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Wirv&jtmiiFrviwpii
The Comtnotief.
VOLUME 5, NUMBER 46
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Lookout Man
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. (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.
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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
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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.
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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
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