| Show A tennessee gri A ninner dinner I 1 y I 1 heard of a young lady th the other day up ln la middle tennessee who as river men say has taken another chute the story about her did my soul good and for the comfort of other half starved dyspeptics like myself whose tardy sus te nation is effected by means of fried chicken soggy biscuits greasy hash and sz sole leather fritters ill relate it for years past as a mere matter of form something handed down from remote antiquity the officers of the county fair held in the neighborhood where this young lady lived have been in the habit of offering a premium to the lady unmarried cooking the best dinner it was a dead letter nobody had contested for the premium within the memory of the oldest inhabitant this year however the young lady of whom I 1 am sp speaking faking determined to compete for the prize her name narno I 1 wish I 1 could immortalize it was kate janaway the fair men set up a stove for her stretched a canvas to shield her from the sun and about 11 of the last daysee day she went to td work the matter had been talked about by every one in the neighborhood and a curiosity was on t tiptoe tip toe A crowd collected around the place place where the stove was set up early in the morning and kept hept increasing but when miss aliss rate kate herself hers gif alf a buxom handsome girl of nineteen daughter of the ex mayor of the town appeared on the ground and butting tutting putting on a white apron and rolling up her hen er sleeves comm commenced e need operations all other attractions were nothing every one was eager to see so novel a sight there was a tree close by which soon became black with spectators who had climbed up to get a better view the branches were finally so burdened that one by one they broke precipitating it those upon them to the ground until only one man was left in the tree he sat in a lofty fork with eyes riveted on the scene below no amount of persuasion by those beneath envious of his hla better view could induce him to come down even a bribe of 10 failed he said he was bound to see or die meanwhile the dinner preparations went on apace the savory smell of the cooking food seemed to intoxicate the crowd crow which pressed nearer it took all the police force on the fhe grounds to keep order the time arrived for the trotting match announced as the sport of the thy da day but the amphitheatre was empty the 0 judges with the exception of one crabbed old widower the timers all were missing and so nothing could be done at half past 2 the dinner was announced ready and the judges hap happy Y men seated themselves at the table le the crowd regarding them with ill lil disguised envy A roast of beef delicately done t was put steaming hot upon the table then followed corn com pudding whose delicate aroma fell upon the factories ol orles ories of the excited crowd like breezes of araby the blest a profusion of vegetables cooked to perfection followed next the judges ate and ate praising the flavor of the food and the skill of the cook at every mouthful but when a dessert of piping hot apple dumplings made its appearance the forbearance of the crowd was at an end they broke through the ropes into the ring with one accord and the dumplings dump lings disappeared in a trice one old fellow proprietor of a store and owner of a big sawmill saw mill proposed to the young lady on the spot but he was quickly collared and led ofir off the ground by two younger aspirants who made common cause against the aged suitor sawmill saw mill and all that young lady was the centre of attraction in her town after the cooking feat she received twenty five nive otters of marriage the first week and her fame spread through all the country round an old bachelor fellow downin grundy county with a fame so big that it takes him ali all all ali day to ride around it and cattle on a hundred hills heard of her and made a pilgrimage all the way to that town to learn learn the truth he got the girl too although some of the young men of the place sued out a writ of habeas corpus to prevent her being carried out of the county they were too aate this is I 1 am aware a rather sad ending for so good a story but devotion to the truth compels me to give nothing but the simple unvarnished reality she ought to have married that fellow who sat up there in the crutch of the tree so long and at such fearful discomfort he wanted her har and he was a poor bilious dyspeptic whom her splendid cooking would have soon restored to usefulness and society but he was poor ali ah I 1 memphis correspondence enoe enco ef louisville courier journal if thou desire to bo be wise bo be so wise as to hold thy tongue |
