Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1866-08-21

tiful prairie. The first houses on
this prairie are inhabited by German
and Dutch, with one of the latter |
stopped at noon TO eat my bread and
cheese. He was Pennsylvania
Dutchman. He had portly figure
heavy checks and jaws and large
nose. His manner was reserved and
be eyed me with suspicion. Fat on
the stoop and ate my lunch while the
family were eating their dinner
After dinner he amused himself with
his littl hoys /; teasing them and
laughing in great horse laughs when
they made pert reloinders, to my
questions about the crops, price OF
land &c, his answers were curt and
gruff and he returned to teazing the
boys again.
Toward some little girls that came
IN from neighbors he was very gen
tie and considerate-he had them sit
down to dinner-he asked them ques-
tions-and he opened the gate for
them when they went away. Cross
ing a prairie about six miles wide
entered low sandy country which
proved to be the valley of the Sugar
river, it is a wide valley and contains
what appear in the distance, like
good farms, but those lying on the
Beloit road are not so. The soil is
light and requires frequent showers,
the orchards are few and the timber
if timber it may be called, consists of
! low oaks thinly scattered. At night
! found Accommodations in the town
Of Avon, two miles south of Brodhead
| made inquiry of two different men
and they directed me to a low house
that stood off from the road. "They
are the right sort of folks" was the
recommendation, in both cases. 1t
was little one story house not more
than ten by twelve. 1t had been
red once, there were three rooms,
one served for kitchen, dining room,
parlor and bed room, another for but
terry and store room, and the third for
company bed room, there was board
addition for washing room. The
proprietor of this establishment /
found out in the field blowing, the
house was shut up and his wife away
at neighbOrs. | sat with him on
the pillow beam and talked about the
crops and soil. The soil is sand
mixed with alluvium which the over
flowings of the river have left
The principal crop is broom corn,
which yields well, if the spring is not
dry and this, together with butter,
which sells readily at BrOdhead, is
tho chief source of revenue, land sells
for twenty and thirty dollars an sore.
Hls wife came home while we were
talking, and he invited me to the
house. | felt refreshed as soon as |
entered it, the inside displayed taste,
the best and most appropriate ar
rangoment seemed to be made of
vcrything in the three rooms, they
were neatly papered, the cook stove
(Which was parlor stove also was
FURNISHED there was bright colored
rag carpet on the floor, and plcnti-
full supply ofrugs, of the same mater
ial in front Of the doors, the stove,
and the bed. Two shelves suspended
I by cords in one corner, contained the
books and papers, ga what not" such
as ingenious women know how to
make out of a riokety old stand by
draping it with pretty figured muslin,
stood underneath it. The bed spread
must have heon made during counting
days, for it seemed so carefully made
SO ample in its proportions, so i'm
maculate, that none but an magma
tive girl would have spent so much
time to make it fadltlcss. The cup
board, to me, was not less attractive;
from it came a section of such sweet
hard butter cut from a golden roll
such white slices of bread, such pol
ished rusks, such brown fried cakes.
A cat gazes not more wis.fully at her
mistress skimming milk than ! did
at the preparations for supper, while
supper was getting the same thrifty
hand was providing warm kettles of
milk for tho calves, and one Saucy
fellow, that had leaped his pen and
came nosing his way into the house,
was lifted back again in spite of his
noisy blatings, we made the pen one
rail higher and then went in to sup
per. flow good it tasted 1t is APP
pctizing to think of it.
At the table the gossip which had
been gathered at the neighbors' was
rehearsed; how a certain neighhor
who had drunk up his own and his
wifes' portion and had made several
experiments at specializing, on money
borrowed from his father-in-law, had
returned to improve the old nan S
farm with four year old colt; how a
certain Miss in the neighbOrhoOd was
going to be married to a fellow that
looked q great deal better than she;
how calicoes were falling at Brod-
head and butter had gone up and
would probably be higher. Such is
gossip, the delight of women the ter
ror OF men. Woe to the man those
character does not shield him from
the merciless tongue of the gossip.
My host, man of forty five, was
cut out for bachelor, and his wife,
about the same age, was cut out for .
maid. BY some rare combination
of circumstances they became hus-
band and wife. They will die With
out progeny after having been un-