The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1874-03-06


pleasant to contemplate. The same broad
river flows and surges, as ii will forever flow
and surge, but there seemed to be tamenes
even in this that was not there when Rock
Run was a common crossing place, and the
CHATTER of the hoofs of thousands of cattle
and the whiz of all sorts of wheels made
the magnificent bridge that then spanned
the river very Bedlam. One land mark
still remains as it was in the past, and that
is the old stone mill, with its forebay arch.
ing the road. passing under which, in the
olden time, those who preferred sprinkling
to immersion, were accommodated to theiI
hearts content. Thence to Lapidum, (where
did that name come from y once called by
one with less Dutch or Cherokee in it
"Bell's Ferry"-the canal has crowded the
road of its ancient bed, and forced it high
er up on the hillside. For one good hon
est mile along the river, there had been no
material change that 1 could see, except
that the old elms that once lined the shore
had been rooted out to make room for the
canal. But at the old ferry considerable
town has started up, which may, in time,
grow longer, but not much wider, unless
the river recedes or the granite barrier in
the rear be removed. 1t was from this place,
as far back, I believe, as 1920, that scores of
sloops and schooners were employed in
freighting rcck to lay the foundation of
the Rip Raps, in Hampton Reads, and hun
dreds Of the sons of old Erin, in the en-
ploy of Robert Bell and Others, quarried
rock, and sang their wild Irish songs all
over those steep and ragged hill-sides.-
They had railroads there even at that early
day, made all of wood; and many huge
block of granite have seen dumped from
the rude car into the vessels at the wharves.
William Morgan, (the nephew of Mr.. Bell,)
now of Havre de Grace, was then but
youth, but old enough to assist his uncle
in experimenting large number of labor
ers. was his bedfellow nearly every Thurs
day night, and the stories he heard in the
quarries and repeated to me after we had
retired to our bunk, made him the most in
teresting man in the world in my estima-
ton, and the consequence was that some
times imagined that Thursday nights were
almost month apart. We were happy
then, and full of life and hope and aspira-
tions. He did not expect to be always
climbing among rocks and chasms, nor
in hawking the "Bondo of Union" from Dan
to Beersheba and back again from Beershe-
ba to Dan. We both looked higher and
beyond-he has, believe, succeeded, but
am still upon the tread mill.
Where the road now goes into Lapidum
from the west, the widest, noisiest and
most restless of little brooks came tumb-
ling and dashing down among the rocks,
and near where Mr.. Baker now has hotel,
perhaps little higher up the river, is where
the railroad came down from half way up
the cliff to the shore. A little way up this
brook, approached by difficult pathway,
some of Mr.. Bells Milesians had their rude
shanties, where they seemed to live more
tremendously, amid their wee ones, pigs
and poultry, than they subsequently did at
Vinegar Hill, on the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad.
Stopping little while to chat with Mr..
Baker of the hotel, who generously tender
ed us the Inequalities of his house, and
while the driver was watering his horses,
Mr.. Clark, casting his eyes across the river,
became entranced with the view of Port De-
post, quietly summing itself, while the
shadow of the cliffs forming the back
ground, gave it the appearance of huge
and gorgeous painting. Although had
seen it from the same point thousand |
times before, it never seemed so beautiful |
as then. Clark longed for his stereoscopic |
apparatus, and but for the fact that the |
United States Mail" wouldn't wait for us, |
he would have sketched it with his pencil |
He left the place with a shadow upon his
brow, and with the earnest declaration that |
be would return ut some future period and |
photograph the scene. If he should, no.
tify him now that must haveia copy.
The road from Lapidum to Mt. Zion was
all new to me, but when we came out into |
the road at the latter place, and the broad |
Bay with its shallops, and the picturesque
hills on the eastern shore, and Havre lying |
nestled close to the Susquehanna, broke |
upon the vision, sad memories as we'll as
pleasant chased each other through my
mind, and for moment was boy again |
romping through Tom Browns raspberry
patches, or clandestinely smuggling fruit
from Mrs. Dennison's orchard.
Winding down the long hill we were
soon safely turned adrift in that town of
Enlightened sweetness long drawn OUT
especially in the fishing season, when the
inhabitants are said to be both indepen-
dent and pugnacious- and were cordially
welcomed by my relative, John B. Coale
and family, with whom we spent few
pleasant hours. While here we rambled
around little, and familiar places soon
crowded memory with almost forgotten men
and incidents, to which have not space to
refer. gambolled through these unpaved
streets when the century was in its teens,
and long before had learned that life's path
way is strewn with broken hopes and tears,
with here and there ray of sunshine and
bed Of flowers While strolling round
we met and were introduced to Mr. Nc
Combs, the editor of the Haoye Republican,
who gave us generous welcome to his
sanctum, and the jagged points in whose
politics, if he have them, were toned down
by genial courtesy we have never found
lacking in Maryland editor.
In my next, expect to give you some
thing about Bel Air as it was forty years
ago. Respectfully,
Abinglon, w. c. G.
The Lightning Rod Man's Mistake.