OCR Text |
Show COLORED WEATHER LORE. Thick Feathers on Ducks and Other Signs of a Hard Winter. A party of the wags who are alwaya hanging around the National hotel held up old Cartor Bowie, the colored man who has sold raw oysters from the cau j for seasons innumerable on Sixth street, yesterday, and after chafing him for awhile on various questions touched him in a tender spot by asking him what kind of weather Washington was going to have this winter. "Tell yer, honey, yer bettah git yer coal in putiy soon, kaso days mitely squally times ahead, " said Carter. "De ducks ain' nebber had ez much down onter day bresses ez day is dis fall since I kin 'member. Hit's dat thick dat yei cyahnt see de meat ther hit nohow. Dat's er sho' sign dat de wedder gwin-ter gwin-ter bo turr'ble cole. Don de bressbone I ob a goose whut I seen wuz dess spotted up like er pintcr dog's back, ven dat's ernudder sign whut don't fale, nebber. neb-ber. En dar's ernudder thing. Ebboi 6ence I fust got big nuff ter tote isters dun see dat when we hab de smallpox small-pox in do fall time de winter whut come erlong atter hit ip dess do debbi! fob. cole. Hit wuz datter way'las ' time, back yander in atee-atey. Yer 'member dat, don't yer? We had de smallpox in de fall, an de wedder was dess laik hit is now, sof ' an sunny, an hit kep datter dat-ter way "twell clean up ter Krismus. Den, gennermen, she commence fur to git cole, an I lay dat o Cyarter putty nigh froze an starve ter deaf, kase de ribber got froze ober clean ter de mouf, an dey martn't no iseter boat come up toodow'ai-f foh 'bout tix weeks. Yaars, indeedy, fellers, hit's gwinter be colter dan de debbil soon ez de holerdays comes, an if enny ob youse is got yo' obercotes in do intrus shop I lay yei better git 'em out quick ez yer kin. kase yer'll need 'em, houey, yer'll need 'em wussen de ficker an de seegy.irs yef throwin yer munny erway on. Bat dia ain't sellin isters. I gotten- git sum munny time de ribber froze up ergin an keep dem ister boats down on de beds." Washington Star. |