Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1859-03-01
Correspondence of The Spy.
NOTES FROM WESTWARD.
PIrrsRnRG Pa Eel

tant aud useful localities, as well as the partic-
ular heap of rock and gravel upon which he
happened to be born; and that there are other
people of intelligence, as well as those who
were born and educated with him, in old New
England. And, however certain he may be
that he lives on the club of the solar system"
little travel and observation will convince
him that there are brilliant and important
items beyond and beside himself and his ster-
lie and rock and ice bound home.
But, after all, travel through a dozen or
more States of our glorious (?) Union, al
though showing many changes and different
phases of life and attainment, of habit, culture,
and comfort, does not show genuine Yankee
any thug more attractive and lovely than his
own home, as whole. For, with all its draw
backs, New England has, l believe, more of
general education and refinement of attention
to the comforts, conveniences, and real luxu-
ries, of life, of thrift ond enterprise, and all
that tends to elevate and refine, than almost,
if not quite, any other section of the New
World.
This section of Pennsylvania seems to be
full of iron and COAL in inexhaustible quaint
ties and this city is point where these are
brought together, and by the consumption of
the coal, the iron is converted into various ar
ticles and forms of use and commerce, SO that
this is literally an "iron city" Here, too, are
number of glass factories, and the great city
teens with life and industry-and, also, alas
with smoke and SCOT Harper's Magazine for De-
cember contained, among its comic illustra-
tons, a 'yiew of Pittsburg in clear day."
which view exhibited nothing but vomiting
chimney pots and smoke. And, 1 doubt not,
that most who noticed it supposed it a broad
caricature of a small infrmity, as / did, until
l saw the veritable city in a clear day, and
found the Illustration to be no caricature, but
a literal verify.
1t is little startling to one accustomed to
the pure, clear air of New England, to observe
how Familiarity and easily the people in this
section take the constant smudge and crock Of
the eternal smoke of the burning butuminous
coal The air is full of it, and, as it condenses,
it comes taking down like showers of lamp
black, and all are begrimmed with it. Such
things as clean faces and clean hands, or clean
linen, to say nothing of houses, books, and pa
pers, are among the impossibilities in Pitts
burg, or any of these large cities and towns of
the bituminous coal region And when you
go to your room, and order plenty of soft water
and towels, to make an attempt at original pur-
ity, you are shocked that the water brought is
literally and absolutely black as ink, caught
from the roof where it has washed off the &C.
cumulated SCOT of days of dryness, and when
you demur are still more astonished at the
commentator of it, as being soft. nice, rain
,cater, that the natives use gladly as a luxury,
for all their washing of linen, and general lus-
tration, as well as for bathing. But little OBJ
servation of the grey dinginess of all those ar
ticles that should be white, satisfactorily de-
monstrates to you that the information as to its
uses is correct if not those as to its virtues As
for nice water to drink, none here troubles
themselves therefor, for all drink their water
cooked and heavily adulterated with coffee
How one longs for the clear air, the pure, soft
spring water, and the clean white houses of
Worcester county.
About fifty miles from this city, spent a
few moments of leisure at the court house of
one of the Western counties of this State
Of course, it was dingy and smoky enough,
but, what first astonished me, was, the con-
version of the entire floor into one vast spit.
toon, by covering it two or three inches deep
with saw-dust to form a receptacle for the
Aoode ~ f7l+hx +oboooo i,,;oa 41,at Ao,yod ~
every direction. There were three judges on
the bench, holding the court, one presiding,
and two assistant or ornamental judges, and,
in this case, they could not properly be con-
sidered ornamental for any good looks, but
only because they were not useful. The SEN
Tor judge was about sixty years old, coarse
and gross looking, with bright red, brandy,
or whiskey face, and seemed quite Indifferent
to the course of procedure The next was
about fifty years old, rather intelligent, quiet
looking, probably a very clever sort of man,
who was busy studying a newspaper. The
third was man of thirty-ive or forty, with
high forehead, manly face, and quick, inteli
gent appreciation and application to the bust
ness at hand, and he seemed the real presiding
spirit, and working man of the bench. The
clerk, or "Prothonoter," (Prothonotary) as he
is called here, was fair appearing business
man. The crier was as shabby, dirty, whis-
key-eyed, tobacco slobbered, looking speci-
men of decayed humanity, as my eyes ever
fell upon, outside of the gutter. The sheriff
looked like common, coarse, business man
while his assistants, called "Tip-stayes," arm.
ed with slaves, some six feet long, by two
inches in diameter, were as ugly, coarse, bru
tai, and shabby a set of rufiians as l ever Sc
my eyes upon in one company. The jury
were quite ordinary and varied in their ap
pearance, none of them however equalling al
average New England juryman. The lawyer
looked dingy and almost shabby. And thu
parties and witnesses, need not be described
further than to say that the case was one o
assault and battery growing out of som'
drunken fight.
The whole contour of the Court and appur
tenances was in such striking contrast will
the tasteful, neat, well ordered court rooms a
Worcester, with their highly finished, gentle
manly officers and assistants, as to startle mi
more than almost any other contrast / hay.
drawn.
was also startled when one Of the sittine
jurymen was called up as witness in the case
and having been sworn, and given his evidence
he returned to his seat with the rest, to hea,
and decide upon case that might turn upon nj,