The star of the north. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1849-1866, 1850-08-08
A COMPLAINT AGAINST THE RAIL
ROAD.
"Feventesquo auras velut fornace prolun-
da,
Ore trahit, curusqne suos condescere sem

Ore trahit, currusqne suos condescere SEN
til.n
METAM. II. 229.
My privacy has been invaded by the Rail.
road Company, coming through my premi-
ses and cutting asunder my barn from my
house, turning my back into my front, and
setting fire totwo haystacks by sparks from
the locomotive. Upon the bene qui latuh ben
Ui1it plan of Ovid, | soon after graduation
determined TO cultivate retirement, and
thought | had attained it; but who can cal.
culate on anything in these days Of galvan-
ism, steam, and Drummon and Dude lights,
to say nothing OF Paine's which has been
snufIed out Since the paroxysms of my
commencement speech, and the horrors and
publicties of tho ensuing ball, where | fg.
ured according 10 the mode of tha; day in
clubbed hair, and small clothes, / resolved
on a hermitage; but .he steam car has ruin.
ed all
Who would have thought that the cosiest
nook in the jerseys could have been trans
muted as by magic into focus of observa-
ton Diligently did eschew all high roads.
There was not post Office within ten miles
A swamp on one side and mountain on the
other made my locality, thought, as mac
cesslble as the vale of Rasselas. My books
were piled on my front porch, when | had
done turning them over under the willow
tree lp!ayed old tunes on my single-key ed
flute with no more dread of molestation than
Alexander Selkrk My back yard, now my
front, was an Arcadia Of milk k-pans, and a
tame calf browsed on the grass. As 10 tai
lor's bills, they extended only TO the we'd
ding dress when Amy was married, and nv
old coats and clouted shoes gave me that so.
lace which Lucullus with his two thousand
vestments never knew. Alas and alas NV
twiligh, turned into MONDAY. My house
is like that OF Spurius, who, as Plutarch says
desired his builder 10 make Kim one into
which all the city OF Rome might look at
WILL l cannot enter into my closet, FOR pri-
vatc chambers we have nome The howl
and shrek of the steam whistle gives me
night-mare panics afior my first nap, and
the smoke of tho moving volcano eclipses
my skies. My wife and daughters are twice
day dressed and seated upon our eide
Udnt back piazza and am iain 10 retreat
10 neishborng barn 10 avoid a reconnai-
sance by curious passengers. To complete
my misery station has been fixed half a
mile from us, which turns our rural solitude
into a mimic forum.
The Company has paid me for my half a.
ere o! land, but what compensation on earth
can indemnify mo for the loss of sovereign
ty was a man of peace, gloriing in the
noh me tangcrG insultaiionf "a nook which
nobody knew anything Or: now all the
world is passing every few hours, peering
into my windows and scanning my petty
garden, counting the hen coops, the peices
in my laundry, and the very dishes on my
frugal board, and oglng my respectable but
too inquisitiyo wife and daughters, who have
never been able 10 satiate their curiosity in
regard to this intrusive wonder nor abide at
any indoor work from the time they hear
The sounds of The cars.
| am 10th 10 fly 10 Snake Hill or Schraalen-
burg, where | am told ancient virlne is still
unmolested, and too rigid 10 change my
habrs,--Chagrin has eaten out my comforts
Homo is no home, in sight of railway
| have already sent my Zimmerman 10 auc-
ton. My evening walk used to bo in tho
very line now overlaid with the iron plague.
My orchard is divided into twain. In short
| feel stripped and exposed TO the gaze of
an impairment generation; whose whole
business it seems to be to career from place
TO place by means of this perverse miracle
of degenerate art.
Think not, that have ever compromised
my dignity by entering one of these vehi-
cles The car of Phaeton would not be
more dreadful, and would sooner yoke me
to the horses of the sun. Dear old Lord
Monboddo ascribed the decline of Europe
10 the effeminate use OF coaches what
would have been thought of a steam car
riagc! A pedestrian of sixty years. prac-
tice, you may be assured that when | ex-
changed crabstcks, it was for Doll my ca.
sy ambling nag, on whose back might Jog
and read withoutfear Of losing my iron. rim
med glasses, and who has often grazed a.
long the sides Of green lanes, when her
master was deep in the Alciphron of Bishop
Berkely. Ubinam gentium Sumus? What O.
vii spirit possesses our people? What gad-
fly has bitten them into the furor Of locomo-
ton, Whence come the thousands who look
out of those impudent windows as they
s;team by like lightning? Whittier are
they goingl Who pays for the transit and
the time Who cares for their forsaken
households? How do they find food and
lodgingl How many hecatombs of ncat
cattle must add to the smoke OF our capitals
Resolve these questions, o gifted ones, for
an injured, invaded, and bewildercd solitary.
have in vain turned over Adam Smith for q
clearing Of my doubts.
The ancient civil law provided for action
in case oil stillicidium, or injury by the drop
ping from nei ghbor's caves: but here is
cavcs.dropping on a gigantic scale, and FAM
| ly secrets revealed to a world in motion
Cicero tells Of suit brought by Roman a.
! H