The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1867-08-29
0teNtteuiQetrt
HORACE GREELEY's ROIHOOD.
Scenes and Incidents of EeW England
Farm Life IH hIs day.

4>e"s'' % P'''-' -. C,-aaIa,,,e,
tue iourth chapIeF OF IloI Iace .
autobiographicals sketch. We are glad
TO see that Horace has at length got
oil ot his ancestors out of Ireland and
ga q ~.
settled on the herrlhac river III We"
Hampshire. From what he says OF his
native sDot we are reminded of Ste
-, no,,,,.., oI,sorvot;o,, ohor,
pheh "a. D"u ustHs "If'ei A'ion
Nermot-that II was good place 10 De
born in, provided you emigrated early.
Tho nbiIosonher of the Tribune owl
-, -, -, - +, H.,
uehIy hau i"uSn 'i'ne vi II "hen
young, and we do not wonder that he
greyy mn to he A fruUal. abstemious and
e.-,,, - r. 800, a.. to
i"N u''i AOU' AZ
was born on the I'D day OF February,
1911, aud that his labors began as early
1919 wa nuota nc tolIOws from tha
sketch;
"Being the Oldest son of a poor and
hard working farmer, struggling to
pay off the debt he had incurred in
buving his high. priced farm, and TO
/ was early made acquainted
with labor. j well remember the
cold summer lSl6) when we rose on
the 9Th OF June to find the earth cover
ed with good inch OF newly fallen
snOw-when there was frost every
month, and corn did not I'LL till OctO-
Der, Plants grew very slowly that sea-
son, while bnrrowing insects fed and
fattened on them. My task for a time
was TO precede my father as he hoed his
corn, dig open the hills, and kill the
wire-wormS and grubS that were an
ticipatinH our dubious harvest. To
"ride horse to plow" soon became my
more usual vocation; the horse prece-
ding and guiding the oxen. save when
furrowing for or iilling the planted
crops. Occasionally, the plow would
strike a fnst stone, and bring up the
team all standing, pitching me over the
horses head, and landing me three to
five feet in front. In the frosty autumn
mornings, the working teams had to be
"baited" on the rowen or aftermath of
thick, sweet grass beside the luXuriAnt
corn, (maize;) and was called out Mt
sunriseto watch and keep them out OF
the corn while the men ate their break
fast before yo6ing up and going afield.
My bare feet imbibed a prejudice
against that line of duty; but such pre-
mature rising induced sleeplness; so,
If my feet had not ached the oxen
would have had better chance for
corn. ... -r
Burning charcoal in the woods south
and southwest of us was IL favorite,
though very slow method of earning
money in those days. The growing
wood, having then no commercial
value, could usually be had for nothing;
but the labor of cutting it down and re-
ducing 1t TO the proper length, piling it
skillfHlly, covering the heap with sOds,
or with straw and earth, and then ex-
pelling every element but The carbon
by smothered combustion, is rugged
and tedious. l have known a pit OF
green wood to be nine days in burning;
and every pit must be watched night
and day till the process is complete.
Night watching by n pit has rascina-
tion for green boys who have hitherto
slept soundly and regularly through
the dark hours: but Il little of it usually
sufIices. To sit or lie in a rude forest
hut of boards or logs, located three or
four rods from the pit, with good fire
burning between, and an open, haring
front looking across the fire at the pit,
is a pleasant novelty of IA mild, quiet
evening; and many joYial story has
been told, many IA pleasant game of
cards, foX-and geese, or checkers
played, and q fear some watermelons
iawlessly purYeyed from neighboring
fields and gardens by night
charcoal burners. But the taste for
turning out, looking for and stopping
the holes that are frequently burnt
through the covering of the pit, is easily
stated; while strong wind that drives
the smoke of fire and pit into the open
mouth OF your shanty, and threatens
to set fire to the straw flooring on
which you recline, is soon regarded as
"A positive nuisance, especially If ac-
companied by peIting storm. In
wild night, your pit breaks out far
oftener than in calm weather, requiring
constant attention and effort TO keep it
from burning up altogether, thus con-
suming the fruits of weeks of arduous
toll. And, after n week of coal-burning,
you lind II hard to return to regular
sleep, but wake away every. hour or so,
and instinctively jump up TO see how
the pit is going on. OK .EsE
Picking stones is a never ending la
Dor on one of those rocky New England
farms, Pick as closeI Y as YOU NAV, the
next plowing turns up fresh eruption
of boulders and pebbles, from the size
of a hickory-nut 10 a tea-kettle; and,
aE this work ia mainly to he done in
March or ApriI. when the earth ia sat
urated with ice-cold water, il not also
whitened with falling snow, Youngsters
soon learn to regard it with detestation.
I flially love the "Granite State" but
oonid weIEexcuse The a absence of snndry
subdivisions of her granite.
nHop- picking'' was the rural carni-
yal-the festive eharyest-home-oft those
old tin,as anupariDu IN tho viptaoa OF
Southern France or Italy. The hop
natures about the first OF September,
when ihe vines, vines are cut near the ground'
Sne pores @ @puLie9 Ut anu iaia IucSesslSe, .l ~ >
~ ACROSS oIkeu 5tlchs ienEltnMlse VI "a
SilI nusS t
elIueL stue raj siii I tue
pore WhSh sIflPPeu, petnB ISIu tI asIue
ana replaced ny ahotneF. 1ne Dlh
haylhS Deen uiIeo, ths hoPs are uEswh
70 the XII wherein they are cured Dy
ShP3sute lor houts 10 constant, ory-
ie ine nsal Irotl chatcoal h.e oeloW; al
II, q