Precedents in Piperock by W. C. Tuttle
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Precedents in Piperock by W. C. Tuttle is a humorous Western short story written in the early 20th century. It follows a rowdy cow-town’s attempt at a “safe and sane” Fourth of July celebration—a speech, a balloon ascension, and a baseball game—that predictably erupts into comic bedlam. Told by genial cowhand Ike Harper, the tale tracks Sheriff Magpie Simpkins’s reformist plans colliding with the antics of hard-drinking pranksters Dirty Shirt Jones and
Scenery Sims. Judge Steele’s big oration is derailed when the balloon, sabotaged by the pair, drags the speaker’s platform down the street and knocks Ike cold. Revived, Ike is roped into umpiring the Seven-A vs. Triangle ballgame despite not knowing the rules, while the gin-soaked judge quietly nudges calls in favor of his bets. Mishaps pile up: a dog mauls the ball, Weinie Lopp smashes it in half, and Ike declares a ludicrous final score of “one and a half to one.” Chaos crescendos as Dirty and Scenery hitch a wagon to the balloon, hauling Ike along until he bails out in the hills. There he finds the ruined balloonist and, out of battered conscience, pays him the disputed stake money—only to be pelted with a rock when he repeats the hated phrase “safe and sane.” (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Tuttle, W. C. (Wilbur C.), 1883-1969 |
|---|---|
| Title | Precedents in Piperock |
| Original Publication | New York, NY: The Ridgway Company, 1917. |
| Series Title | Produced from the November 3, 1917 issue of Adventure magazine. |
| Credits | Prepared by volunteers at BookCove (bookcove.net) |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature |
| Subject | Western stories |
| Subject | Balloon ascensions -- Fiction |
| Subject | Baseball -- Fiction |
| Subject | Fourth of July -- Fiction |
| Subject | Simpkins, Magpie (Fictitious character) -- Fiction |
| Subject | Harper, Ike (Fictitious character) -- Fiction |
| Subject | Piperock (Montana : Imaginary place) -- Fiction |
| Category | Text |
| eBook-No. | 78719 |
| Release Date | May 21, 2026 |
| Copyright | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 1451 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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