Hide Article Text (OCR)
Story in Independent PreyedOn His Mind.John Wisdom’s Buoyant SoulFound Solution for the Question What He Would Do With a Million Dollars, Easy—But He Got toSalem Justthe Same.“Lawdy sakes, mistah, but dat dere story in de Independent some time ago 'bout what a fellah 'd do if be had ah million dollahrs done set me ’bout crazy. Fust, I laughed til I almost busted an’ den the thought growd on me an' I kep' thinkin' an' thinkin’ 'bout 't an’ las 1 had a beautiful dream. Ah went up t’ my room the other night an' ah set there thinkin’ ’bout what I would do if ah did have a million. Purty soon ah fell asleep, ah guess, fur 1 dreamt ah was asittin’ at a table an' three fellows wuz countin' out de money. Wen dey would get fifty dollars in a pile dey would shove it all over t' me an’ I wiul put it in my pocket. I had jes taken a han’ful from one of de guys wen the fambly cat jumped up in my lap an' woke me clear up an' I found dat instead of boldin' de long green tape, ah had de anamile by de back ob de neck. Well, ah was so disappointed dat ah couldn’t wok fer two days.”John Wisdom, who says he was the pride of the 104th O. V. 1. culinary department during the civil war, thus poured out his soul on the eve of the departure of local members of the regiment for Salem, where the annual reunion was held today. John was greeting his friends during the daywith extraordinary cordiality. Itmight be well to add that he carried a little red book along that he showed to an exclusive circle of acquaint-ances. Nearly everyone wrote something in the book.ise goin’ t’ Salem if de good Lawd lets me live,” spoke John, “t’ attend one of de greatest meetin’s dat you ebber seed. De boys dey like to see der ole cook once in a wile an’ dat’swhy 1 go along. Y’u see dis herequestion ob what wud a fellah do wid a million plunks comes in right now, when I’se wantin’ t’ go so bad, an’ almost petterfles me, especially aftah dat terrible dream. Lawdy, mistah. it was somethin’ terr’ble. I often wished dat you aint printed dat dere story. It made me tlnk so many unpleasant tings.”John explained the reasons for his undiminished affection for the boysof Company E, most of whom were I recruited in this part of the country. “Dere’s de capta’n, Mistah Shepp Knapp,” said the one-time cook, ”1used to prepare de victuals fer him an’ say what fun we used t’ have.Den deys J. W. McClymonds, youknow he’s a special friend of mine, and jes’ got home today. H. H. Ev-erhard, Peter Scharles, you know him, lives out hear at West Brook-field, J. C. Haring, March Walker and Jacob Snyder. Of cose day's others too, but ah can’t think of them jeB now. Say, mistah, but we had de sport heah at de las’ reunion. Oh deuh, say, but dey was som'thin’ doin’ them days, an' if 1 gets to Salem as I'm prayin’ I will, dey’ll be some more fun, now I kin tell you.”It was suggested that there was noreason why John should not be able to go right along as he looked hale and hearty and was still quite young.Young,” said John, “young. Why, man. Ise done gone passed my seventy-eighth birthday last Christmas. Mow, does yus call that young?”He looked around for everybody in tearing to say “No, of course not,” uit they only smiled.“Hut it aint so much ’s how ole ah ’ellah is ’s how ol’ he feels. Wy, I 'eel jus' like a young colt.” John ac-tented the words “is” and “feel” with nuch force. Then he laughed loud md long.es salt, ’ said he, “ah was twenty-line years ol' when de boys picked ne up down dar in Crabb Orchard, jexington, Ky., an’ 1 followed deni •ver aftah dat, you kin bet youah life. AVse went through de Cumberland lap an’ on Strawberry Plains an’ hrough de rest of the wall an' den 1 ■ouies heah when de boys come backrom lt;le wah an’ 1 nevah regretted itnice. Well, dere's a man Ise jes got o see. Good bye.”\\ ben lust seen John was showinghe man his red book. He got to lalem.oussueperyingsitewhetas tl to si back macloecuimudchuppor tl whenwit hithe Iand jeachwheeOfton th lower aetioi aboutA specific for pain—Dr. Thomas’ Ke-ictrie Oil, strongest, cheapest liniment ver devised. A household remedy in.11. erica for 26 Yearn.
Newspaper Details
Massillon Evening Independent
Massillon, Ohio, US
Wed, Aug 21, 1907
Page 6
Full Page
Clipped by
Massillon P.
OH, USA 06 Jun 2022
Other Publications Near Massillon, Ohio
Massillon Daily Independent
Massillon Item
Massillon News
Massillon Independent
Evening Independent
