Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1867-07-16

Life at 0berlin---A Peculiar Place and a
Peculiar People,.


Gasette describes a visit to the
quaint city of Oberlin and It's pecu,
liar people:
Scarcely bad the conductor bawl.
ed out 'OberIin, and the roar and
noise OF the car wheels ceased, than
the voice Of a singer rose high and
clear on the air. 1t was the voice of
woman, who was seated at an open
window In cottage near the depot,
and who was singing for dear life
Ialk about ernestness, the vehem
ence of Philips, the persistence Of Gar.
rlson, the pertinacity of Grant, or the
efforts OF Parepa-they were moths
ing, vapor when compared with the
lofty purpose of that singer Buried
In the business OF that pious song, oh
livions to the outside world, she sang
it through to the last letter. as we
have never heard song sang We
hope the ialr singer will pardon us
for the nntority we are giving her,
but truth c0mpels us to say that She
has an oifu voice such IA one. per
haps as John heard or as shook The
rivers Of Babylon
"While we were listening to the
singer little boy took us by the
hand, and mildly asked if we woUl3
'waik or ride Now this little boy
was not like most little boys met
with at the depots. He did net ask
us to walk or ride for Che sake or get
ting a quarter out Of us he was no
begger, but a nice little boy wish
ing to accommodate us; and when
we offered him "a quarter for carrying
our satchel he said "Pay the "bus
man having no idea that anything
was due him for his services. AS we
stood by the bus door, two young
ladies, who had evidently just arriv~
ed on the tram, came up, and the
hoses having started forward a little
and drawn the bus a ard from the
platform, one Of them kindly offered
us her hand to help her in then she
placed her checks in our hand with
as much confidence as If we were her
brother, and certainly we should
like to be the brother of so polite a
young lady, if we were anybody
brother at ali.
"When we arrived at the hotel we
handed the bus man half a dollar,
and were about to walk off, when he
laid his hand solemnly on our arm
aud detained us until he had re-
turned Il quarter. Carefully he low
cred our enormous trunk, and han
died it as steadily as if it contained
glassware; depositing it on the steps
of the hotel, he made profound bow,
and silently departed What a con
trast with our modern bus men
cat the hotel we found nobony
landlord, clerks, cooks, all were miss.
ing, and we began to suspect that
the hour Of labor having passed they
were engaged in intellectual pursuits,
when a pale young man entered with
a book in his hand, informed us the
proprietor would be with us directly );
further the depOnent said not, but
but with a profound bow retircd.-
We looked about us a iittle until the
landlord should come, and found we
were in what seemed to be an ordi-
nary private residence of considera-
bic size 1t was surrounded BY state
ly elms, and had ample grounds,
which were embellishcd with rose
bushes, overgreens ana grapevine
bowers. Entering the Office we saw
none Of the modern evidences Of ho-
tel keeping there were no lottery
schemes, patent medicine or horse
doctors advertisements to be seen
but modern posters advised the trav.
eler to seek his lovely Jesus. There
was no bar, and consequently no
loafers. On sort of alter, at one
end of the room, lay the hotel regis
ter, and beside it pile of tracks bear
ing the ominous titles as Are You
Saved 2 Turn, Sinner, Turn A
placard on the wall invited us to
take one, which we did, and have
read it through finding it well
written and very interesting little
book
"While we were taking an inven-
tory of our surroundings the landlord
entered, and making bow hoped be
had not kept us waiting until we
were impatient. He assured US that
he had been down twice that morn ,
ing with u bad head, and, indeed,
quite unwell, but added with great
resignation, The Lord sometimes
affiicts u.s. Ha~ing learned our in
tention to stay he took a wheelbar>
row and went down the flag stone
walk in front Of the gate after our
trunk. Dickens never saw a lands
lord like ours, nor did any one else
except those who have been fortu~
nate enough to visit the Travellers
Home.
There is no liquor sold in the city,
not even a drop Of ale or beer
Smoking on the streets is discounte>
nanced, and any student found using
tobacco in any form will be instantly
expelled. 1t seems odd to be in a
city and yet hear no night brawlers,
see no drunken men, cigar or tobacco
juice.
About one thousand students are
at present attending the institution,
Of which some four hundred are Las
dies. One third, we should think,
are black. Some of the finest look
ing girls here ale black, or rather,
yellow. They would make the eyes
and teeth of Kentuckian water to
look at them, and he would give
thousand, in hard money to have
one of these wenches (or colored la
dies, as they are called here, in his
clutches.
'Llttle or no amalgamation takes
place, as the result OF social equality.
We believe one or two instances have
occurred Of white men and colored