The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1873-08-14

"a = A9AALA
sugar does o fly, or q millinery store a wo-
man. And she will gaze at the fish in ar
AQUARIUM lust as a cat will look at a bird
in a cage. The fish are the charmers and
she is the charmed. Before we were mar
riedI once took her on q fishing excursion
The precedent thus established / never
recovered from. She cannot hear of 8
creek or a mill-pond without making dill
hgent inquiries about the fishing. If she
had been born a man / think she would
have been sportlyely inclined. Having,
as a maiden, been a successful fisher OF
men she now, as a matron, is an enthusi-
astio fisher of fish. And she is not at all
particular as to the kind of fish to be
caught. She will fng a June fly for a
trout or drop a sleeps head for a crab
with equal felicity.
Our last excursion" was a representa-
tive one. I heard nothing but Fish
stories" for several weeks before and after
the event. Morn, noon and night the
coming event was casting its shadows of
authorization before it. Even the fashions
were sighted. My wife would often
arouse me from q profound abstraction"
something after this fashion-"Oh, Ben
come here Come quick p And she would
point ~triumphantly at a bare footed urchin
with a pole and a string OF two or three
persecuted sun fish. Then she would tell
me how the children would enjoy it-how
good it would be for their health and how
trifino the trouble and expense Mould be.
And l would verbally acquiesce. Some
times when 1 was cudgleing my brains
over a NJ S she would talk, talk, talk ana
ever and anon l would distinguish the
word '6sh". At such times she would
invariably conclude by accusing me of not
Il. 49, .AlA Al
when l would plead my innocence she
would ask me what she had said. That
was her process of cross-examination. OF
course 1 could only answer "fsh," where
upon she would insist on something more
definite. That was a poser. l always
convicted myself. In fact L never did, or
expect to, escape convection when q woman
conducts the prosecution. Feminine ia
stincts are too many guns for masculine
logic.
NV wife had been told of beautiful
lake five miles from q railroad station.
All we had to do was to-"take the cars,
GO twenty-five miles by rail, land at a
delightful village, engage a carriage and
enjoy a delightful ride through a delight
full country to the delightful lake where
we would find q delightful hotel and ak
the other delights which delightful 10
mans imagination could conceive. Now,
having "been there" 30 often before knew
the longer the excursion was delayed the
more my wife would enjoy i'll knew
that when the time actually came it would
prove anything but the good time" my
wife was looking forward to, and therefore
I fingered out the happy days of antlcipa-
ton BY every strategy. At length, all pre-
texts for delay having been exhausted, we
sailed forth, Sallie & the little ones.
My wife had done the necessary shopping
the day before. Our days rations consisted
offs hams dozen boxes Of sardines several
cans Of fruit, a few pies, q loaf each of
brown and white bread, a variety of crack
era and biscuit, q dozen bottles Of soda,
two dozen lemons, q pound or two of but
terra bottle of milk (for the baby) and
other minor items too numerous to men
ton. She had given two boys fifty cents
each for gathering worms for bait. She
had bought herself and each of the little
ones q Fishing hat" and had invested
heavily In all sorts of fishing tackle.
Some of the hooks, in size, reminded me
ola sheperds hook some of the sinkers
were heavy enough for an anchor, and the
lines were something smaller than a clothes
line-any one of them being sufficiently
long for deep Sea Soundings. Our baskets
were numerous and of all sorts and sizes.
My wife asked me what / thought of cur
outfit. I 'smoled a CHASTITY smile" and
answered that 1 thought it ample. But
lust as the train was about starting she
wanted me to "just run OUT and get a
paper of pins and a bottle of paregoric.
And wanted to know if / wouldn't have
time to 'just step back to the house
(half a mile distant) and get her parasol.
1t was "nip and tuck but after making
unprecedented time I returned Just as the
train was moving off. And skinned my
shin in jumping on the last car. My wife
wanted to know what in the world had
kept me so long.
The baby got q cinder in his eye and
while he cried the others Joined in the
chorus. The dust was suffocating and
the heat was sitting. However we ar
rived at the delightful village without
serious mishap, 1t was indeed a TuTeL
scene, There was q depot, q log hut, a
school house & several pigs laying around
loose. The landlord of the "hoteT" placed
our baskets in a hand cart and asked for
my checks and wanted to know if we were
going to spend the summer-and was pro-
ceeding to take the baby from the arms of
its mother. Whereupon the infant pro-
tested most vehemently and 1 ventured to
declare my Intentions" He directed me
to "a man over the hill that sometimes let
out his bosses when he wasn't use'n um."
After great tribulation : returned with a
team and wagon. The wagon was with
out cover and for the team-it might have
seen better days. The whole village turn
ed out to see us off. Mothers crowded
the door ways with babies in their arms
and dish rags in their hands. Children,
men, pigs and poultry followed us with
their eyes until we were out of sight. And
a procession of bowling dogs honored US
with a parting salvation.
Amid clouds of dust and under a scorch-
ing sun we jolted 0ver a rough road and
finally alighted at the "Lake Hotel"
The lake had had been eloquently describ-
ed as "a beautiful sheet OF water fringed
with splendid trees /; " but to my eyes it
no better than q net blanket sur
rounded with a fringe of green mias-matic
We hired a boat. 1t was a fat bottom
affair containing a rough seat, a tin
n of abandoned bait, about
slx inches of odi5sLs water and an odd pair
Of dilapidated oars. l attempted to "bail
but" the water and after working faithful
Iy for an hour l discovered that l couldn't
stand bail" And that the boat wouldn't
1t either. My vile gave me her pock-
kerchief with which to "caulk" one Of the
seams. 1 again offered myself as
bail" TO the boat. In tipping it on one
aide 1.-THE better to get at the water) I met
my first misfortune. 1t cspsiZed,
me in three feet of water. My
screamed, the children all cried and1
mentality broke the tn commandment
Ny blood was up. I pulled the boat
turned it upside down and launch
ed it with the strength of Hercules. 1
then ~"sponged' the seats with my nose
kerchief, placed my coat twenty-five dol
airs worth for q cushion and got my fam
ly and freight "all aboard" In "fetaher-
Ing' my oars l gave my family an occa-
sional shower bath and by the time we
arrived at the fishing grounds we were all {
vet, and / was both wet and dry. My !
wife ATTENDED to the baby while L pre- I
pared the lines and baited the hooks. 1t
was understood that the one catching the
irst fish was to have the largest piece of
pie. After waiting and waiting for an
lour (durlhg which time I baited my
Wites hooks sixty-four times and disentan-
sled her line ten times) 1 finally had a
lite con my own hook" 1t was a sand
81 I l.p1aI ~ NJ uu.foJ. Ct