Jasper County Democrat, Volume 4, Number 29, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 October 1901 — HOW JONES SAVED THE EGGS. [ARTICLE]

HOW JONES SAVED THE EGGS.

Bat Vu GUd to Lot the Fool Fowl Escape. George Washington Jefferson Jone* is a colored man with a reputation, says the Milwaukee- Sentinel. .Heis one of the most highly respected inhabitants of the “bad lands.” On Sundays he attires himself in his “glad rags” and presides at the church door in the capacity of deacon. Mr. Jone 6 has the proverbial fondness of the negro for chickens and eggs, and a familiar sight in the vicinity of his hack yard is the black man applying the ax to the neck of alive chicken. • Georeg was on Third street and Grand avenue on a recent Saturday. He carried a large market basket on his arm and trudged along contentedly humming a ragtime melody. It was an extremely innocent looking ; market basket he carried, and it j looked strongenough, too, until some- j thing began to stir under the cloth i which covered it. George stopped j whistling and grasped at something I underneath the cloth, but he could j not stay that squirming.

Suddenly the handle of the basket broke and the basket dropped to the ground-. It was suddenly overturned by a large hen which poked its neck out, flew out and went cackling down the street. On the ground lay the bas- 1 ket, a long stream of yellow running toward the curb. George eyed the situation philo- j sophically. “ ’Tain’t no use for me to ! folia dat hen,” he said. “A hen has a ’tic’lar ’version to colored fo’ks. | ’Sides a bird in de hand’s wuth two in : de bush, an’ I ain’t a gwine to chase | dat fool fowl. Just you all watch yoh | old uncle. Heah goes,” and so saying | the old darky picked- up the broken j egges in the market basket and swal- | lowed them one by one. He walked to the curb and craned j His neck in watching the excited boys ! chasing the hen down the street. He ! returned to the middle of the sidewalk,! kicked the remnants of the basket into the street and walked away sadly. “Nevah had no use foh dat bird nohow,” said he. “She looked at me with a mean eye when I bought her. Always buy yoh chickens dressed, men. always buy yoh chickens dressed.”