The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1851-02-05
THE DYING CHILD.

exclaimed a beautiful little girl. as she lay
upon her dying couch; and she, that at
flicted one, who had watched over her and
kept midnight vigils through many an
anxious eve, around that bed of suffering,
lihed--aye, lifted tremulously--to the te-
vered and parched lips of her only child,
that by which her burning thirst could be
quenched. a4'e
. ",Thank you, kindly, dear mother. Now
please close the curtain, that may be re.
freshed by little sleep; for iawardiy
feel that my stay on earth will be very short.
But, mother, do take some rest yourself
! shall not die tonight; therefore you need
not watch me so intensely. Kiss me again,
and then again, and again for good night,
and when the morning sun shines for the
last time in my window, take your accus-
toned seat at my bedside"
, Behold, in fancy, behold the doting pa
rent impress on The sweet and snow-like
| lips Of her dying child. that pure and holy
kiss OF love which mothers alone can feel
And now she retireth to her own chamber.
But could she close her eyes, in the con.
sciousness that her only child ere many
suEs illuminated this inferior world, would
be enclosed within the final resting place
Of mortality. the tomb OF childhood and ol
age?
X II y 4
When the sun poured his golden light
in the first bright freshness Of the rising
day, the mother sat at the couch of her lit
lie daughter. The soul of her that was
passing away, would soon wing its fight,
and the tears fell over the pale brow Of the
sufferer. The sufferer! Nay, not thus,
for the little girl is calmly resigned, and
no groan escapes those lips. She hath
been early taught 10 look beyond the no.
thingness Of this earth; and well knowing,
as she gasps for breath, in the feebleness
of that dying hour, that angelic spirits are
calling her home, and that the portals ot
Heaven have opened at their bidding.
And on such a deathbed there can be
no suffering, no regrets while gliding away,
passing, shall say, into eternity. In Ho-
ly Writ there is most beautiful expression
in regard TO little children, which impresses
US with the idea ..that of such is the King.
dom Of Heaven"
y y
Death, death. aohy wilt thou, ever and
anon, blast the fond hopes Of human ex.
pectations, and stamp thy signet on the
beautiful brow Of youth, and Of innocence,
and of virtue? See! see! thou hast shroud-
ed my sweet friend for the tomb, in robes
of spo,less white, and hast lowered her
into the earth, as the fast flowing tears OF
the broken hearted mother bedewed the
coffin.
Time, ever on the glide, has rolled on.
and few brief years have been lost in its
revolution since the event herein, not elo-
quen,ly, but truthfully recorded, and the
mother has been cntombed in the same
grave with the subject of this sketch; she
sank under the intensity Of grief, for her
sufferings were greater than she could
bear. In secluded spot, in the beautiful
"Cemetery of the Cypress Hill," the fol-
lowing words appear on the monument,
recently erected:-
"By these silver lakes ye may make
your bed in peace--along these peaceful
valleys the hum of earth s distracting cares
will never come. The sweetest zephyrs
shall wake music from waving boughs
around your home, and the wild bird shall
pour out his requiem strain over your pill
low, and when the first warm sunbeam Of
spring looks into your secluded dell, the
pale violet, and the white snowdrop, shall
bloom over your resting place"
PLANK ROADS.
THEIR CoNsTRucTIoN.-In the most gen.
orally approved system, two parallel rows
OF small timbers (caed indifferen;ly, sills,
slecpers, or stringers) are embedded in the
road, three or four feet apart. Plank eight
feet long and three inches thick. are laid
upon those sticks across them at right an
gies to the direction. A side track Of earth,
TO turn out upon, is carefully graded. Deep
bitches are dug on each side, TO ensure
perfect drainage; and thus is formed a
plank road.
LAYING THEM our.-In laying out
plank road it is indispensable in order to
secure all the OenelllS WHICH Cdl NC ut-
rived from it, to avoid or cut down all
steep ascents.
A very short rise of even considerable
steepness may, however, DO permitted TO
remain, to save expense; since horse
can, for a short time, put forth extra exer-
ton to overcome such extra increased re-
sistance; and the danger of slipping is
avoided by descending upon the carthen
track.
A double track will rarely be necessary.
No one without experience in the mat
ter, can credit the amount Of travel which
one such track can accommodate. Over
a single track near Syracuse over 100000
teams passed in two years, averaging over
eco teams per day, and during three days
72o passed daily. The earthen turnout
track must, however, be kept in good or
der, and this is easy, if it slope off prop
erly to the ditch; for it is not cut with any
continuous ruts, lengthwise, but it is only