Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1861-12-27
CORRESPONDENCE OF THE CEDAR FALLS GAZETTE.
Letter from Dan De Quille. 81.

n a CORRESPONDENTS OF THE CEDAR FALLS GAzRrrE.
Letter from Dan De Quille. .'
rmH ~ SILVER CRY, N. I. Nov. 25, '61.
)aMY DEAR GAZETTE Hoping my style of
etoquence de billet, poor as it is, may not be
uninterestii,g to your readers, l again pre-
sumo to soribble a few pages, trusting to
their known good nature for forgiveness,
Winters white beard is spread over the face
of our mountains, and his icy breath chlls
the air of the valleys; the tall pine-darke ened
peaks of; the westward-lying Sierras are
hooded in rolling clouds of mist, and Old Mt.
Davdsen's towering peak is lost in clouds
the amphitheatre of hills surrounding our
town have discarded their dress of dusky
brown for robes of dazzling white, and--yes,
1t is again winter! NIB. The above is
nothing more than little "splurge' made
for the purpose Of getting q start. Shut up
in my cabin by the storm prognosticatcd
for three full days, till became tdut.a ,tait
Aar0aoyaat. But twas only pour lenaoment
snow storm can't last always, neither can
the blue-deyils endure forever. This sheet
will scarce reach you before Christmas, oh,
that | could be with you all, even them
Alas fear that for my share of the pleas
ures of that festive season will be under
obligations to my imagination. We'll, there
Is undoubtedly much comfort in thinking
that ones friends may be enjoying themsel-
YES, and in calling to mind the joys of other
days-days when the faces of gay young
lads and lasses, whose souls knew natght of
care, as the eyergrcens cothe the faces of the
everlasting hills of the Sierras. Twill not
deepen the furrows on ones brow to recall
the dashing sleighridcs of other, by-gone
days, when snugly wrapped within the same
robe with some warm-handcd joH little witch,
we indulged in a pasee tempo Irritation as we
fastened, swiftly gliding, to some village
tete; nor to call to mind the tremendously
gayety of all CONCERNED when we met at the
house OF some honest settler to pass away
winter evening with songs and plays. Then,
the party over, what bliss to feel the timid
pressure on your arm of the little hand of
that rosy-cheeked lass with those brown be-
witching curls shading her brow, as with
heart in ajoyous tlutter you gallanted her
toward her cottage home; and : .. .Enr4
g Told all the adventures Of the night ..H
And few by turns from truth to fiction .,
From retrospection to prediction"
Then, oh! the dear old schooI-house,
whittier we used to attend this same Houri,
OF the brown and glossy tresses, to listen to
some itinerant lecturer, or the goodly dis
course of the Rev. Pelcg Poundbooker-wc
can see it-eyery nooi,., ever corner! .,s..
This the place for parting bow .r.s ".|
The corner that for secret vow .. ......
For weighty shawl, and hooded cloak
Half uttered tale and whispered joak
THIS is the spot where ... p
But pshaw how foolish of inc to think Of
that now, when Ia eha'~etate Maria, is mar
ried, long, long ago, to that presumng pup
py, Mr.. Proctor Wayman who had the un-
heard OF impudcncc to sport great piratical
bunch of hair under his nose, while my up
per lip was innocent of ecen down. How
hated him, or to see Maria smile at anything
he said Lord, as though there was the
least, the slightest premonitory symptom of
wit in the fellows composition used to
wish that the small pox, the cholera, the itch.
the mumps, the devil, or something catching,
would come into the neighboIh hood and carry
him off. Selling a favorable opportunity,
one day told Maria that it was my opinion
ne would come to some bad end" "La.",
said she, that would be such pity such
a fine young man, and such q sweet, love of o
moustache !" Maria, hurt my feelings, then
Il don't think ever liked her so well after
wards. But, that was rag bacz; in Ohio, and
long ago, long before had made the acquaint-
ance of les jolies pstites diablesses de Iowa.
Iowa, forever the land of true-hcartcd lads
and merry, rosy checked lasses! May her
sons ever have courage to /" tell o their love"
and her daughters never snub" them! In
that unsophistcated part of the world, each
strives to add to the enjoyment of the other,
"ia oeA o~oua ettiu IOt TIC
airs and graces assumed by the haut tor of
city society, still are well dressed withour
prctension, and easy without affectaton. He
would look in vain to find such an effemnatc
masculine as that described in the following
F." language of the poet saa
1" Ambitious kndling flames his soul invite Ea
To be The constellation Of the night ia r--
Much must the hero exercise his skill
To train the neckclotlis abyrinthian fold 's u.
In due array to range the plats of friIl .s-.-f.f
In line OF battle the moustaclos hold !
Prepare his eyes artillery hearts to storm S.'
sE Andteeth's white ranks in open order form,
= But, gentile reader, we will breath pass
ing sigh over all our recollections of the
=" then was' and pass with heavy heart to the
" now is' of Washoe life " The attentive
reader will recollect my saying that for the
sake of" filling out the sett," young Misses,
here, are INDUCED in the pleasures of ball
room Irritation when for those Of the same
age in the States" a@-
Bootless are their &c lords" and s'las" al iti
Their pray papas' and g do nla,nas,"a
and that the !" toothless'' mere de tanaille is
not seldom to ha scop hcndin her haad IN