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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 1905)
- - -&"" -Jt-lirq'm Wirv&jtmiiFrviwpii The Comtnotief. VOLUME 5, NUMBER 46 12 '' St StStStStStSStStSSt & & S S St S St St S St & St St T1 Ihe st st Lookout Man & & & & st st St St St St St st st St St St St St St st St st st st Si St. st st st st st st st st st r . (Republished by Reque3t.) Now liston, Utile chil'run, an' I'll tell a story true; An' better you remember, 'cause It means a lot to you. An' if you heed tli' lesson, then when Chris'mas time is hero You'll git a lot o' pleasure an' a lot o' Chris'mas cheer. Th' Lookout Man is walkin' whon th stars begin t' peep T' see if little chil'run are in bed an' fast asleep; An all who act up naughty an' don't mind their ma's an' pa's Th' Lookout Man is watchin', an' he'll tell ol' Santa Claus. I knowed a little feller onct who got real bad and said Ho didn't care-f'r Santa Claus, an' wouldn't go f bed; Said that ho didn't have t' mind 0, he was awful bad, An' didn't care th leastest mite 'bout makin' folks feel bad. But when it come t' Chris'mu3 time he didn't get a thing 'Cause Santa Claus had heard o him, and not a thing he'd bring. He know that bad boy's record better mind your ma's an' pa's; Th' Lookout Man is watchin', and' he'll tell ol' Santa Claus. I also knowed a little girl who was jus' awful bad. She wouldn't learn her lessons an she alius got so mad If anybody told her t' be still an' huBh her noise Well, she was alius wishin' f'r a lot o' Chris'mus toys. But 'when twas Chris"mus mornin' t' her wonder an' surprise An' empty stockin' hangin.' In th' corner inet her eyes. You see, she acted naughty better mind your ma's and pa's; Th' Lookout Man is watchin', an' he'll tell ol Santa Claus. Th' Lookout Man is peepin' through th' winders ev'ry night An' countin' up th' chil'run who are alius actin' right An' goin' off t' bed at onct when told it's time t' go, An never poutin' nary bit, nor takin' clothes off slow. He puts 'em in his good book, but th' bad ones in th' bad, An' when he writes a bad one he looks O, jus' awful sad, 'Cause he knows they won't git nothin' better mind your ma's and pa's; Th' Lookout Man is watchin', an' he'll tell ol' Santa Clans. i St St st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st st St st st st st st st st st st st st st st that little crowd has tried the same thing once or twico since, and with results that were perfectly satisfac tory. There may be a moral attached to this little true tale, but if there Is the reader will have to dig it out. Hero is another true Thanksgiving story but it is of a dinner that was missed. The chief actor is now dead. Charley Pryor was a private in an Indiana regiment during the civil war, and the captain of his company is still living in Omaha, Nebr., and ready to vouch for the facts. The day before Thanksgiving in 1864, Pryor was sent out with a squad to do some scout duty in southeastern Tennessee, the squad being in com mand of a sergeant. ' Early in the evening a superior force of confeder ates ran across the scouting party and chased it into a cabin set in the mid dle of a small clearing. In the cabin the party made a stand, and the con federates settled down for a seige. Pryor was an unusually tall man, and because of his unfailing good hu mor was a prime favorite in his regi ment. His tallness doubtless saved his life. The scouts were in the loft of the cabin, seeking that place be cause of its advantages, and they spent the night exchanging shots with the enemy. Just as the day was dawn ing Pryor stooped down to look out through a chink in the walls, and a confederate bullet struck him in the side of the neck, and ranging upward or rather downward emerged by -he spine. The wounded man dropped like dead. But he wasn't. By some strange freak that bullet had sent him 'nto a state of catalepsy, and while to all appearances he was dead ho could see and hear everything going on many kind remarks about himself, for the boys took turns in lulling what a nico fellow ha was. "I wish Charley could be with us at this Thanksgiving dinner," said one. "Yos, poor as Jt is it would tasto better if Pryor ould help cat it," said another. Then they talked of home and friends, and all the time Pryor was in mental agony although unablo to make the slightest motion. "Now we've got to give Pryor a Christian burial," said the sergeant, and ho told four men to dig a shal low grave. The rest of the party helped the sergeant remove the sup posed corpse from the loft of the cabin. But the opening in the floor was small, and the ladder merely some pegs driven into the chinks of the walls. In trying to got the long and lank body through the opening the men let it fall, and the jar per formed the rest. The supposed corpse sat up, rubbed itself a bit, blinked in the sunlight and then growled: "Didn't you duffers leave anything over from that Thanksgiving spread?" & about him, although he could not st St sststsstsssstststsstsssst st st st st st st st st & st TWO THANKSGIVING BAYS ' The chief merit of this little Thanks- was $8 in the "pool." Then the giving story is its truth. It is a page printers started out. They rounded out of real life, and the page was up about two dozen street arabs, male written on a Thanksgiving day many and female, and herded them Into a years ago, the scene being Kansas cheap but clean restaurant. City, Mo., and the participants a "Bring this bunch the best you've littlo group of printers with some got," was the order, delivered to the others who came upon the stage just before the curtain went down. The printers were all working on waiters, and the order was filled. The printers stood around and saw to it that each of their guests was the Kansas City morning papers, and filled to the brim with evervthlni? they usually arose about noon. But j good the bill of fare offered, and the on uus particular i muiKsgiving aDout , more mo CMIdren ate the broader -nove a muscle. "There goes Pryor!" exclaimed a comrade. "Yes, he's dead," said another, after a brief examination. Shortly before noon the beseigers withdrew and the scouts prepared- to oin the main body of the army. Sud denly it dawned upon their minds that it was Thanksgiving day, and immedi ately they set about getting up Thanksgiving dinner.. While they A Thanksgiving Impromptu A couple of years ago a good house wife in Lincoln entertained a largo bunch of personal friends at Thanks giving dinner. She had baked and stewed and boiled and roasted and fried for a week beforehand, and the dinner table was something calculated to gladden the eye and rejoice the hearts of the hungry. It was a magnificent dinner, and the enjoyment was 100 plus. The merry quip and jest flew around tho board, and all was lovely and serene. Suddenly, in the midst of a littlo spell .of silence, Dorothy, aced four, raised her head and in a piercing lit- , tie voice asked: "Mama, when the company goes can I take Mrs. McCulloch's spoons home?" ' Brain Leaks The road to happiness is not paved with selfishness. We get no credit for bearing crosses a of our own make. A one-course dinner is a banquet it wprfl frvlnJ hnrnn nnrl mnlrinir onffpo InvA nrnvlrlPR t.hfi sailCQ. in the lower part of the cabin, Prvor Cheerupathy Is a medicine that all lay in a trance in the loft. He heard of us should prescribe. r a dozen of them managed to get up about 10 o'clock, and by some mys terious influence were led to meet at a sample room near Fourth and Main. There were three or four rounds of refreshments, and the printers be gan telling of other Thanksgiving joys. Mention was made of the "last Thanks giving at home," of tho good things that mother used to bako, and the good times so often had around tho grew the smiles of the hosts. "Where do they put it?" asked Slug 14 of the Times. "Guess their legs are hollow," re plied Slug 21 of the Journal. "Go on!" sneered the man who had I the "rings" on tho Times the night uoiore. -Tiiey are equipped with rub ber stomachs." But the children said verv little. w " T r oemg ousy with hnnrtB rmrt fafh family table. Tho talk went on for When the dinner was finished the an hour, and suddenly one of the children were given an oraniro nnWo printers looked up from his glass .and shooed out into the RtrAot ntn and said: "Boys, we've already spent enough right here to buy Thanksgiving din ners for a dozen, and if we stay here Then tho printers sat down and had a dinner of their own. It was a jolly feast, too perhaps the jolllest any of them had exnerienoGrl rItioa thnv , U.. 1. .KI11 ..! 1- B . . .ww ".vJ u uuui luiiyoi wu ii bijcuu uuuuku lor ieu nome years ago. They didn't 9. dozen more. What's the matter philosophize about It then, but in the with pooling and putting tho money, after years doubtless each one nf- 1 EVERY FAMILY SHOULD HAVE ..A DAILY PAPER Send us Only $2.00 for a Year's Subscription to The Commoner and The Kansas City World (Daily Except Sunday) Address THE COMMONER Lincoln, Neb. MM I ' "l where it will do some good?" The suggestion met with instant favor and in less than a minute taero them realized what had made that one Thanksgiving dinner .so enjoyable. And at least one of the printers in the Omaha World-Btrald ABLY EDITED. NEWSY. DEMOCRATIC. "OUR SPECIAL OFFER The Commoner and World Herald (Semi-wiekly) Send Subscriptions NOW to THE COMMONER BOTH SI. 2 LINCOLN, e NEBRASKA 'I nl 1 ''I V.