Them was the good old days, in Davenport, Scott County Iowa . d town. Aleck Roberts was one of the best known boys in culludcircles, and in the old days when the Kimball house was thebig spot around here, Aleck done the train ballyhoo act atthe Rock Island station, and later at the big hotels. Hisfoghorn voice w^as familiar to all commercial travelers. Then there was that happy trio—Jake Busey and hisbrothers, Tom and Jerry. Jake was educated by J. W. Stew-art, the attorney, bein the first cullud boy to graduate inthe public schools, and Jake was showered with flowers byhis white admirers. Jak
Them was the good old days, in Davenport, Scott County Iowa . d town. Aleck Roberts was one of the best known boys in culludcircles, and in the old days when the Kimball house was thebig spot around here, Aleck done the train ballyhoo act atthe Rock Island station, and later at the big hotels. Hisfoghorn voice w^as familiar to all commercial travelers. Then there was that happy trio—Jake Busey and hisbrothers, Tom and Jerry. Jake was educated by J. W. Stew-art, the attorney, bein the first cullud boy to graduate inthe public schools, and Jake was showered with flowers byhis white admirers. Jake had a style of his own in jugglinhard words that made the cullud folksgasp. Jake loved Tom and Jerry, bothbrotherly and liquid, and when the threeboys met it was one grand reunion, andthey felt so happy that they laughed allthe time. The Busey boys were in greatdemand because of their pleasin manners,and at every encampment of Company B,Jake was chief cook, with Tom and Jerryfor assistants. Them boys had splendidvoices, and although they had never heard. 149 THEM WAS THE GOOD OLD DAYS Memphis Blues, Doc Worley taught em to sing the popu-lar songs of the day. Couldnt make the Busey boys madby callin em coons. No, sah! Theyd just laugh at made a great hit singin Coon! Coon! Coon! whenout with the serenaders, the chorus runnin like this: Coon! Coon! Coon!Ah wish ma coloh would fade. Coon! Coon! Coon!Its sich a dusky shade. Coon! Coon! Coon!Mohnin, night and noon—Ah wish Ah was a white chile stid of a Coon! Coon! Coon! At the finish Tom would roll the whites of his eyes atJake, and rumble the low bass notes, Jerry would look solemnwhile carryin the air, and Jake would soar up on a highfalsetto note to the quivery finale. Squire Bums, of East Davenport, was another celebratedcharacter. The squire spent forty years in slavery, and hecould entertain with stories of plantation days and the cottonfields. With his gray hoss and rickety wagon, the squiredid the light haulin
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, bookidthemwasgoodo, bookyear1922
