Democratic Sentinel, Volume 22, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 September 1898 — Wobbled When He Came to'Possum. [ARTICLE]

Wobbled When He Came to'Possum.

“Ole Uncle” Claybrook is a very religious old darky, and holds converse with his Maker twenty times a day or oftener. His habit is to pray, and then turn off into what appears to be a onesided conversation with the Lord, but It is evident that there is another party to it as far as he is concerned. To hear him reminds one very much of a telephone conversation. The other day he was going through his customary devotions, and when he got to the point of expressing thankfulness for the many blessings of life, he broke off into a recounting of them, says Cicero T. Sutton, of the Owensboro Inquirer. “An’ deh, dar’s ’possum, Lord, bow’d you ever think of makln’ ’possum? ’Possum jes’ beats all. You jes’ couldn’t beat it es you tried ag’in. ’Possum! he he! Yes, dar’s watah-million. I hadn’t thought o’ dat. Hit’s jes’ great. You couldn’t beat hit, neither, could you, Lord? Now, hones’ couldn’ you jes’ fix it so dey bofe git ripe at oncet? If you was to do dat you mought go out an’ shet de do'. Dey wouldn’t be no mo’ sin an’ no mo’ sorrow an’ no mo’ tribelation. Jis try hit oncet, Lord, an’ jis see whut a diffunce hit would make!” And then “ole uncle” began to hum a quaint negro camp-meeting tune, and stopped to look at a piece of liver in a butcher’s stall, as the best substitute for his loved ’possum or as best suited to the small piece of money which represented his total movable wealth.