Union County star and Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1859-1864, 1860-11-30

/ iuCs, corn-huskInss. and lhreshIn9s-ot the
bees" for drawing wood for the preacher and
for the poor and of the destruction Of doug h.
nuts and CIDER consequent-ofi ihe early rising.
waking up" of militia officers, and 'com-
pany" and general uaining>," which
were trainings indeed, for the men OF 70 and
| OF IL were among them. and the true military
pride was in full glow. But must not forget
THE OLD hEp sonooL-Horsr,
sacred 10 conference meetings. singing. spell
ing, debating, and other exercises, where
sought the rudment, of education for paris OF
eight or ten seasons. The solid, almost un-
aioyed delights of those days, are among he
sweetest 10 recall. "Our folks" always claim.
ed to have the best teachers IN The county
perhaps they had Some of the ''ma>ters"
were harsh, and gave me the ierule Ui not
The rod more than once for the offences Of
! smiling overload and too. audi bic communl.
caiveness. ButIhe stately, loveable "school-
ma'ams" governed by persuasIveness, won
my entire obedience, stimulated emulation,
and soon learned-all they had 10 teach. !
/ love them slli-the virtues Of the dead. and
the useful lives OF the living, as far as have
been able TO trace them. Hvwvivid the pride
with which stepped from the bottom 10 the
top" (or from the loot 10 the head Of lars-
er GLASS" out of regular promotion, for spell
ing the iIle word "GC.sr," which they had
all missed, (.Nsm. Must look IN the Die
uonary, myself. now, to see that | spell II
rightly.) Again does memcry refill the three
rows OF seats all around that large building,
sometimes numbering over hundred upon
count in win,eI-a lot OF large and small,
rough and gentle boys and girls as full oi life
and fun aud genius as ever hearty, wel-kept
youth would be after three hours pennins up,
twice day-wrestlIngs, snow-batlnss, night
ings occasionally, and other plays Of inter-
missions when our dinners were devoured
with appe,iIes unappeased-the vi>iis oil The
Minister and Dlreclors--the carnivais ot"siu-
dying aloui," choosing sides 10 spell, cough
ings, reciialiOns-"Piease m | out, or
please m get SIN ink the hard work TO
keep warm IN freezing days with wet wood
IN a little stove and fiy hali-chii!ed. blue
uosed urchins with ice on their feet or dress
es each pushing 10 setnearest The smoke and
feeble flame, or The Joy Of some and sorrow Of
others when The no; siove-pIpe set the sarrei
or The roof on fire, and broke up the school
for The rime-ihe last days" with rewards
Of candies etc. that so soon disappeared and
tickets and primers thai were treasured up
snow-ballings and thunder->toTmS---i these and
L 4
review while Fastening towards The little
knoll which that familiar building graced.
But the slumps IN the field which surrounded
it, are gone-sorry rc see that, for under every
one, as soon as we could muster force enough
10 overlurp il, were found nest of bum bic
bees" which were sure To return the insult of
invasion by singing dozen or TWO Of US as
they did the
'Three young bears in wanton mood
or pair or nest of mice TO scare the girls. or
a snake Of some sort to be chased, pounded
TO death by the boys, and thrown into the read.
All now are yaui>hed->tumpless, and the
fine, fat, boggy swamp, where glorious bull
rushes and caliails fiourIshed, is mostly
drained, and nothing grows there but uuliIar-
ian grass or grain and root crops IN their
seasons (aas! how many fond and precious
realities are brushed away by improvement
The tough large stump-root, over which our
li,te rivule, (now brook) made grand leap,
a Ia Niagara, has routed away, and the wafer
sneaks along unnoliced, the little springs
which bubbled up so clearly and beautifully
in the white sand-mv spring among them
have been invaded by road-rnakers and pou-
ted BY geese and swine, until no longer rec
ocnizable by their best friend. The bridges
are lhere-and under them the pollywosS,
frogs, and lille fshes-liieral transcripts Of
those of thirty years ago--but all else Is
changed The frame Of the houSe-whose
every iack-knife cut and clapboard scratch
could be traced back to the operator-is taken
from its little hill and perverted into cow
stable. Cadmus and Noah Webster. Spell
ing Book Cobb, Daboll, and Murray. what a
desecra,ion-whaia a blow 10 the romance OF
a pilgrimage-,hat temple OF learning, reso-
nant first and last with thousands Of voices
in the pursuit OF knowledge, degraded to the
faltening of beasts and the manufacture OF
compost! Farewell, dear old Red School
House-you are sone-rm weaned from your
shell-bui YOU as of yore 'st'll 1--we
..Tme bu, tn impression deeper makes,
As streams their channels deeper wear
/ In a curve Of the road first made 10 avoid
swamp on our south, stood an Elm IntK
which seemed to tower up 60 or 20 feet before
the umbrela-llke limbs spread out and shaded
apparently an acre or two Of ground Having
learned that the crooked path had been made
straight, and looking in vain for the sisan,c
head of the Old Elm, feared 1t had fallen
victim TO The road-maker, or some unpoencal
Goth had found IL convenient for firewood =
some consolation to learn that, being decayed
in the center, il was blown over by the wind :;
its rings Of course could not be counted. and
its dimensions are conjectural, but doubt II
Boston or New Haven can boast nobler relic
of primitive Forest glory than this. Pioneers
stated the woods here had trees so tall, strait,
and free of underbrush, that game could be
seen when a quarter of mile distant. The
mammoth stumps along the road-each having
lis legend or serving as measure OF distance
/ TO some one-are vanished and their sites only
known BY a ranker growth of grass or weeds.
I But the highways are improved-albeitt the cd
corduroy" system has exploded. 1t seems. in
/ n,imi,iv. times. when mud varied from one 10