132 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS 



that district, or whether so much whisky is drank there 

 in consequence of so many Cass men being there. But 

 certain it is, that if the General had to pay for all that 

 has been drank in his name, he would need another "extra 

 allowance" — not of the "critter," his friends take that — 

 but something extra to foot the bill. 



I slept in a certain town, in that region, a short time 

 ago, where the extras were indulged in most freely. 



"The Grocery" — consisting of a whisky barrel, six tin 

 cups, two green glass tumblers, a lot of pipes and tobacco 

 — was in close proximity to the inn I was in, and there 

 the qualities of a very recent extraction of the corn, and 

 the fitness of the candidate to receive the votes of the 

 corned, was discussed in the manner usual in such times 

 and places. 



From the run of the conversation, I was led to believe, 

 that one who knew a thing or two, had lately been to St. 

 Louis, where he had learned that Gen. Jackson was ac- 

 tually dead, and that it was not *a darned Whig lie ;' and 

 that General Cass was a colt out of the same old war 

 horse, and they were a going to run him any how, and he 

 was jis' naterally bound to be the next President, any 

 way it could be fix'd; and he wanted all that could, to 

 stand up to the rack, fodder or no fodder. 



But it also seemed that there were a few Mexican sol- 

 diers, who, although they believed that Gen. Jackson cre- 

 ated the greater part of this world, also believed that old 

 Zack Rough and Ready was now the only living personi- 

 fication of human perfection, and they'd vote for him 

 right straight, from the word go; and no Cass man in 

 them diggins could out run, out drink, out fight, out bet, 

 or out argue them on that pint, by a long shot. 



All of which remedies were apparently tried, and found 

 ineffectual, in the course of the evening. 



Finally, it was proposed, about midnight, to dance it 

 out. The two parties then selected their champions, the 

 fiddler mounted the whisky barrel, a large pumpkin was 

 placed in the middle of the floor, and at it they went, with 



