Page:History of Oregon Literature.djvu/570

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HISTORY OF OREGON LITERATURE

C. Strang, the pioneer pillist, is getting ready to celebrate 50 years in his drugstore next March. . . In 1884 he rode all over the country on a horse, and has since made it in Buicks. Most of the female population of the county have weighed themselves on his scales. Mr. Strang always figured this was none of his business, and looked the other way. This shows his bringing up, and, besides, the scales are reflected in a showcase mirror. He has managed to keep his drugstore a drugstore, and has never handled J. I. Case harvester parts, or ham sandwiches.

Mr. Jim Dinkens of Beagle came to town yesterday from the hills. . . . The following facts were gleaned from Mr. Dinkens' remarks: The deer has the best recollection of all four-legged creatures, "and would be a holy terror in the timber if the Lord had only given him a fighting heart." The wildcat has a sense of humor, but loses it if kicked in the shortribs. ... A bald-headed eagle will starve before he will eat a bluejay. . . . The object of Mr. Dinkens' trip to town was to get a haircut, and three teeth pulled.

Del Getchell picked up a door nail in front of his bank. Yes, it was dead.

A Table Rock barn was shot by a hunter the first of the week. He was armed with a 4-5-55-65 rifle and a pair of field glasses, and insisted that the barn had tail-feathers.

We note again, at the start of another year, as we noted last year, the shortage of calendars. . . . This makes us sad, as we will have to go down to C. Strang's druggery and snoop around until we find one of Dr. Jayne's Almanacs. It was not always this way. In 1927 your corr. received by actual count by mail 197 calendars. They varied in size from the flap of a side show tent up. No census was taken of the calendars received in 1928 or 1929. ... 1930 was the last year that Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia, Pa., sent us a calendar. We are now buying our locomotives elsewhere, . . . Besides the foreign traffic in calendars, there used to be a brisk local solicitude that we know the day, and