Oberlin College - Hi-O-Hi Yearbook (Oberlin, OH)

Page 27 text:

see when I was a kid, silk hats-nice lookin' ones toog swell dressesg some gals with th' best lookin' oranges a hangin' down from their big hats-sight bigger 'n any use toog an' then some more o' them clown bands what they have to every circus. Then there was a bunch o' th' funniest lookin' Pennsylvania Dutchmen, pipes an' all: an' some gals with big black spots-some sort o',dots mother called 'em- all over their dresses. One couple must 'a come from some ferrin country, fer they had the most rich lookin' sort o' dresses, but they must 'a bin awful hot-somebody said they come from some warm place or other somethin' like Haw-y-a. An' then there come th' funniest kit o' walkin' jugs ye ever heard tell of. Great big jugs- looked jest like them what molasses comes in down to th' store at th' corners, only bigger, an' all ye could see was a little piece o' head stickin' out o' th' snoot an' some wiggly legs under th' blamed things. 8'6 Wal, sir, mother an' I seed they was such a bunch o' 'em comin' that we gets inside th' tent, an' blamed if we didn't h.ave the Worst sort o' a time ter get a seat. Regular circus bleechers they had, an' they charged us a quarter a piece to get in, too. But finally some bald headed teller what seemed t' be a runnin' things, 'least he was doin' consid'rable bossin,' Hxes us up an' we jest set there an' watched 'em come in. ze

Page 26 text:

T H E H I - O - H I 1 9 1 0 had'nt no idee what it meant. An' then some feller, ferget jest who 'twas, come along an' told me 'twas another o' them Mock Conven- tions. Wal, I told mother, says I: 'If it's one o' them shows we're goin' if it costs seventy-Hve cents.' So when it come Tuesday, I think it was, we hitched up an' drove in. fb Ye know West College Street there in Oberlin, don't ye? Wal, sir, when we drove down there old Nellie, what ain't got scared in five years, like t' ha' shied clean up into politician Comings' store, fer right over there on the grass plot where th', what ye call it, Chapel used ter be, was th' dumbdedest, biggest tent I ever set eyes on to. That was what they called th' Big Tent. Couldn't see what they wanted t' try t' cover th' h.ul campout,-er whatever 'tis they call that grass plot-,all over with tent fer. But that jest goes t' show ye can't never tell 'til ye see, fer they sure did use it all, an' then acted as if they had a hankerin' fer more. 4 as Wal, mother an' I, we 'et our lunch, an' then kind o' mozied up to- , , wards that circus-like lookin' place. , , An', sir, ye never would believe the rigs , we saw comin' in from all directions. Students th.ey was, all o' 'em. I couldn't help thinkin' I was glad some o' th' old Presidents wa'n't alive, some o' 'em would 'a had fits seein' so many queer get-ups in Oberlin. I thought we must 'a made a mistake an' that it was a real circus after all when I seen such a sight o' paradin' goin' on. There was th' greatest lot o' things,-bandsg a sort o' prairie schooner, like we used ter 25

Page 28 text:

T H E H I - O - H I 1 9 1 O Come! Why, sir, from the way th.ey kep' a comin' I reckon'd Wa'n't goin' t' be room fer half 0' 'em. That hul blamed tent was jest filled with chairs, an' then them circus seats put up all 'round the sides. But, sir, when they all got in an' was standin' up there,-- an' mother an' me wonderin' how th.em that hadn't no seats was a goin' tl get along,-they set down, an' would ye believe it, them fellers what had planned th' thing knew what they was 'bout fer there was a Seat fer every one o' them fellers an' gals-but I donlt believe there was a one ter spare. An' then th' fun begun! f' Some little feller--had a awful loud vest on too--got up an' hammered on th' table ,til I most feared he'd bust it. But they kin' o' quieted down in time an' he didn't have t' bust anythin'. They all stood up an' sung My Country 'Tis Of Thee, an' I tell ye I never knew that was so blamed pretty before. Then some sleepy- lookin' feller read some sort o' Call 0' th' Convention -guess it was somethin' they had t' get rid o' somehowg an Cousin Albert says it was jest like th' thing th.ey read t' th' Chica- go doin's. They did some sort o' votin' ' ' , an' brought up Mister Treadway, him what was jest elected Lieutenant Gov- ernor, good man he was too. He gave j a speech, 'soundin' th' key note' I think he called it. Guess it must a bin on the key too, fer it sounded mighty nice-like when th.ey say th' choir up t' church hits th' key. OV Some feller come t' th' stand-had a regu1'r political meetin' stand even to them gents what always sits on it-an', l L W N , l I 27