Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1850-08-30

the age of twenty-one, he found himself in pos
session of one of the finest farms in the garden
of Pennsylvania. He was the sole Joy and
solace of bis cherished and widowed mother,
his father having died when he was little o.
/ yer nineteen years Of age. Charles was recog-
nized by the young ladies' of the neighborhood
as the handsomest beau in all the country round;
and his goodness of heart and ar,iability Of
manners were quite as proverbial as his beau
/ ty. Many an ambitiously doating mother
sighed in secret to become the ndother-in-law
of Charles Vogelsandt; and not few of the
buxome maidens in the adjoining village cast
wishful glances upon him when he passed them
by, or met them at the village church. Edu-
Gated and accomplished above al his aequain-
Itanees and companions, il is not surprising that
ne became the general pride and admiration
ftof Ossoraro Valley.
1 There was one singular trait in the char
acter of the Vogelsandt family. 1t was
the first thing noticed and gossipped about
in Charles grandfather, aud formeda preg-
: nant subject for country gossip in his faith
: er's day. In Lancaster county it had been
customary from time immemorial as peo-
) pie say when they cannot remember dates,
. for farmers to give Intoxicating liquors to
e their harvest hands. In fact every man
t kept pure article of q old rye" or g tan
t sy bitters" in his cupboard, the whole year
e round, for the accommodation OF himself
and friends; but when harvest-time came
round, the whiskey bottle was the constant
guest of the sun-burnt Iaborers. Its stim-
ulating contents were considered necessa-
ry to preserve the health and strength OF
I all who labored beneath the scoNhing rays
: cf the summer sun; and so universally
= was this believed that it was supposed the
! : man who would have dared refuse the usu,
y al supply, would have been under the ne.
!. |. cessity ofletting his harvest rot in the felc
7 or take it in himself.
. We may well imagine the general sur
II prise and abundance oil gossip which agi
!, ted The Valley Of OctoraIo when old Mr.
= Vogelsandt announced, week or two pre-
y vious to his first harvest, that no liquo
! would be given his hands either in his helr
= or house, Every man who could handI
y sickle or swing moving scythe, a
once declared that he would not work 70
y any such Turk. The consequence
y was, that the grain crops on all the neigh
" " boring farms we're lying in swarth befor
l: y Mr.. Voglesandts timothy and clover wa
y half housed, he and his two sons havin
u all the work to do. However, when tn
"a rush was little over, and it became gen
eh orally known that "the old Dutchman
- offered higher wages than any other fal
ne mer in the county, some four or five ger
81 erous fellows agreed to give him a helpin
ls, hand rather than see his fine wheat Gro
no going 10 loss for want Of reaping The
soon fonnd that if their employer had \
u, ur good liquor on his boarG, lie kept an e1
II; cellent table and never over worked hi
ed men. All went on smoothly that seasor
&C. and BY the time the next harvest cam
round, Mr. Vegelsandt had the offer {
more hands 10 work, on teetotal principle!
; than he wanted.
At this time there were no temperate
societies in that section. The old Ge
y man had become a teetotaller by intuitiv
reasoning, aided by observations made b
the effects of ardent spirits OH others
He was convinced that il would be cheaI
er in The end TO pay sober men higher WI
ges than TO employ those habitua drinker
the truth Of which was clearly proven
the subsequent experience of him self an
m, son.
AZ ~ lbS hiitlS StdtiCs bIE nkC
the manhood, the principles OF temperate
to had gained strong hold in the surround
it'll ing country. The bottle was, with a vel
err few exceptions, dispensed with in the ha
ar vest field, and rarely found an abidir
IN place in the sideboard. Two of the thrt
ca taverns in the neighooring village had 10
lid their license, and a total abstinence q
md ciety had grown up, numbering some f,
'er- hundred members. Charles Vogelsant
tic had beer frequently. urged to join III
md society but he would not listen 10 such
sss proposition. He alledged that his faith
bor and grandfather were as good temper ant
sti- men as any in the county, and they We
to not indebted TO any organization for Il
la credit of their sobriety. He was dete
lily mined to follow their independent exar
one pie.
the