John Henry

“ John Henry cried out, wildly.
"He must have," said the first woman.
"Yes; you're a real good boy to stand up for him, but he must have," agreed the second woman.
"I tell you he didn't!" almost screamed John Henry; but they paid no more attention. He called the teacher, waving his arms frantically, but she was still busy with Jim Mills, and did not hear or see him. ”

“ She's not pretty when she climbs, but she got on the bottom branch at last, and I was very glad nobody was about, and then I lifted 'Erbert up and then I got up, and we formed a very picturesque group, her smiling and me looking noble, and we put the earpieces on, and then she stopped smiling and said: "John Henry, you're crazy!"
I said: "What's the matter now?" and she said: "Who's going to take the photo" and she gave me a push and I slipped off, and the bosom of my trousers caught on something and there I was, dangling, with her vituperating at me. ”

“ In story John Henry’s deeds often assume magnificent proportions. Indeed, the stories about him are in many respects more interesting than the songs, for the stories usually have more range and reflect more imagination than the songs. Occasionally one can find a Negro who will tell the story simply and without exaggeration, but one usually gets a version which is more or less embellished with the legendary attributes and attainments of John Henry. In the following story, John Henry is credited with such powers as would make him a close rival of Paul Bunyan himself. ”

“ Oftentimes a little minute Forms the destiny of men. You can change the fate of nations By the stroke of one small pen. Towser made one last long effort, Caught John Henry by the pants, But John Henry kept on running For he thought that his last chance. But the maiden held on firmly, And the rope was drawn up tight. But old Towser kept the garments, For he was not tied that night. Then the father hears the racket; With long strides he soon is there, When John Henry and the maiden, Crouching, for the worst prepare. At his feet John tells his story, Shows his clothing soiled and torn ”

“ EPIC OF THE NEGRO WORKINGMAN
Left Wing Gordon was and is a very real person, “traveling man” de luxe in the flesh and blood. Not so John Henry, who was most probably a mythical character. Whatever other studies may report, no Negro whom we have questioned in the states of North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia has ever seen or known of John Henry personally or known any one who has, although it is well understood that he was “mos’ fore-handed steel-drivin’ man in the world.” Still he is none the less real as a vivid picture and example of the good man hero of the race. ”

“ Henry himself commanded in the centre, a conspicuous object to all eyes. He was not one of the kings who went into a battle disguised. There was doubtless a personal taste for splendour and ornament shown in his dress and accoutrements; but he was also impressed with the belief that a king must be, and show himself to be, the foremost fighter as well as the leader of his army. He wore a surcoat which with its gay blazonry set forth his claim to the double throne, showing as it did the lilies of France and the leopards of England. His helmet was circled with a rich crown of gold. ”

“ All he had last Christmas was an orange and a candy-bag and a girl's book, and he wasn't coming again. I had all the presents and he didn't have anything, and so I swapped. He ain't the one to be blamed; I am."
John Henry, pretty little mother's boy that he was, stood before them all, tingling with the rare shame of a generous action, meeting the astonished faces with the courage of one who invites punishment for guilt. ”

“ IV WHERE is the man who can chart and explain the psychology of the mob? In the days that followed John Henry was vouchsafed a faint glimmer of understanding that was to make him a better advertising man thenceforth. He discovered that by completely eliminating himself from public connection with the inn and substituting Grandma Biddle he had performed a master stroke. ”

“ Henry finally triumphed over his enemies and had some years of peace, which he devoted to the good of England.
In the last year of his life, however, he had trouble again. The king of France and Henry’s son Richard took up arms against him. Henry was defeated and was forced to grant what they wished. When he saw a list of the barons who had joined the French king he found among them the name of his favorite son John, and his heart was broken. ”

“ Mr. Camby took down his hat, and the two left the inner office together. John Henry stopped at Myra Dalton's desk. His hour of triumph had come! He waited until the door closed behind Mr. Camby. The two were alone.
"Well, Myra," said John Henry, "I'm coming here to work next Monday—at a big advance. Of course I'll still handle things at the inn. I can do that nights. This is a big moment for me. At last I'm making more money than you are, counting the inn and everything."
"Money!" she said. "What does money matter?" ”

“ John Henry said to his captain,
“Man ain’t nothin’ but a man.
Befo’ I work from sun to sun
I’d die wid de hammer in my han’.”
John Henry was a steel-drivin’ man,
Carried hammer all time in his han’;
Befo’ he let you beat him down
He’d die wid de hammer in his han’.
John Henry had a little girl,
Name was Polly Ann.
John Henry was on his dyin’ bed, O Lawd,
She drove with his hammer like a man.
John Henry went up to the mountain
To beat that steel drill down;
But John Henry was so small, rock so high,
Laid down his hammer an’ he died.
C
John Henry was a steel-drivin’ man. ”

“ I've noticed that I always begin to get better-looking towards Christmas.
She'll come to me and say, "John Henry, I've seen worse-looking men than you, after all. When you've got your hat on and you don't get the light on your face, you aren't so bad, considering," and then she'll give me advice about letting my hair grow long at the sides, and I can brush it over the top and people won't notice it much, and she'll tell me to get some stuff and rub it in night and morning, because perhaps the roots are still there. ”

“ Jinny's father was telling me in the market last Saturday that he wanted his nephew John Henry to start right in there if they could find room for him."
"Oh, of course, it's just what John Henry would like," said Virginia, speaking for the first time.
"Then if it's good enough for John Henry, it's good enough for Oliver, I reckon," rejoined Miss Priscilla. "Anybody who has mixed with beggars oughtn't to turn up his nose at a respectable bank." ”

“ John Henry was a native of Dublin, and made his début at Drury Lane, in 1762, with little success. He joined Douglas's Company in the West Indies, and coming to New York from there made his first appearance on the American stage at the John Street Theatre, New York, December 7, 1767, playing in America until the close of the year 1794. He died in 1795, on a vessel bound for Newport.
"It is recorded that for many years after the Revolution, Mr. Henry was the only actor in New York who kept a coach, and that in his case frequent attacks of the gout rendered it a necessity." ”

“ John Henry answered.
III JOHN HENRY'S first announcement in the newspapers appeared as scheduled on the following Monday morning. It was greeted by a laugh of derision that ran from one end of the city to the other. Men stopped him on the street with what they considered witty comment. Old friends called him up to jibe at him.
"That's all right," he reflected. "Just hammer away—that's the secret. Tell 'em about it daily. The joke will wear off in time. Then the big moment when some woman, somewhere, simply has to find a place to leave the kids. ”

“ Henry loved his children, and could never bring himself to make war very seriously against them. Henry died young in 1183, and Geoffrey in 1185. Richard was now the heir of all his father's lands, from the Tweed to the Pyrenees. Henry made an effort to provide for John in Ireland, and in 1185 he sent the youth—now eighteen years old—to Dublin to rule as king of Ireland. John soon showed his incompetence. He was rude to the English barons, and still ruder to the Irish chiefs, amusing himself by laughing at their dress and pulling the hairs out of their beards. ”

“ Although southern France still clung to the Dauphin, the progress of Henry to the very moment of his death promised a speedy mastery of the whole country. His European position was a commanding one. Lord of the two great western kingdoms, he was linked by close ties of blood with the royal lines of Portugal and Castille; and his restless activity showed itself in his efforts to procure the adoption of his brother John as her successor by the queen of Naples, and in the marriage of a younger brother, Humphrey, with Jacqueline, the Countess of Holland and Hainault. ”

“ The January business at the inn was splendid. John Henry had an opportunity to acquire a secondhand automobile, and he took a step he had been contemplating for some time. It was not always convenient for parents to escort their little ones to the door of the inn.
Then, too, there was the problem of getting the older guests to and from school. So these lines were added to the advertising.
Our Motor Bus Goes Into Commission on Monday
Driven by a Careful, Competent Man
Children Called for and Delivered
On the first of March John Henry sat in his office computing his February profits. ”

“ Poor John Henry's mother was afraid to have him climb trees or coast down hill, and he might never have enjoyed these boyish sports had it not been for his father. When he was quite small, his father took him out in the pine woods and taught him how to climb a tall tree.
"Don't you be afraid, sonny. A boy can't live in this world and not be picked on unless he can climb." ”

“ Eloquence is one of nature’s gifts to Oriental races. The skill with which a native will plead his cause in the ear of a listening official, is conceivable only to those Europeans who have experienced it. In these particular cases much that was dramatic or historical, affecting or pathetic, would be urged. Even the sterner mind of John would be touched sometimes, and much more so the more susceptible heart of Henry. Then the susceptibilities of the latter would be taken up by the officers who had been chosen by him for service in the Punjab. ”

“ Whereupon she would close the door softly and solemnly announce: "Mr. Camby is in an important conference. He mustn't be disturbed."
Yes, Camby was the regular type. But in one way he appeared to differ from the business men of the stories. He knew more about his business than even the lowest man on his pay roll. It was inconsiderate of him, but it was true.
Sighing, John Henry began to scribble on the pad of paper before him. He gave little thought to what he was doing:
All Aboard for Happiness! ”

“ Nothing in the whole reign of Henry is more characteristic of the grasping and unjust nature of the man, even in such small matters as a lady's jewels, finding in himself no capability of arousing a generous feeling within him. He was pre-eminently of a cold, unimpassioned, acquisitive nature. He excused himself from making restitution of her dowry on the plea of a great debt still owed by France to this country for the ransom of King John, and deducted the amount as a great favour, and with all the punctual scrupulosity of a scrivener. ”

“ Of Henry’s qualities as a military leader it is impossible to speak too highly. The one possible exception where he may be thought to have failed, not indeed in skill, but in prudence, was the march from Harfleur to Calais. Yet it was a piece of calculated audacity abundantly justified by the result. To have gone back from Harfleur with nothing to show for a wasted army but a single seaport, would have discredited him both at home and abroad. He had to make an impressive display of his superiority if he was to be accepted as the future conqueror of France. ”

“ No act which Henry could perform would be more pleasing to the nation as a whole than this marriage, or would seem to them clearer proof of his intention to rule in the interest of the whole nation and not of himself alone, or of the small body of foreign oppressors. It would seem like the expression of a wish on Henry's part to unite his line with that of the old English kings, and to reign as their representative as well as his father's, and it was so understood, both by the party opposed to Henry and by his own supporters. ”

“ He is swivel mounted; that is, the torso, so to speak, is pinioned onto the legs, so that the upper part of the body can revolve. This enables him to rotate freely without bustin' his pants, the vest bein' unconnected with the trousers.
"'Now, you stand this here, whom we will call John Henry, at the door of the church as the congregation enters, havin' previously wound him up, and there he stays, turning around and givin' the glad hand and cheery smile, and so doth his unchangin' power display as the unwearied sun from day to day, as the feller says. Nobody neglected, all pleased. ”

“ There were many other theologians besides Hugh of Lincoln among the king's friends—Baldwin, afterwards archbishop; Foliot, one of the chief scholars of his time; Richard of Ilchester, as learned in theology as capable in administration; John of Oxford, lawyer and theologian; Peter of Blois, ready for all kinds of services that might be asked, and as skilled in theology as in rhetoric. Henry was never known to choose an unworthy friend; laymen could only grumble that he was accustomed to take advice of bishops and abbots rather than that of knights even about military matters. ”