 1909, SECTION FIVE, Page 3, Image 49

THE SUNDAY OKEttOXIAX. PORTLAND, JULY 18. 1909-
3
JUST A DOi. A rUll YCAB OLD BOY
AND-ntAVLN!
SOME RECOLLECTIONS OF
BACKWOODS LIFE IN
MISSOURI BY A LAD WHO
HASNT FORGOTTEN.
ET B. A. CHILDERS
SHOW ib a boy who does not love a
dog and I'll show you a boy who has
something wrong in his makeup.
Every normal lad, from the time he can
toddle, just goes naturally to the dogs.
Give him a puppy when he Is 6 and he is
as near heaven as he ever will be. unless
he finally happens to get there. Then
he will look around for the wraith of ,
Tige. his childhood playmate and eompan- I
ion. who shared all his joys and sympa-
thised with him In all his sorrows. If I
Tige Is not there the place will seem lone
Kome and one-sided. '
The first dog that I remember was Old
Fall. His entire body was black as coal
lar. while his face and head were pure I
white. This suggested his name, and the
years prefixed the adjective "old
was a fighter from start to finish. Noth
put It up a hollow post-oak tree. I
danced up to the tree, visions of rabbits
filling the air all about me.
Satisfied that we had him treed good
and tight, I cut a stout switch with which
to twist him out. After carefully splitting
the end, so that it would catch In his fur.
I Inserted the stick and pushed it up the
hollow until I felt It touch his soft body,
then began to twist.
When the stick refused to turn further
I gently began to pull on It. It would not
do to hurry or I would pull the skin off
and have to twist him over again. All of
this I had learned from watching the
boys.
Finally he let go, and I drew him down
and seized his hind legs and pulled him
from the tree, when Ball finished him by
biting him through the head.
You can oply Imagine, faintly, the
thrills of happiness that passed through
Ball ' me as I started for home, my mind full
of loy and my hands full or rabbit.
When I came in sight of the- house I
tng aaunteo. mm. not even nmoer won. , be(;an B ve ..you ea(, j couldn t cateh
As for common curs, they were simply Bnything! You said I couldn't catch any-
playthlngs that ne 10.0K up, snoox. anu : thing! And I kept up my shouting until
cast aside as unworthy of future notice, j I marched Into the house and proudly cx
Wlth Ball's assistance, I captured my hibited my prize.
first hare- I had reached the dignified No conquering hero returning from a
. M . . . ,Ki victorious campaign ever thrilled 60 nap-
age of 4 years when that notable event Ver mv first rabbit. It was a
occurred. I had been hunting with the
boys, had seen them twist a stick Into a
hare's fur and pull him from the hollow
of a tree, and felt sure that I could per
form the operation successfully.
With the hunting Instinct 6trong in my
.-nul. I began to tease my mother for
rermusinn to go out into the woods and
slaughter something. I had not fully de.
cided what I should kill, but I felt con
fident I could capture a rabbit if notn-
mly as I over my
feat of which any four-year-old kid might
be proud, and 1 was exultant. I did not
want to share much of the glory with
Ball, although my success was owing en
tirely to his efforts.
During this Winter Ball received the
prefix to his name, and was thereafter
I known as "Old Ball." In his wanderings
. ! and night prowling he had the misfortune
le I thought Kail was enual to 1 S one or nis ninn teet mio a m-
anvThlng. even a gray wolf. I knew but trap. He was gone two days, and when
little about wolvvs. only from their howl- he reached home the foot was swollen to
In at night which I had oft.n hard. ,! the size of six ordinary feet. The bones
nd stories told of them. but. with Ball to were crushed so badly that the entire
p-otect me I wai not afraid of a wolt. i foot came off, bone at a time, and we
Pinallv mv mother gave me permission i children called him "Old Ball" through
to go. but told me I couw not cau-n any- Mm'iu. v -
thing, being too small for a Hunter.
But
I had a child's faith in my own ability.
and plunged into the woods full of confi
dence and hope.
It may seem strange that a mother
would allow a little fellow like I was to
go hunting alone, but we lived in the
backwoods of Missouri, and children born
and reared under those conditions were
more self-reliant. They were taught
fearlessness from then- Infancy, and I
had no sens of fear. We had never been
told stories to make us cowards. No bug
bears were ever invoked to frighten us
Into obedience. Whenever told to do a
thing, we d;d it promptly, otherwise a
nat bazel switch made music about our
lcs. and we danced sadly to its tune.
Tnose were occasions to be avoided, and
prompt obedience kept the dancing les-t-ons
a long w-ays apart. I think I recall
aoout six occasions on which I performed
io the satisfaction of everybody con
cerned, alrhough, as well as I can recall
thow events, I did not enjoy them so
vcu could notice it at all.
Nasbv. speaking of Us childhood, said:
"Th davs of my boyhood were spent in
tr-e pursuit of knowledge and musk
rats, more especially the latter." Mine
were, spent in the pursuit of knowkdg
and rabbits, and of the latter I secured
a good supply.
It was a bright Winter morning in Jan
uary. ISSi that 1 started on my first hunt
ing expedition alone. A light enow cov
ered the ground, and this held thousands
of rabbit tracks. There may have been
only a half-dozen rabbits to make them,
but the tracks were there, and they tired
my Imagination and stimulated my desire
to get a rsbblt. Mother was from Mis
souri, and so was I. ar.d both had to be
shown.
About a quarter of a mile from the
house Ball started one. After the lapse
of f years I ran Mill hear my exultant,
childish yell aa I urged him on after the
rabbit.
The chase was a swift one from the first
Jump, and within one hundred yards Ball
when he had only three legs, and that
was going some.
Ball was a natural born glutton. On
one occasion this proclivity almost led to
his death. The Germans brought butter
in sack, which my father, who kept a
little store, bought, sack and all.
On one occasion my mother, after she
had emptied a sack, hung it on a line and
forgot It. There Ball found It that night
and proceeded to .get bisy. Every part
of the sack was covered with butter, and
the combination looked good to Ball, who
promptly proceeded to devour It, butter,
sack and all.
For weeks thereafter Ball was troubled
with Indigestion. He would turn up his
nose at the daintiest piece of meat placed
before him. For days he refused to eat.
but he finally digested the sack, after
which he grew fat and sleek, but he
would never again look a sack in the face.
All we had to do to drive him Into the
woods was to leave a sack out over night.
The next morning Ball would be gone,
and he never showed up until the ob
noxious article had heen removed. This
showed that he knew when he had
enough sack.
The Winter following the sack feast
Ball met a tragic end. It was the end of
an Iron-weed, and the old dog met It In
springing at a stray cat. The point of
the weed entered the abdomen, pierced
his body and came out near the hip.
By a skillful surgical operation, aided
by a pair of pincers, my father removed
the weed, but the shock was too much
for the old dog, who had tussled, suc
cessfully, with wolf-traps and butter
sacks, and he died, the victim of circum
stances and an Iron-weed, superinduced
by his left-handed love for a cat.
The year following Ball's death was
a dreary one to me. I had lost my play
mate, and a country boy without a ball
or a dog. is sure to be lonely. Of course
there are other pleasures, but a dog Is
something absolutely essential to a coun
try boy's happiness. How is he going
to chase rabbits, opossums and squirrels
withoxit a dog?
One cold morning the following Wln-
You ran only- Imaartne faintly the thrill
of happlaeaa that paused throaarh me
urn I started for home.
ter. after I was dressed, my father told
nie to go Into the wood-shed and see
what I could find. I knew by the twin
kle of his eye that he had a surprise for
me. and I hurried out to see what it
was.
When I reached the shed I found the
most cunning little ball of yellow fur I
ever saw, and inside of the ball was a
puppy, just suited to a boy of my size.
You may guess at my happiness, but
you can't fathom It. It was too deep for
me to realize It all at once, but. gradu
ally. I absorbed it without any danger
of explosion. Then I knew that my days
of loneliness were gone.
If naming the first baby is a serious
matter to its loving parents, naming his
first puppy Is a no less serious matter
to a boy. Various named were suggested,
considered, and refused. Ball was a
natural name for the old dog, but noth
ing about the little bundle of fur, except
Its color, suggested a name.
My father suggested that, Inasmuch as
the color of the puppy resembled a
tiger's, we should call him Tiger, and that
title was unanimously adopted by me.
Of course from Tiger to Tige Is only a
short step, and henceforth he was known
by that name.
For eight years Tige and I were in
separable companions. He developed Into
a splendid fighter, and was as swift of
foot us Old Ball. In an open race of
100 yards he could easily catch a hare.
The most terrific .fight I ever witnessed
occurred between Tige and a big coon. I
was plowing corn when I heard Tige
baying something down on a little branch
that ran through the field. I thought
it was a hog. so I went down to get It
out of the field.
Along the branch a luxurious field of
grass, waist-high, grew. The blades were
bearded, and it was difficult to walk
through, the beards catching In one'a
clothing and Impeding his progress.
Carefully I parted the grass and made
my way through It until I caught sight
of the dog. Instead of a hog. as I ex
pected, he had the biggest coon I ever
saw. up in the corner of the fence. They
had evidently been having the time of
their lives, two or three roda of grass
having been mashed as level as a floor,
where the battle had been raging.
Hostilities had ceased on my approach,
each combatant, however, keeping a
warv eve on the other. It was plain
to be seen that neither trusted the other,
and my appearance only added to the
coon's uneasiness.
As soon as I took In the situation I
said. "Sick him. Tige!" And then you
should have seen the mix-up. It was
Tige and the coon. Intermingled with
squeals, yelps and barks, until I could
not distinguish between the two ani
mals. Finally they tore loose from each other,
and stood regarding each other, panting
and angry, with hate in their eyes. I
waited until Tige was rested, then set
them at It again.
I do not know how many rounds they
fought.. I did not keep tab on them, but
I know there was no faking. Kach ani
mal was In deadly earnest, the coon
fighting for his life. Tige for victory.
Whichever animal got a good grip on
rne other never let go until- torn loose.
That the battle was a desperate one. was
evinced by the fact that both animals
were covered with blood.
During one of their deadly grapples. In
which the coon had a grip on Tige. the
dog. In tearing loose, threw his antag
onist clear over his head, and the coon
landed, head on, within about four feet of
where I was standing. He did not stop
when he hit the ground, but came for me
as if he had "a feelin' " for me.
I did not hesitate a moment, but sprint
ed Into the tall grass, which caught and
held me firmly. Just before the enraged
animal caught me, Tige nailed hmi and
jerked him inside the area, where tbey
went at It again. "
If that coon had not attacked me wan
tonlv and without provocation, his tenure
of life would have been prolonged. But
nis uncalled-for1 attack on an innocent
bystander stirred my anger, and I went
In search of a club.
When I returned, properly armed, Tige
had the coon backed up In the fence cor
ner and was regarding him with an eye
of suspicion. I could see at a glance that
no love was lost between the animals,
and, being a little angry myself, I waded
In to Mr. Coon In fine style.
The first blow caught him on the side
of the headland upset him. T hit him
again, then turned him over to Tige, who.
finding the animal on its back, gripped
its breast and soon squeezed the life out
of It.
This was Tige's first coon.
the first one 1 bad ever seen,
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were both somewhat elated over our vic
tory. Tige and I had been lucky over our first
finds. We killed the first skunk either
of us ever saw. I pulled It from a hole
low tree by the tail, and Tige did the
finish. I never felt proud of that Inci
dent. And to make It worse, they put
me in the barn and fed me from the end
of a pole during a whole week. Then for
a month "the children would make re
marks about my taste in perfumery, and
suggest that some boys did not know
enough fo' bury ' themselves when they
were dead.
Seaside. Or.
Obadiah Oldway at Cherry Fair
He Advances the Theory That Spraying Swells the Size of the Fruit.
the life out
and It was I
:en. and we
HOAXVTLLE. Or.. July 13. (.Mr. Edi
tor) We Just got home from the
cherry fair down to Salem last
night. We drove down and camped, and
It seemed a little like old times before
there was so many hotels. Hanner cooked
up a good lot of stuff and so our livln'
expenses wasn't much, but I had to put
the horses In the livery stable o' nights.
I hitched 'em to the hack wheels durin'
the day, but I dasn't leave them that way
at night for fear of hatn' 'em stole. You
never can tell who's who among all them
fellers as hangs around fairs of this kind.
Though old Selim ain't much of a looker,
he's a pretty good horse after all and
well worth stealin'. Shakespeare says.
"It ain't no use to lock the stable after
the horse is stole," so I put the team in
the barn and paid the feller to keep an
eye on them. I did my own feedln", and
the feller knocked off five cents from his
bill when I come to settle up. He's pretty
clever, that feller is, and I wish you'd
make it a point to put your horse up
there when you come down to Salem.
Men like him needs encouragln.
They had a king for the cherry fair.
He was a big. husky specimen of a man,
and him and the queen looked like the
picture of King Solomon and the Queen
of Sheba that used to hang on the wall
at Sunday school back in old Missouri
when I was a boy. I'll be derned If they
didn't! I called Hanner's attention to it,
but site said she couldn't see any great
resemblance. Beats all how some folks
forgets the teachln' of their Sunday
school days.
This here king had a big gold key over
two feet long. It was the biggest key I
ever laid eyes on. They said it was the
key to the city, but I didn't see no lock
nowheres near big enough to fit It. But
of course, I s'pose they wouldn't have
that where every Tom, Pick and Harry
could have a chance to pick it, and filch
the town 01 the tax money and slch.
Next time there's a parade, them devil
wagons by that I mean them abomin
able automobiles ought to be sup
pressed. It seems like you can't go to
no doin's nowadays without seein' them
pesky machines trigged out and amakin'
a parade of themselves to the discomfort
of the crowds of sufferin' humanity
that's gathered to see the sights. They
ought to be kept off the streets and main
roads, parade or no parade.
The crownln' of the king and his in
auguration speech was the occasion of
& good deal of hollerin. and you'd a
thought the people had clean forgot that
this is a republic and that they have a
President settin' in the Wrhite House at
Washington and drawin' his fifty thou
sand dollars a year out of the tax money.
Some people are so frivolous that a lit
tle toggery and a blare of trumpets
makes 'em forget that all these things
cost like the dickens and that when the
dance is over they have to pay the
fiddler.
Hanner was considerable upset over the
women ridin' horseback in the parade.
They all rode squaw fashion and wore
split skirts instead of the long flutterln',
trailin' ones that she used to wear when
she was a girl, back in Missouri. This is
a new fashion, ain't It? I ain't saw
nothin' like that here in Hoaxville. I
reckon they don't use a side-saddle when
they ride this way, do they? I didn't
have a chance to observe ali the details
for Hanner. she was in a hurry to see
the cherries Just then and I had to go
with her. She was so afraid that she
wouldn't see every single cherry that
was brought in that she hung around
that buildln' the most of the time we was
to the fair.
Well, sir, when I see them cherries I
was completely beat. I have raised cher
ries for a good many years, and I
thought I had raised some pretty derned
good ones, too. though I ain't, as you
might say, been in the cherry business
as some is nowadays. I've got a big
Royal Anne tree on the south side of the
house that's .pretty nigh as big around
as a man's body, and we get all we want
to use from it. Then there's two or three
Black Republican trees as are pretty fair
bearers down in the old orchard. But if
the fruit they had on show at Salem was
cherries, I guess I aln'r ever raised any
thing worth mentioning.
Why, I seen Royal Anns and Black Re
publicans and BIngs and Lamberts and
goodness knows what other kinds down
there as was as big as the nozzle on a
beer bottle. I'll leave It to Hanner If it
ain't so.
They had 'em packed ir boxes like so
many dress buttons. The . boxes was
about a foot square, and I counted the
cherries in one. and I'll swan! it only
took nine to fill out a row. and they
wasn't the biggest there, cither. Did you
ever hear tell of the like?
They said that most of the trees that
these cherries was took from has been
sprayed. There may be something In the
spray that puffs and swells up the fruit.
I shouldn't wonder If there was, for I
never seen no cherries as was left to
grow as the Creator intended that was
anyways near as large as them. I want
ed to feel of some of them and bite into
them to see if they was the real thing,
but Hanner seen them cards with "Hands
off" printed on them, and she wouldn't let
me touch one for fear I'd get arrested.
That's just the way with a woman, al
ways worryin' about somethln"!
To prqve my theory about sprayln'
swellin' up things. I showed Hanner some
tubs of dog fennel that was a-settin'
around In the room among the cherries.
The blooms was enormous, bigger'n a sil
ver dollar, and the stalks was as much
as two feet long. Of course Hanner she
disputed my word. She said, says she.
"Them flowers is Shasta daisies put in
for decorations, and no more dog fennel
than a turkey is a duck."
I tried to argue with her, but she would
have the last word, and people got to
standin' around, so I kept still. But you
know, and I know that dog fennel grows
in orchards as natural as wool on a
sheep, and it's likely that some of the
spray v falls on It . and makes It grow i
bigger'n common. I always did hold out
agin sprayln' and this proves that I am
right. The pesky weed Is bad enough in
its natural state.
When I've saw a thing once that does
me. so I took in some of the street doin's
while Hanner was amoonin' around the
cherries and flowers. There was a place
where they said they had a "Merry Wid
der" cottage, and I thought of course it
was the home of the woman who in
vented that monster of a hat that the
"women wear sometimes, so I paid my 10
cents to get In to see it. I just had a cu
riosity to see what kind of a shack that
crazy woman lived in. When I got in a
. feller told me to set down on a swing
bench that was there, and then he began
to swing me. He swung harder and hard
er and me a hollerin' and yellln' for him
to stop. I got so dizzy I couldn't see any
thing and the walls of that blamed cage
turned over and over till I had to think
twice before I could make sure I wasn't
standin' on my head. When he thought
he had me killed he stopped. You ought
to have heard the lecture I gave him and
his partner w-hen I got out. It was a
clean case of swindle. There wasn't no
"Merry Wldder." nor a house either.
Don't tell Hanner that I spent 10 cenls to
go in there. I'd never hear the last of it
if she found it out.
There was other shows there, but they
didn't get me inside of none of 'em after
that experience. T got to see a good dea!
of what they had by watchin' out and
llstenin' when they come out to give a
free show on the outside. One feller slid
down a wire from the top of the court
house nearly every day. I liked to watch
him. but as bad as I need money I could
not be hired to do such a. thing. Could
you?
The last night they had what they
called a "Martha Grass." That's when
everybody turns loose and acts the fool
and nobody says nothin' ag'ih It. The
king turned over his crown and the big
key to a feller as he said had Just come
from the Islands of the Pacific. He was a
savage lookln' chap with" all that paint
on, and I was considerable worried about
givin' the city up to a stranger like that,
and I suggested to Hanner that we'd bet
ter hook up and pull out for home. But
Hanner, she says, says she. "Obadiah.
you're a bigger fool every day. Can't you
see that that Is Breeze Gibson, as you've
knowed from a baby up? He's dressed
up for a plug-iudy and him and all them
others with false faces is agoln' to lead
the "Martha Grass' doin's to close the
fair."
I'll be derned if she wasn't right for
once In her life, as I plainly seen when I
took a second look. I felt much relieved,
for I knew Breeze would hang on to that
key till the cows come home, as the poet
says, and there wouldn't be no embeuztin"
that night.
We started home next mornln' and
found the children all right, but the
chickens had been scratchin.' in the gar
den. That's the way when you don't
'tend to every thing yourself. Yours truly,
OBADIAH EVBRAT OLDWAY.
P. S. One of them nursery agents has
Just been here and Hanner and John or
dered 167.98 worth of trees for to raise
fancy cherries. It's no use for me to try
to lay up anything. O. E. O.
Preacher Society recently gave proof
of its activity by sending out a mis
sionary with a phonograph to hold
"divine service" In outlying parts of
the city.
The apparatus having been Installed
at some convenient spot the service
began with one or two sacred songs, a
sermon or extracts therefrom followed,
and more church music wound up the
performance. The plan, however, found
little favor with the public, and ap
peals were made to the police to inter
fere. The appeals were successful, and
when the apparatus was made ready
for action in one of the suburbs a po
lice lieutenant and his men took it into
custody as it was wheezing out the first
bars of "Nazareth."
CANNED RELIGION BARRED
Phonojrraphic Sermons Displease
Residents and Police of Berlin.
BERLIN, July 17. (Special.) The
phonograph has entered into social life
almost as intimately as the telephone,
the bicycle, wireless telegraphy, ice
paiaces, or any similar invention, but
the police here draw a line at its use
as mechanical street preacher. A so
ciety calling itself the Spandau Reform
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.Nitil. etc.: U. S. A.. Potter Drw Chem. Corp,
Sol- Pmnfl.. 135 Columbus Ave . Boston.
Kp-Po'it-free.. 32-pase orMrtrra book teHln how
10 praMTva. purity aad beauurjr Ua aiua aad asaip.