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Yankee Folk SEE 12/2/ 39
Yankee Merchant
Suggested title, before your subtitle:
A Ems/Sight Better Off
Add the following after page 11
A 1, 2, and 3 as indicated
B 8, 9, and 10
II
If too long, cut part of the election
Name: Robert Wilder Assignments Northfield
Title: Living Lore Topic:
p
LiVitre`ga-lt-,
Quaauta_game_ta_ualim4.40.44,mr. Dunnell,
peered out thg.AILthPow oi-Jalo-eettli---grain.,-- feed- and f.rtiliser
business office to see if anycustai4ers_laire_in sight then relaxed
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on t,.(;) ap. upturned coal ocattie by' the almost radiant oast iron
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stove. The first time it come out a tie. Then we han another
election a special election just to decide the tie. And that's
where the fun was.
ker see. Charlie Stearns thought he owned the town clerk's
job, because his father hat' it, or somethinl. 4 MI some of us
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thought it was apout time for a change. Stearns had been clerk
for years, and he didn't need the money. he is one of the kind
that think they are getting ahead if they are piling up money in
the bank, 'stead of making some use of it themselves goin' to
Floridy once in a while, or doing something, by God, instead of
buying 000ks with figures in 'em from banks. First thing he knows
a President, or somebody will come along and say that as the rich
people had won all the money and the rest of us had to keep playing
the game, whether we liked it or not, that hereafter we woulun't
use money no more. That we'd use poker chips, or pins, or buttons.
And if anyone was caught selling anything for money they'd be shot!
If that happened where would Charlie Stearns be?
/Anyway, we figured that Charlie Stearns had money enough with-
out the town helping him out. And there was a nice woman here that
Page 2
Name: Ltobert Wilder Assignment: Northfield
Title: Living Lore
Topic: The Hay, Grain and Feed an
Tells About a Small Town
Election
was having a tough time. She used to keep books in a whip factory
over at hoosick Falls, and after that she was a. stenogifer or
something at the seminary, and all the women knew her. We got more
women voters than we have men voters, you know.
)10eYer see, Stearns used to run a dry goods store in the center
of town. And he didn't have any too many customers. he spent most
of his time peeking out the winder to see what folks was doing.
You'd see somebody go in his store on town clerk's business 0 yer
could see that easy from the drug store steps, 'cause Stearns always
went to his desk he'd 'tend to 'em nice and polite. Then he'd
watch them out of sight. And when they'd go he'd, perhaps, make
tracks for old Warner's house. Warner used to be in the lagislature,
you know, and was the boss politician of this town. him and Stearns
was so friendly that I guess they used to keep their teeth in the
same glass of water. Sometimes he'd wait iti] he saw some other of
his cronies going by, then he'd rush out and tell it to him. Used
to make us kinder sick. kaybe it was public business. But if 'time
why didn't we hear about it?
"Well, our town hall was burnt up, so we had to hold our town
meetings and the elections in the church. FrAnk Williams burnt it
up the feller that was town treasurer and put our money in a hole
in the ground out west. he'd told the janitor to build a fire in the
more water.
01111..
Name: Robert Wilder
Title: Living Lore
t
Page 4
Assignment: Eorthfield
lopie: The Ray, Grain and Feed Kan
Tells About a Small Town
Election
attraction. And they had to run their hose clean from another hydrant
somewheres down on the Warwick road. When the water finally come it
ran out of the hose, but that was about all oh maybe ten or twelve
feet out it kinder died, you know, just gradually sub sub- subsided,
'cause the busted hydrant reduced the pressure. honest, if that gang
han stood around an' aone the best the\lcould themselves there'd a -been
/to we lost the town hall, and had to hold the elections in the
church. The first election coLe out a tie, so for the second we
scraped up every voter there was in this town. Gosh! It was a
cold day, too. There was snow on the ground plenty of it
Out it had melted some so the sidewalks, and the roads were just
covered with ice. I got out good and early and bought a cox of
cigars to take to church. When I got theryreasy, little Charlie
Stearns was grating the voters as they come in with that oily smile
of his and a. handshake for anyone who would come near him. It felt
nice aria warm in there after the cold outside, so I took on the job
of greeting the voters, too, and Charlie didn't like it a bit. But
we kept smirking at the voters, him on one side and me on the other.
Al4 I kept track well as I could, in my head of who'd come and who
hadn't. Along in the afternoon I maae up my mind that I'd better
get outside, cold or no cold, and dig out some voters I thought would
000""--1()
Name: Robert Wilder
Title: Living Lore
Page 5
Assignment: Northfield
Topic: The Hay, Grain and Feed Man
Tells About a Small Town
Election
oe for us. First place I went was right across the street. *You voted?,
I asked the old feller who lived there alone. *No* siad he, "too cold.
Sit down l'unnell Abd have a glass of cider."
"No", I says, *much as I'd like to. But I'm over at the church
and it wouldn't oe right to have 'em nell liquor on my breath. But
I know you don't like k.harlie Stearns. And.here you have a chance to
beat him, and you won't walk across the street. Now, I'll tell you
what. I've got to go other places, but when I' get back to the church,
you'd better let me find out you've voted. For if yea haven't, honest
to God I'll be back over here. And I'll get in, even if I have to
kick in the door. And I'll take you, just as you are lithout no over-
coat right over there and make you vote.) Well, he said he'd come.
Alien I went up to a woman's that runs a boarding house. No,
she said, she couldn t come it was too cola. I told her how the
Ntir.)\v%
di4magia ought to stick together, but I didn# t get nowheres with that.
She said a couple of my boys had stopped and asked her to ride down,
out the bad refused to go, and if she went with me they'd think she
didn't like tem. I'Look,* I says,"you remember the time I was delivering
coal here, and I saw those weeny, scrawny, potatoes you was cooking?'
I says,"An'how I brought you up a bag of good ones, and never charged
you nothing.° I say4just a neighborly act to help you out when you
Name: Robert Wilder
Title: Living Lore
Page 6
Assignment: Northfield
Topic: Th. H4Y, Grain and F9ed Man
Tells About a Small Town
Election
needed it. And now you won't even come and vote for me.r11 says,
4e11it she guessed she would go after all. And on the way down in
the rig she asked me how she should vote. "Oh, I can't tell you
that! I says, 't wouldn't be proper. You vote just as you've a
mind to. But I'm no, ashamed to tell you how I voteladq says.
"6112 't was just like that all the afternoon. Only thing a
little out of the ordinary was in the store when I went to look
for &clerk. Ired around, Miss Leavis70 I asked the bookkeeper.
She said, 4Yeslibut the way she kinder colored up, I thought I knew
where he he was so I went down ao44eeiNand then out back. "Come out ol
that,'II yells, 4come on out and vote!" "Go aways'ihe says. "I
ain't got no time to vote.10/1By 4od, mister:1I yells, ou promise
me that you'll come over and vote just as quick as you can, or I'll
bust in the door and take you just as you are 1,a lie promised all
right after I'd shook the door a bit.
*When I got back to the church I was pretty much all in. I
hadn't had nothing to eat all day, and my box of cigars hadn't helped
my stummick any. I figured we was licked. And I had a mind to
sneak off home before they got the vote* counted. But I went over
and over in my mind. And I couldn't see that we'd skipped anybody.
Cnarlie Stearns had a sagging puss on him as though he was already
to cry, so I figured it wasn't going to be no walkover for their side,
Page
Name: k(ouert Wilder Assignments Northfield
Title: Liviuk Lore Topic: The Hay. Grain and Feed kan
Tells About a Small Town
Election
and started shooting off my mouth about how much the town was going
to benefit by a new town clerk. The Stearns fellers didn't like it,
of course. (me of 'em, Wi3,1 Merriman, says, yI see you coming up
by the cemetery,t1he says, ha -getting 'em out of there you was hey?
I knew he'd seer4 me when I stopped for the Mattoon sisters, who live
down that way, and who I had to help over the ice to get into the
rig. They was pretty old. POh no,,II says. We didn't get near
all the voters we could have out of the cemetery. All we bothered
was in the new part. We didn t get around to :tackle the old part,"
I says. After that, I oegun to feel better. And I swaggered around
confident as you please. But I dum near died when the time come to
announce the vote. Seems if I couldn't stan, it. When I heard that.
we'd won by one vote, I let out a yell that Steam's ancestors could
a heard. I started out on a run to spread the glad tidings an' I
forgot all about the ice. What is it the Bible says? Somethin,
about 'Pride going before destruction and a. haughty spirit before a
fall.' I guess so. Anyway, I had a fall all right. I slid about
forty miles. And I busted my box of cigars what they was left
of 'em. But it didn't hurt'me nonesicause we'd licked that pore,
a,
little, miserable runt of a Sterns. If we hadn't INt had to have
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gone to the hospital, I expect.A
al scuttle lth 1 r.1)