Jasper Republican, Volume 1, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 November 1874 — How Dry it Was. [ARTICLE]

How Dry it Was.

An honest old farmer from the country gave his recollections of the hot spell as follows: “ It was so dry we couldn’t spare water to put in our whisky. The grass- was so. dry that every time the wind blew it flew around like so much*ashes. There wasn’t a tear shed at a funeral for amonth. The sun dried up all the cattle; and burnt off their hair till they looked like Mexican, dogs, and the sheep all looked like poodle puppies, they shrank up so. We had to soak all our hogs to make ’em hold swill, and if any cattle were killed in the morning they’d be dried beef at dark. The woods dried up so that the farmers chopped seasoned timber all through August, and there ain’t a match through all the country—in fact, no wedding since the widow Glenn married old Baker, three months ago. What few grasshoppers are left are all skin and lege, and I didn’t hear a teakettle sing for six weeks. We eat our potatoes baked, they being all ready, and we couldn’t spare water to boil ’em. All the red-headed girls were afraid to stir out of the house in daylight, and, I tell you, I was afraid the devil had moved out of his old home and settled down with us for life. Why, we had to haul water all summer to keep the ferry running, and —say, it’s getting dry; let’s take suthin.” — Louisville Commercial.