The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1874-10-15

our early friendship, has failed to
make an impression on my heart
Even our foolish little quarrels. as
look back over the years and miles
that separate us, seem only to bind
them all to me by a stronger cord of
love and friendship.
4 generous, self sacrificing, noble
people were those among whom it
was my lot TO dwell in the early set
tlement OF Cedar county. and very
long may those remaining live to
meet in their annual gatherings and
reproduce the early days Of rude joys
and firm irlendships-of sturdy toll
and much suffering.
How often. i'll Imagination, ! leave
my body in Wisconsin and z, back
in spirit to the infant days OF Upton,
when | myself took its first census,
and when the whole neighborhood-
and the neighborhood then comprised
nearly the whole county-was in the
habit Of meeting on and in front Of
John Culbertson's porch to talk over
the news and discuss the politics of
"old Cedar" and the nation. How
vivid are those scenes now before
me. There stands John F. Cook,
the spirit and soul Of our Young
colony, singing .'the tail young oys-
terman' and "Cedar navigation"
You, yourself, sir, occupying no in
considerable portion of the holy
ground then sacred to friendly greet
ings and public discussions on re
ligion aud politics. but now desecrat-
ed by commercial blocks of materi Il
brick and mortar-you. sir, are oc-
cupied in writing "Hummer's bell"
and driving jokes at Esquire Dilts
for signing legal document Peter
Justice" George Mccoy and Will
liam II. Rankin are there mastering
their grayhounds for a hunt, and ..
G. Ward, the cynical, sarcastical @.
&. Ward, is annoying them by get
ting his i.onical pups and fishing
rods in order to compete with them
for the feet game and finny inhabi
tants Of the 81 ugh which, sometimes
Al that day, formed miniature lake
Just southwest Of the old Court
House.
John Safay. from the 'State of
Red Oak is before me, bargaining
with merchant from Linn county,
to bring him wagon load Of goods
from Chicago, to which place Mr.
Saney is gong on business After
some considerable talk and bargain
ing, the fact is divulged that the
goods" consist of barrels of whisky,
aud now Mr. Sally turns from the
merchant in dls-u>t. reinarklng III
the broade>t F'ifcshire dialect
AHA. mee Tree Il. its whiskey ye
wal hae me bring, is it. ! tell ye
sir, the dervil may do his ain dirty
business, I'll ha no hand in it,
Aud so he goes to Chicag, and re-
turns empty 'ather Than receive pay
for hauling whisky. Have you many
such men in Cedar new: One you
have, of cou' Sc, for J hn Safely still
lives.
Asa Young. nv old North Caro-
lima friend, is before me, discussing
the literary tainments of some pub
lie character. and asserts that 'he
can spell baker and 'brier easily
enough, and he might get along with
.crucifix' and .crueltv,' but when he
comes to duplicate and diaphragm
he is in swimming water
The tall bons form Of John Finch
now appears in the crowd with John
r. McCurdy in his wake, abusing
him for some real or fancied wrong,
but failing to attract any considera-
BILE amount of Fincn's attention by
words alone, jumped two feet from
the ground in his rage and kicks
him Finch seems to be un-
aware Of the assault and when spoken
to about it by friend who advises
him to resent it, appears much sur.
prised, and turning to McCurdy asks,
with feigned Indignation, ''you little
devil, have you been kicking me-
Here comes William NJ. Knott,
the inimitable Bill Knott. An east
ern or southern mail only visited
Upton twice a month in those days,
and o. how some of us hungered and
thirsted after late news and letters
from dear friends far away. Bill has
the contract to bring that long waited
for treasure from the river, on horse
back. The time has come at last for
him to leave Upton in ques, Of it.
His crop is ready for the harvest and
he wishes to procure substitute to
go for the mail, but failing in this.
comes to the conclusion, which he
expresses very emphatically, that his
harves, is Of more importance than
the reading Of few NEWSPAPERS, and
SO he goes to gather it Neither the
unassorted words used by me AS
mediums to express my feelings on
this occasion, nor the more gertle
manlike bitterness which gave vent
to yours, sir, will ever be the occasion
of either Of us being canonized as a
saint. The thing is int"lerable!
What will be done: 'Wait fort
night. by Golly," ill remarks. This
is not satisfactory, but what can we
do: Bill is general favorite. we all
like him. He is the soul Of wit and
repar,ee, and so he fairly jokes us
into good humor and we are pro-
pitiated.
But my vision of the past ! fear
will tire you, and yet very many
esteemed friends, still unnamed. are
passing rapidly before. How pleas
ing it is to look back upon them.
The dead and the living are all there
as they were when Upton and ! were
were young. Captain Higglnson,
William X. Whittlesey, Preston J.
Friend, Benjamin Frazier, Joseph
X. Snyder, Daniel Davis, Solomon
Knott, solomon Aidrich, Captain
Lewis, Robert and James H. Cover,
Henry Hardman, William Mason,
Christopher Platner, Jaekomyer
Baldwin, Jacob Davis, and all the
men and women of Red Oak, Sugar
Creek and the Wapsie, and all the
dwellers beyond the Cedar-all are
there, and | am with them.