The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1873-07-22
eMisrena,,p.
The Pleasures of the Picnic.

/ This is the season of the year when
pic, MICS are most frequent For real
| solid enjoyment we, for our part, must
prefer a we'll conducted funeral TO an
ordinary picnic. You generally reach
the grounds about eleven o'clock, and
the exercises begin with climbing hill,
up which you are compelled. to carry
two heavy luLch baskets. When you'll
reach the summit you are positively Ger
tain the Thermometer must be nearly six
hundred and fifty in the shade. Youl
throw yourself on the grass, and sina
| few moments q brigade of black ants
ibeaia L, = - - & i|
rsek, while a phalanx Of ticks ehafgei
up your trowser legs. And just as you
Jump up youfeoldest hoy, who has been
out in tine woods, where he stirred up a
yellow jackets nest, comes in with his
head and face sweled to the size Of q
water bucket; conveying the informa
ton that your other boy,W lillian Henry,
! is up q tree and can't get down. After
laboring to release William Henry the
thermometer seems to have gone up
two hundred more degrees, and you
think you will take swim in the creek
While you are in the water,young Jones
strolls out with Miss Smith, and uncon
scious OF your presence, they sit down
close to yoht clothes, and engage in
conversation for three quarters of an
hour, while you lie down in the shallow
water, afraid to bulge and nearly killed
with the hot sun. When they leave,
you emerge and find that some wicked
boy from the village has run of with
your shirt and socks. You fix up as
we'll as you can. and when you get back
with the party they are eating dinner
from cloth laid on the ground. A
spider is spinning a cobweb from the
pickle jar to the little end of the cold
ham; straddIebugs ale frolicking around
over the pound cake, caterpllars are ex-
ploring the bread plate, grasshoppers
are jumping into the butter, where they
stick fast, the bees are so thick around
the sugar bowl that you are afraid to go
near it, and there are enough ants in the
pie to walk completely off with it, You
take seat, however, detera ined to try
to eat something, but You get up sud-
denly-all at once as it were, for you
have sat down on brier Then Will
lam Henry, who has quaffed an unreas-
enable amount of lemonade, gets the
colic, and his mother goes into mysteries
because she thinks he is poisoned with
poke berries You lay him under an
umbrella, and proceed to climb tree
in order to fix swing for the girls
After skinning your hands, tearing your
trousers and r1ining your coat, you get
to the top, tie the rope and undertake to
come down on it You do come down
1 with velocity, and your fingers are rubb
ed entirely raw. Just then it begins to
rain furiously, and the whole party
stampedes to the depot for shelter
When the shower slackens you 60 back
to the ground to get the rope, and just
as you get up in the tree the owner Of
the place comes along with gun and a
dog, and threatens to blow your brains
out and eat you up if you don't leave
immediately. Then you come down
again with celerity, and get over the
fence as if you were in earnest. Going
home in the train all the passengers re-
| gard you, from your appearance, as an
escaped convict, or lunatic who has
broken from his keepers; and when you
reach home you plunge into shirt, COW
er your hands with court plaster, and
register solemn vow never to go on
another pic mic. And we are with you;
we never will either Mao Adler