The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1869-09-16
LETTER FROM MRS. J. G. SWISSHELM.


Omc NoAlA1sO00c0S anu COMpar19OAe.
q ,,,.y, zozoslA. Pa. Sept. 0, 1869. z
ED1ToR JoURNAL.-Having got tho 81
arpets down in our new homo, and
he workmon of the outdoor depart
mont having taken q vacation to fix a 3
Mill dam while the water is low, I'be- '
gan to look in. odd corners to SEQ if I Il
lad still pen. and to try whether my n
nand could substitute it for rake, hoe or
aatchet. l find the implement; I can t
till hold it by using little extra exer- l
lion; and one of the first demands upon i
It, by the ruling power; 5is1to chronicle
'omo Of the memories Of lang syue 8
which have been foroibly ,eea led du-
ring tho past summer. = s'@f, |,
1t wa twelve years lastcspriug, since
I w1enched up the stakes which bound
me todd Pennsylvania, feeling that my
eyes must always ache for the sight Of
her green hills, 1atherly mountains and
grand old forests, but I expected to find
compensation in the rural simplicity
Of frontier life. It had long been ban:
ished from the vianity ii Of the Smoky
City, and I supposed from all the
older States, and gone to. dwell IN tho
far. West. I was therefore some little
disappointed when We arrived in St.
Cloud to find that the latest fashions in
dress and social etiquette were there aud
strongly eDtronched on the open prairie,
without even a garden fence to turn the |
deer in their races across the city.
There was not brick or enclosed lot |
in town, but plenty Of pianos, melode-
ons, silver forks and print napkins.
There was not spinning wheel or loom
in the county, but very respectable
allowance Of rosewood parlor sets and
mahogany bedsteads; and about the only
| mark Of rural lite was the occasional
sale of IN Indians head or hand : BY
the triumphant Red Man who had
borne away such trophies from the still
reeking battle field. I often recall an
operate concert in s"Wilson's Hail." in
which the performancevas quite equal
to the average of such exhibitions in
the great eastern cities, and to which
the audience listened in white kids and
evening dresses of the latest modes,
while on the streets these bloody troph-
les were kicked about by the savage
.vietors, and miles outlay the bat
!: tie field: With its mutilated and 9unburi-
ed dead. Your Indians behave better
i: now, but these reminiscens are apart Of
;, the evidence of q change in the manner
Of. the march of empire. The pioneer
corps does not march ahead, thrust for:
ward by the advancing columns behind
like the French cavalry at: the battle
Of Waterloo. Oh, no! It is not the
Western trontiersman who pushes his
way: still farther into tho, wilderness,
carrying his household: gods with him,
as the advancing tide Of civilization
and refinement fill up the space to the
eastward, but picked troops from the
main body of the army rush forward
like: storming parties, and take the
Wilderness by surprise. Society over
leaps aud leaves fragments of the last
century in quiet crevices and crannies
with their existence unknown to the
,, traveller and curiosity seeker who 60 by
"the central routes"
J., I have been 50 thoroughly impress:
, ed with this fact by the state Of society
here, on the northern slope Of the Al.
!, leghenies, less than days; journey
from Pittsburgh, with its rushing, tide
; of wealth and fashion. Here, twelye
: miles from railroad, large majority
Of the people never saw a piano; up
holstered furniture is unknown there is
, spinning wheel III almost every house,
and looms in about every twentieth
} dwelling. One Of our nearest neigh.
: bors has two-the old hand looms with
out any such modern invasion as fly
J ing shuttle. She and her hired girl sit
side by side, and weave blankets, table
linen, sheeting, bagging, twilled and
plain, bird's-eye and damask, at from
twelve to fifteen cents per yard. Wo-
men raise fax, pull it, break 1t, scutch
it, hackle it, spin it, carry it to the
weayer's Or weave it themselves, bleach
1t, and make it up into garments; raise
sheep, take the wool from their backs,
wash it, card it, spin it, dye it, weave
it, and make it up just as our great
grandmothers used to do in the days
| Of the Revolution. The one great
difference between their, modes Of liv-
ing aud those of:'76 is in the cook stove.
Instead Of roaring log fro there is a
cook stove in every house, but in all
other respects they have preserved the
customs of their fathers. The bible
J aud newspaper and shelf of books are
in every house. 'Nine-tenths Of the me n
vote for John Covode, and all under
stand the political and religious ques-
'tions Of the day. So have found that
frontier life and rural simplicity are two
things quite separate and distinct.
\ "" NJ -, JANE q. swIssHELM. "
! ACCIDENT AT BIG LAKE. ..~
Special Dispateh to tia Journal. -
! ...... .. ,... il BIC LAKE. Sent Is: