Some say it would bring more
folks into this country. I say we can supply all the folks that's
nec'sary. I've got fourteen in my own family. S'pose ye lived on
a tremendous sidehill that reached clear to New York City, so ye
could git on a sled an' scoot off like a streak o' lightnin'. Do
ye think ye'd be any happier? Do ye think ye'd chop any more wood
er raise a bigger crop o' potatoes? S'pose ye could scoot yer
crops right down t' Albany in a day. That would be all right if
'ye was the only man that was scootin', but if there was anything
t' be made by it, there'd be more than a million sleds on the way,
an' ye couldn't sell yer stuff for so much as ye git here. Some
day ye'd come home and ask where's Ma an' Mary, and then Sam would
say, 'Why, Mary's slid down t' New York, and the last I see o' Ma
she was scootin' for Rochester.'"
Here, the record says, Colonel Barclay was interrupted by laughter
and a voice.
"Wal, if there was a railroad, they could scoot back ag'in," said
the voice.
"Yes," the Colonel rejoined, "but mebbe after they'd been there a
while ye'd wish they couldn't. Wal, you git your own supper, an'
then Sam says, says he, 'I guess I'll scoot over t' Watertown and
see my gal fer a few minutes.
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