Litchfield enquirer., 1872-02-01
> MopBrs rs of.an ,or-,s

E ceucbed in respectfulI language, | will
 touch upon some of the incidents of the past week ill this vicinity. Prominent
 among them was our call at the parsonage
 last Tuesday evening, to visit perhaps for the last time under like circumstances)
 our old friend Rev. D. D. T. Mclaughlin,
 late Pastor of the church and congrega- tior of Morris. I think any one would have been amply repaid for the visit to have beheld the testimonials of trne friendship manifested in the shape of those substantials which replenish both purse and lhsrder, stife amount of which,
 under the circumstances, was considered by him him most liberal. I think, too, it would have done any one good, sit did me, to have witnessed the expressions of unfeign- ed gratitude of the Parson and his house hold friends to all sshisl late parishioners, and equally'to all his outside friends. I was sorry to! observe some of our most prominent citizens were absent, though a goody number and full house were con- vened notwithstanding. l. b-Y@ @se, s5 <D. ,. Among other incidents of the week was
 q surprise call on Thursday evening at the residence of our honorable friend and native townsinan, Frederick Whittlesey,
 on the occasion of the S0th anniversary of his birth. s MT. Whittlesey is man whose fairness of face aud elasticity of of limb are those of one Fin middle life; whose cheerful countenance shows still all the vivacity of youth. Great numbers were present, children, grand children, and
 great grand children, amounting, should
 judge without counting, to at least seven-
 tyfYe who enjoyed, to their hearts content
 the rich pie, cakes, and delicious coffee
 and tea so thoughtfn1ly provided by the
 lady visitors. Speech making was then
 called for, l think by the proprietor of
 the house, MT: Silas Stockman (son-in-
 law of our friend), who introduced
 Rev. Mr. Mclaughlin. The reverend gentleman respectfully declined speaking until the last, when another consented to
 break the ice, by propounding two great
 problems, which he thought should be
 solved in presence of these witnesses.
 One, he thought, could only be solved by
 his venerable friend ;; the other, by the ladies' approbation, he could solve him. self. 1st problem By what secret does
 person at 80 retain all the fairness of
 face and yigor of youth and still grow young inappearance2 2d. Why isit that the ladies of Morris, who are proyerbial for pastry cooking, should have on the present occasion; so far surpassed their former efforts 2 Answer to 2d: The con testants, having the widower for a prize, have endeayored to make extra pastry cooking the test. As to the 1st problem our honorable friend said he thought that so unexpectedly seeing so much youth and vipaoity around him would naturally make person look and feel young, and knew no other special secret. The pro- pounder asked if clear conscience and temperate habits were not the grand se- cret after all j.. by acc1an1ation of the crowd it would; se seem lls1 if the prounder had hit it at last. After some well-timed remarks and prayer by the Parson, all separated with the best of good feeling.
 Now, MT. Editor, one other little incl dent of the past week oecurs to me, which comes Q little nearer your vicinity. A pe- tition was brought to the Superior Court of this county, praying said court to lay out less than | miles of new highway running in a southerly direction from the Litchfeld depot, on the Shepaug Valley Railroad to interseet the north and south road on the plains, about 1s miles south of the Court House in your village, This road would save all the LitcLfeld hills, and over ene-half 8 mile of distance, to the good people of Morris, who claim to own small share in said railroad, it's fix lures and rolling stock. Now, sir, we claim in. justice, as Litchfield gets the lions share of the benefits, they ought in consideration of what we have done for the railroad to grant us this poor boon of T. miles of common highway without grumb- ling; but, as learn, by some informali- ty in the service of the petition, it was abated and thrown out of court, and some people. are going into casualties over it.
 ''Let him laugh who wins The laugh in this case comes from those whose foresight about equals that of the old ne- gro. who wanted everybody killed but himself and his old massa, so that they could keep a hotel l. A railroad cannot do without business much better than a ho- tel without guests. We are only days drive from Watertown and Thomaston, and we know the way. sesa7er rs~sv err,asi
 i .ieas s1~ More anon, s'1i7zsd aa ss5 ss45 -siL'f'i,-s'a 5i c. Co1UMBUs.