Jasper County Democrat, Volume 21, Number 73, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 December 1918 — PHILOSOPHY OF WALT MASON [ARTICLE]

PHILOSOPHY OF WALT MASON

These be the times that try men’s souls; we’re always digging up our rolls, and stripping off the bills; as fast as we can earn the coin it has to go for steak and loin, for pantaloons and pills. “The price has risen,” is the cry, whene’er a fellow goes to buy a hymnbook or a hen; the wai made of trade a botch, and so the prices rise a notch, and then will rise again. These be the times that try men’s souls; the doughnuts now are mostly holes, the pies are thin and pale; most things re made of substitutes, and there are wormholes in the fruits for which we blow our kale. A pound of butter costs us now as much as would have bought a cow, in balmy times of peace; and when we buy it some one comes with warning voice and muffled drums, and says, “Conserve the grease.” These be the times that, try men’s souls; we cannot touch, with ten-foot poles the price of things we need; the stand off at the store is banned, and all the wealth we have on hand is merely chicken feed. And yet, as I pursue my way, I do not see a grouch all day, or hear a plaintive whine; the boys seem glad to stand the gaff, and all the hard luck makes them laugh, instead of bringing brine. You cannot whip a bunch like us; in times of peace we rant and cuss, and paw around like sin; but when we need to wear a yoke we view the blamed thing as a joke, and wear it with a grin.