Democratic Sentinel, Volume 14, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 November 1890 — HANNAH'S JERSEY. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HANNAH'S JERSEY.

BY CLARA M. HOWARD.

“A fine Jersey!” Wai. yes. sir; She's made o’ the right kind o’ stuff. “Buy her!” Ah, no, sir, You haven’t money enuff. “Gentle?” To me she's alius bin so, But she hat os men like pizen. An’ to show it she’s never '..in slow. “Wouldn’t own sich a critter.” Wai, no, sir; To milk her you never would try, Fer jest let Jabez come nigh her An’ see how she’ll let her heels fly. “How does she know the difrcnce?” Wai, sir, she knows more’n you think; You see Jabez abused her While tryin’ to tern her t j drink. “How wus that?” Wai, sir. I’ll tell you; It happened in this way: Yer see, ’Twas in springtime—lhe men wer all bizzy, So the milkin’ fell on Jabez an' me. Now he hates farmin’, does Jabez, An' work alius makes him feel sure, Fer he was railed up in the city— Wus clerk in u dry-goods store. But father’s broad acres wur temptin’, An’, as I wus the only child, lie proposed. Of course I accepted. Though I think now I must hev bin wild. Father wus sore disappointed ’Cause I choze a husband from town: His folks thot he'd married beneath him— Fer him 'twos a mltcy cum down To change his store close fer blue drillin’, An’ knuckle right down to hard work, Though I’ll say this much for Jabez: He’s nsver bin known to shirk. But he likens himself to the eagle, Tied down to the barnvard fowl. I fail to see the resemblance— He’s more like a great stupid owl. He boasts of his great cddication, But sez. 'tis all wasted down here, Where we’re only a set of ciodhoj pars; He feels quite above us—that's clear. Yet. with all of his top-story knowledge.

He’s lettin’ ihe farm run down; His heart's not in his work, sir. An’ he’s alius lonxin’ fer town. When father was livin’ ’twas difernt, Fer he alius looked after the farm, But he wus ailin' all winter— Thot he’d git well when ’twas warm— But he died. An’ then Jabez Sod the farm didn't pay an' we’d sell; But I thot different; ’tis my home, sir. An’ I’ll not leavedt, at least fer a spell. I tell him his brains an’ ills Jarnin’ Are just as much needed here As they ever were up in the city. Fer the farm needs a good financier To make things come out even, An' balance the profit an' loss— To know what crops pay the best, sir, An’ not got cheated buyin’ a boss. The farmer needs somethin’ of science, Likewise a bit o’ the law, To understand effects an’ their causes. An’ tj make all his trades 'thout a flaw. Of medicine, too. he needs knowledge— How to give lotions an’ pills, In order to care for his stock, sir, An’ cure their numerous ills. An' then he must be a good flghtir, Fer tell of a gineral you know. Who fought such a numberless army, As the persistent potato-bug foe, To say nothin’ of 'hoppers an’ chinch bugs, Of tramps an' lightnin'-rod men, too— An’ to vote for the right man at ’lection— Is there aught he don’t need to know? But Jabez, like all city-bred people. Looks down on us plain country lo.k. Guess they'd find 'thout us farmers That llvln’d soon be a stale joke! Wh'i’d furnish their bread, an’ their butter? Where’d be their pork an’ their beef? Who’d keep all their big mills a runnln? Yes, without us they’d soon come to grief! Without us where’d be your railroads, With all their rush an’ their noise? An’ where’d your great men all cum from If the farmer quit raisin’ boys? When 1 talk all this to Jabez he scorns it,

An’ ses I’m not up with the times; Thinks lie can live without farmin’— From his brain coin dollars an’ dimes. He thanks God he was not born a farmer, ’Tis such a low calling; but then ’Tis the noblest an' first occupation God ever gave unto men, Fer wasn’t Father Adam a farmer? An' the garden of Eden a farm? Then why scorn the brown-handed toiler, Who from the earth gains a livin’’ ” By the aid of his strong right arm? » * * * » * Let me see! Where was I? Out to the barn. I think. ’Join’ a. part o' the milkin’ An’ learnln’ the calf to drink. Wai, the heifer—her mother—was restive At bein’ d -prived of her calf. An’ Jabez got riled putty easy— He’s got too much temper by half— But he mana ;ed by some loud takin', An’ several sound blows from his fist, To frighten her into submission— On beatin’ he’d alius insist. Wai. when we’d finished the milkin’, There was the calf to be fed. So hejiacked it. up in the coiner, And into the pail jammed its head. The calf choked an’ struggled— I sed “Jabez. that’s not th ■ be it way. Father alius .” “You shet up, Hanner!” An' I’d not a word more to say. “Ther's no use in her suckin my finger. Th it s a reg lar old fogv plan: I believe in new to do ti.l.igi— I'm not that kind of a man!” All this time IL6 cuif wus a strugzl'n’— Bae didn’t seem ,o Vke the “now way”—

An' landed Jabez plump in the gutter, Whicn hadn’t been cleaned that day. Some way as he was a failin'. * Hix head got jammed In the pail— He tnrew his hands up blindly. An’ caught the old cow by the talk Of course at all this commotion. Though a staid an’ dignified beast, She kicked, and hit poor Jabez A dozen t mes at least—’Tbout hurtin’ him much tho’— An' he ro e. very black in the face, Swore at farmers and farmin’. An’ cursed the whole bjvine race. Then he knocked the calf down with th, milk-stool, An’ kicked it until I cried, And. though I kr ow it wus wicked, I wus glad his four boys hed died; Fer if he’d abuse a poor helpless creetur, Why wouldn't he abure his own child? An’ I thot how different was father— So gentie, so kind, an' so mild. I looked at the (alf, ’twas a gaspin’, An’ I took her pour 1 ead on my knee, Balsod her up gently an' fed her, An’ that s whv ilia's gentle with me. She hates Jabez, an' fears him. An’ some way I lost my re-pect Then an' thar. in spite of his lamin’, His brains an’ his great intellect. Fer a man o’ his boasted knowledge To be so easy upset! Somehow 1 felt sort o’ disgusted, An’ I hain’t tot over it yet! I wouldn’t glvo a mill on the dollar Fer a man. tho' he’s smarter by h ilf Titan all ti c wise mtn in creation, If he’d abu ,e a poor little calf. Harvey, Wi«.

“GENTLE? TO ME SHE’S ALUS BIN SO.”

“CAUGHT THE OLD COW BY THE TAIL.”