|
BATTLE CREEK BY A. D. P. VAN BUREN
In the fall of 1835, Mr. Goddard told David H. Daniels, then in trade at Battle Creek, that he could have all the potatoes he wanted at one shilling a bushel, he picking them up. Mr. Daniels did not accept the offer. The next spring Goddard sold those potatoes at one dollar a bushel. "But, " says he to Mr. Daniels, "I cannot look a man in the face and ask that price; I turn my head around and say—one dollar. "
The writer remembers hearing Mr. Goddard relate the following instance of amusement among some of the early settlers in Battle Creek. He chanced to step into the old Battle Creek House, one evening, and saw bottles of champagne placed in rows across one end of the long dining-room table; at the other end stood a group of citizens, one of them having a hammer in his hand. The man with the hammer raised it deliberately, and hurled it with force among the champagne bottles. It went crashing its way through the row, knocking to pieces several of the bottles, and spilling the wine on the floor. The game was to see who could break the most bottles with the hammer. After witnessing one or two exhibitions of this kind, Goddard left. The next day a bill was presented to him for his part of the expenses incurred in the amusing game the previous evening. Goddard, surprised, indignantly replied: "Let those that dance pay the fiddler; I did not dance with you last night, and you know it. " The bill was no further pressed.
Michigan
Page 34
|
|
Please consider making a donation to help keep these sites alive.
Thank you
|
