Judge — December 7, 1907 — page 26: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

** But thare haint a funnie thing happened around hear A CHEERFUL LETTER FROM OUR PINHOOK CORRESPONDENT PINHooK, December 23, 1907. EAR JUDGE-I wuz a goin to try an write a little peece, hopin to git to hev it published in your Cris mus number, but I hey ben to bizzy with trouble here at Pinhook to do en- nything ov the kind, I would ov ben verry glad to ov contributed suthin fer the Crismus number ov the JUDGE, but thare haint a funnie thing happencd around hear fer so long a time I got clene outen the notion ov wntin a tall, An then, agin, the wether wuz so kold for a month, er so, that nobody couldn't hardly do nothin nohow. The kold sp:ll cum a whoopin on sudden as lightnin late in November arter a fine warm fa tuck evvery one turribly by surprise, an it looks ez ef it wuz a goin to stay all winter. Hank Bates, the ice man, is busted over the wether, fer he tuck a job of gettin out about a thouzand dollers worth ov ice, from Lake Marthy, an she up an froze thirteen feet deep down into the water an no man kaint git no ice outen a freeze like that, so he’s throwed up his contrack an is busted higher ner a kite. Lem Cannady hed a tramp workin fer him fer five dollers a month an his bord an the feller driv the cows down inter the medder lot one day to take a drink outen the big warm spring, an thay wuz so dry an stood drinkin so long that the tramp, havin no fur cote, | guess, froze stiff as a stun post an is a standin thare yit, fer over three weeks now, waitin fer the coroner to git threw the snow drifts to kum an set on him fer a inquest. Thare is nineteen prary chickens, sevven crows, an three wild ducks froze tight into the top ov the big ellum tree on the Modry hill, an nobody kaint clime the tree to git em outen, ner no gun kaint shute no bullets hard enufl to break em loose an drop em down. The fellers hez peppered away at em till most ov the fethers is shot offen the lowest down, but that thare don't do no good a tall, They wont budge, John Henry Williamson hed leven lodes ov punkins, fine, big, ripe, yaller ones, a layin in his shed, an the cold spell tuck him suddin an froze the hull heap like glass, so he hez to crack em up with a sledge like a boiler maker making a boiler, ringling an jingling to beat the band, an his hired man hez tuck the law on him fer damages fer his eye which wuz pretty neer put outen with a splinter of punkin as wuz chipped off by the sledge one day an flewed into it. The little steambote Mollie, as wuz a comin acrost frum Brent- woou, tother side ov the lake, wuz caught in the snap an froze in in the middle ov the lake, an the passengers hed to burn her purty neer all up fer wood to keep frum freezin over night an then burn the rest of her next mornin while they waited fer the lake to freeze solid enuff fer em to walk three miles to land, Hiram Baker had fifteen sheep as wuz out in the lot froze ez hard ez big round rocks, an as the meate want no good, but the wool wuz he hed em sheared, but it hed to be did with a mallet an chisel, thay wuz so stiff The rodes wuz ginrully muddy when the cold snap kum on an Pete Hudson wuz comin home from Smithvale in the mud with his old mare an she, not bein verry spry, froze into the mud with all four legs stiff ez a carpenter's bench, half a mild frum his house, an he hed to feed her thare, an carry boilin water to her three days afore he could git a stone mason to cut her feet lose with his chisels, the dirt wuz froze so dog- gone hard. Then right on top of the cold spell we hed a “His eye wuz pretty neer put outen with a splinter of punkin as wuz chipped off by the sledge.”* horriul storm with the heavviest evver seen ennywhare around in these here diggins, an a wind blowin like a harrykane the hull time fer moren three days on a stretch, an when it wuz all ovver an quieted down, Pinhook wuz clene gone offen the map. You a sort ov valley, runnin abowt north an south, n on the west ov us a levvel prary stretchin out goshwards towards the Rockey Mountings, an the storm the west the hull time an drifted the snow offul to behold ovver the prary an then down ovver the hill on to the top of Pinhook. You nevver seen no sech drifis nowhare ez thare wuz evverywhare in Pinhook the next mornin, The hull valley wuz purty near levvel full frum side to side, half a mild wide, an the little crick— Minnie crick we call it—hed a snow bridge owver it fer moren a mild up an down streem, an the drifts evverywhare wuz packed so mighty hard thet a man, er evven a horse, could walk ovver them purty neer enny place. Peeple hed began makin paths around the verry furst day an throwin the snow up on both sides ov the paths, so when it kep on growin higher an higher most ov the paths got covvered in on top, an by night on the seckond day Pinhook was a cave town, with most evverybody goin abowt like a mole, er moles, an nevver comin no- I live neer the west bluff an I wuz woke abowt midnite ov the seckond day by Mr. James W. Miiler, a farmer livin west of town, who started to kum into town on bizness an got off the rode an drove out on to the snow drifts an fell down through em an through my roof into my kitchen with his team an waggin. I nevver in my life heered a worse racket in a dwellin house. The horses wuz both standin on thare head, with the waggin on top ov em an them a squealin an kickin to beat four ov a kind, an Mr, Miller an his hired man an a feller as wuz a ridin with em wuz all a hollerin bloody murder an prayin fer help at the same time. It seemed like we'd nevver git the muss straightened out an git settled down agin. The school ma'am that bords to Widder Martin's an is a fresh.air enthoosiast left her winder open ali the time, an in the middle ov the third night three cows kum into her room through the winder an skairt her into all kinds ov fits, an the widder don’t seem to be able to git the cows out agin. Thare’s a mewl in the belfrey ov the Mennonite church, an it wont try to jump down an they don't know what to do abowt it, an Mr. Williams's oldest boy hez turned crazy an is tunnelin north through the drifts like mad, throwin the snow behind him, an it’s verry doubtful if the three men as hez gone arter him will be able to ketch up with him an git him. A rescue party ov farmers as kum ovver to dig down an give aid happened to strike square down on top of the big, seven-foot-wide town well, an thay kep on a diggin an a wonderin an a wonderin an a diggin till thay hed got clene down to the bottom ov the forty-foot well, It’s a offul time an hain’t gittin verry much better yit. Abowt our only way out is up an down the little crick in a bote. Tm clene discour- aged, but I'll keep snoopin around an ef. enny funny things hap- pens I will write you about em. snow see we lay in “Thare's a mew! in the belfrey ov the it kum frum Mennonite church.” whare neer the top. 2S Ni Yours fer literature, Le SUEUR LyRE, comicbooks.com