"Short Stories," Limestone County.

Folder contains 14 pages of a short story written by Shelby Southard for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the late 1930s.• (1) • ••• that a Government Of the peopl., the people, and the people shall Dot perish from the earth•••• " ---Abraham Llncola. GIlD:lIT GIllllOliS 1II0~ e.emed t...

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Format: Electronic
Published: Alabama Department of Archives and History
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Online Access:http://cdm17217.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/wpa/id/872
format Electronic
collection WPA Alabama Writers' Project Collection
building Alabama Department of Archives and History
publisher Alabama Department of Archives and History
topic WPA Alabama Writers' Project
spellingShingle WPA Alabama Writers' Project
"Short Stories," Limestone County.
fulltopic WPA Alabama Writers' Project
Alabama--Social life and customs; Alabama Writers' Project; Limestone County (Ala.); United States. Works Progress Administration
description Folder contains 14 pages of a short story written by Shelby Southard for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the late 1930s.• (1) • ••• that a Government Of the peopl., the people, and the people shall Dot perish from the earth•••• " ---Abraham Llncola. GIlD:lIT GIllllOliS 1II0~ e.emed to be able to figure out w~ GreBn7 Gibbone euddenl,. took a fool notion in hi. head to run for coroner. Just on appearances WJ14.1 heAthe last ons on earth 70U would think would WBIlt to get into politics. J1rst place GreBn7 had a good Job, end on top of that he Just vun't the politicldng t;n>e. 1II0t that he didn't ha..e the gift ~ of gab as the Slll'ing goes, but IlOstlT he uaed his gabbing along other lineI than electioneering. There vere several fairlT rellllll'kable things about GreeD¥. One thing) he veighed near about 400 poull4s and that's no 11e. .And then, big as he was, he took and £Ot to be one of these here electrical lineman, fellovs that Climb the poles and fix whatever gets the matter with the wiring when something gets the matter. Old GreeD¥ put a big shadow down on the ground when he put on them old heel spike. and mounted up the pole. Once he got up there he looked like a baked apple stuck on a toothpick. It was a .ight to vatch him, great big ~blob of a -sn, no .hape to hill hardl,-, climbing around them poles•, and looping and cutting and fixing them wires without giving it a secoad thought. On top of all that, GreBn7 knew more Just plain down dirt,. stori.. than &D¥bodT in the count,., and Bome IlOre of his reputation rested on h-ill being abls to cook up barbscue so good. Thq. wasn't nobod,- could hash up better barbecue meat than old GreBn7. lie vas in big demand vherever there va. & gather1ng. llut ltill and all that vaan't no reason to go into politiel. You got 10 used to oeeing him up a pole somewhere It JockeT1ng around in a tanlile of wires that when the word vent around the equare he was aiming to run for coroner the,. va.n' t no~ would belie... it till • • • they heard tmlll Gre""", in pereon from hll ow lips. Be Juet vasn't the politician ~e. The people e"'l7"here knew Gre""",. Be vas easy to get along with) and had a good I18mory for face.. Waen' t hardly, """,body he couldl1' t call by ll8JIIe. Bis work wea such he got around quite a bit and that w~ a person comes to know a lot of people. They all liked Gree~. Wot in .. serioue w~. of course, for Ilobody could dforcl. to take "- old Gre""", eerious. but in 1Iteko free and easy way you could say old Gre""", vae .. popular and .. well-liked man. J:verybody knew him. Everybody either laughed at him or with hi•• People like to pther JIll in knots tmdemeath a polo where he 10 worlc1n« and then he will check back and forth wi th the. while he worb. Be ..... an old hand at ~cutUng Jokes with people and vaSll't hardly ever you could say the other fellow /lOt Olle off all Gree~. "You got to get up mighty early in the morning to get ahead of old Gre""",," thsy would say; or, , "It ..11 be a cold day ill August whell somebody get's old Greeny's goat." That w..s .. fact. too. Juet to look ..t him he didn't look liks he had br&11l olle. lklt opelled up 011 you with his fuIlIlill8 he !D8Mged to keep ..bout two JUlllpS ahead all the Ume. Gre""", stopped echool in the o1xth grade the way boye haTe .. trick of doing. Be Ilever did go b&ck. He had what you would cul Juet 4 "Ter~ educaUon for the sixth grade. T&1k1ng about hie smutty. storiee, it ' ... fact like I s&1d that he knew more of the dirtiest pool hall yams .. li1ite III8Il has got ..,y right to know. You could go off illto MadisOIl County or eomewhere way off where old Gree~ wouldn't ,go Ollce in .. blue moon. • • liow that sort of .tumped the big man for a second. It wa. true -- Davson was an ex-moonshiner had got on the sheriff's force for ths main reason that he knew where .0 many .tills were. He found out he could me.ke more catchinl. stiU. than running' one hi.self and had been with the county ever since, ~n!l~" .... ""519 8 or SSB.-er. You had to be a slick: one to put your still where Blaclde cculdn't find it -- if he, wanted to find it• All that !!lUst have run throU8h Greeny'. mind in a flash, for hi. feee cleared up, and I wondered what he was going to s07I' "Ro, sir,· Greeny s&1d. ·Ile &1n't forget he's been to the pen, and he don't went you to go forgettin' it neither. That's the sort of experience e. sheriff needa. Experience with the law••• Then he knows how it is from the inside that WB,}'I'. The crowd guffawed. Old Greeny had scored againl And he knew it, you could teUJ from the w07 he wiped the smirk off his feee wi th the beck of hi. hand. Then, to rem1l\d them of his own reee, he fished in his coat pocket and took out a handful of little printed cards which reed: GDI:lIT GIBllOIlS Your liext Coroner Your Vote'" Influence Ie Appreciated (SubJ. Action Democratic Prill&ry) Sept. 25 (Pd. Pol. Adv., Greeny Gibbon.)
title "Short Stories," Limestone County.
titleStr "Short Stories," Limestone County.
url http://cdm17217.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/wpa/id/872
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spelling GSU# SG022775_00105-00119SG022775_00105_00119"Short Stories," Limestone County.Folder contains 14 pages of a short story written by Shelby Southard for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in the late 1930s.1939 circa1930-1939Alabama--Social life and customs; Alabama Writers' Project; Limestone County (Ala.); United States. Works Progress AdministrationTextDocumentsAlabama. Dept. of Archives and HistoryWorks Progress Administration filesSG022775WPA Federal Writers' Project of Alabama, Short Stories by Shelby Southard, LimestoneAlabama Dept. of Archives and History, 624 Washington Ave., Montgomery, AL 36130EnglishThis material may be protected under U. S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S. Code) which governs the making of photocopies or reproductions of copyrighted materials. You may use the digitized material for private study, scholarship, or research. Though ADAH has physical ownership of the material in its collections, in some cases we may not own the copyright to the material. It is the patron's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in our collections.96 dpi tiff• (1) • ••• that a Government Of the peopl., the people, and the people shall Dot perish from the earth•••• " ---Abraham Llncola. GIlD:lIT GIllllOliS 1II0~ e.emed to be able to figure out w~ GreBn7 Gibbone euddenl,. took a fool notion in hi. head to run for coroner. Just on appearances WJ14.1 heAthe last ons on earth 70U would think would WBIlt to get into politics. J1rst place GreBn7 had a good Job, end on top of that he Just vun't the politicldng t;n>e. 1II0t that he didn't ha..e the gift ~ of gab as the Slll'ing goes, but IlOstlT he uaed his gabbing along other lineI than electioneering. There vere several fairlT rellllll'kable things about GreeD¥. One thing) he veighed near about 400 poull4s and that's no 11e. .And then, big as he was, he took and £Ot to be one of these here electrical lineman, fellovs that Climb the poles and fix whatever gets the matter with the wiring when something gets the matter. Old GreeD¥ put a big shadow down on the ground when he put on them old heel spike. and mounted up the pole. Once he got up there he looked like a baked apple stuck on a toothpick. It was a .ight to vatch him, great big ~blob of a -sn, no .hape to hill hardl,-, climbing around them poles•, and looping and cutting and fixing them wires without giving it a secoad thought. On top of all that, GreBn7 knew more Just plain down dirt,. stori.. than &D¥bodT in the count,., and Bome IlOre of his reputation rested on h-ill being abls to cook up barbscue so good. Thq. wasn't nobod,- could hash up better barbecue meat than old GreBn7. lie vas in big demand vherever there va. & gather1ng. llut ltill and all that vaan't no reason to go into politiel. You got 10 used to oeeing him up a pole somewhere It JockeT1ng around in a tanlile of wires that when the word vent around the equare he was aiming to run for coroner the,. va.n' t no~ would belie... it till • • • they heard tmlll Gre""", in pereon from hll ow lips. Be Juet vasn't the politician ~e. The people e"'l7"here knew Gre""",. Be vas easy to get along with) and had a good I18mory for face.. Waen' t hardly, """,body he couldl1' t call by ll8JIIe. Bis work wea such he got around quite a bit and that w~ a person comes to know a lot of people. They all liked Gree~. Wot in .. serioue w~. of course, for Ilobody could dforcl. to take "- old Gre""", eerious. but in 1Iteko free and easy way you could say old Gre""", vae .. popular and .. well-liked man. J:verybody knew him. Everybody either laughed at him or with hi•• People like to pther JIll in knots tmdemeath a polo where he 10 worlc1n« and then he will check back and forth wi th the. while he worb. Be ..... an old hand at ~cutUng Jokes with people and vaSll't hardly ever you could say the other fellow /lOt Olle off all Gree~. "You got to get up mighty early in the morning to get ahead of old Gre""",," thsy would say; or, , "It ..11 be a cold day ill August whell somebody get's old Greeny's goat." That w..s .. fact. too. Juet to look ..t him he didn't look liks he had br&11l olle. lklt opelled up 011 you with his fuIlIlill8 he !D8Mged to keep ..bout two JUlllpS ahead all the Ume. Gre""", stopped echool in the o1xth grade the way boye haTe .. trick of doing. Be Ilever did go b&ck. He had what you would cul Juet 4 "Ter~ educaUon for the sixth grade. T&1k1ng about hie smutty. storiee, it ' ... fact like I s&1d that he knew more of the dirtiest pool hall yams .. li1ite III8Il has got ..,y right to know. You could go off illto MadisOIl County or eomewhere way off where old Gree~ wouldn't ,go Ollce in .. blue moon. • • liow that sort of .tumped the big man for a second. It wa. true -- Davson was an ex-moonshiner had got on the sheriff's force for ths main reason that he knew where .0 many .tills were. He found out he could me.ke more catchinl. stiU. than running' one hi.self and had been with the county ever since, ~n!l~" .... ""519 8 or SSB.-er. You had to be a slick: one to put your still where Blaclde cculdn't find it -- if he, wanted to find it• All that !!lUst have run throU8h Greeny'. mind in a flash, for hi. feee cleared up, and I wondered what he was going to s07I' "Ro, sir,· Greeny s&1d. ·Ile &1n't forget he's been to the pen, and he don't went you to go forgettin' it neither. That's the sort of experience e. sheriff needa. Experience with the law••• Then he knows how it is from the inside that WB,}'I'. The crowd guffawed. Old Greeny had scored againl And he knew it, you could teUJ from the w07 he wiped the smirk off his feee wi th the beck of hi. hand. Then, to rem1l\d them of his own reee, he fished in his coat pocket and took out a handful of little printed cards which reed: GDI:lIT GIBllOIlS Your liext Coroner Your Vote'" Influence Ie Appreciated (SubJ. Action Democratic Prill&ry) Sept. 25 (Pd. Pol. Adv., Greeny Gibbon.)http://cdm17217.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/wpa/id/872