The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1874-01-30
4HdcSh0ne d'saOn1 the '.BIue Hens
ChiCSenS,1


DEAR FREEMAN-It is so long since I
nave given you ''screed" that | hardly
know how to approach the subject But
IKE Mrs Joe Gargery, have been again on
the rampage, and must ''render an ac-
count more especially. too as INV last DiI-
grlnage WAS eNtra-territorial my wander
lngs having been extended to the heart and
centre of Little Delaware
have had all manner of travel-on foot
Gomez, In cars, in carriages, in wagons, and
even with Barrows, without "A wheel.
have followed the windings of the Juniata
the Susquehanua, the Schuylkill and the
Delaware-have ScOoted around Delaware
bay, traversed its bdyOus, and even crossed
the classic Brandywine. l wish had time
to write q novel
Philadelphia reminds me of trouble in one
essential particular-it is much easier get
ting into it than it is To geI out again. Some
body always wants to see you" about the
time the train is to start
But, just here, by way of digression, let
me tell you practical joke. l ha0 IL from
one of the sufferers. merchant no some
times visits Ebensburg, (I leave you to un-
riddle the name as best you cam ana who
is a liberal patron of refreshment houses,
was recently leaving the city to call on his
mountain customers Having packed his
hand-trunk with few samples, clean shirt,
and other etceteras, he dropped into one OF
the saloons, and after setting his ''baggage'
on the counter, pathetically informed the
proprietor that he was going Two or three
hundred miles into the country. The gen
erous host of course could not think of let
ting him off '.juSt so, " and consequently our
friends CapaciOus hand-t trunk soon became
the receptacle of mysterious looking pack
age. In like manner and with Il like result
he "Called round at five other saloons
The proprietor Of the sixth one, my inform
ant, remarked with tears in his eyes: when
/ put mine III thar l had no idear that there
were five others in ahead of mine, though
thought it heavy for samples only" If any
of my Ebensburg friends partOOl of the ex-
hilarating beverage, they will now know
how it procured.
But l must leave Philadelphia for the pres
euU-iu the doing of WI. ch, no matter what
the direction, if we except crossing the Del
aware, stranger is ap to think that thai is
the direction in which the city is growing
most We took what ; known as the Will
mingtOn train, but q nearly an hour get
ting clear of the G .. We would come to
an open space and imagine ourselt in the
country, but directly the city would relapse
on us again with as much beauty and har-
mOny of buildings Il ever.
We crossed the Schuylllill not far from
Fort Mitfiin, (Which L once before visited
on business and stopped every three four
miles at some little station, until we reached
Chester Pa, a growing town now celebra-
ted for its manufactures.
y short run from this place brought us
into the State of Delaware and in less than
phia we were ut Wilmington, the cOmuer-
Ciai metropolis of the State. Our section of
the train here branched OFT for Dover, stop
ping on the way at Newcastle, situate on
Delaware Bay, which town / IeBtilttSCeRced
Newcastle was the ancient port of Ihila-
delpiI.a, and here the elder MaCShane land
ell in 1901 from II. =. NJ. ship Neptune.
With the then waning commerce OF Phlla-
delphia, Newcastle has since lost her pres
tige.
Well, on we went Nearly our entire
journey over fat, sterile. barren coun-
try. Large plantations with very unpre-
tending mansion houses and no barns, and
with negro nuts, or small tenant houses,
scattered prOmisCuously over the land, in
and out of which young negroes popped as
we hurried by, are what meet tie eye IN all
directions. Ia the wooded country we saw
scarcely anything that looked like tree,
a stunted growth of scrubby locking oaks
growing up in and around ponds small
lakes OF water being the nearest approach
10 timber.
The wealth Of this country, if wealth it is,
consists OF thin peach orchards, many Of
which are miles In circumference 50 far
as | could observe, they exceed the New
Jersey peach orchards in extent, bat not IA
culture.
Shortly after noon we arrived at Dover,
the capital OF the State, as well as OF tho
county. 1t is an ancient town, hut of slow
growth, being regarded iIli9ltd, although
Inlets from the Delaware Bay come within
a few miles. The population is only ahoat
1000 1t has only two taverus and nine
lawyers and is altogether a sober, quiet and
unpretentious town. Our hotel WAS on the
public square, near by the State house and
Court house, both very modest buildings,
which stand close together. After dinner,
myself and my cO"i)d9HOlt du royG9e took
stroll around the Court house. The first Ob
iect that struck me III the back yard (Of the
Court house, not my Own,) was what took
TO be a pump, such as we had in Pennsylva-
mia under the constitution OF 1890. 1t was
a large eight or ten square post, with the
top sawed OF, but allowed to remain in po-
sit.un, and a mortise in it for the handle to
work in; but l found neither handle nor
spout attached. On inquiry L learned that
it was one of those celebrated tcLtpptRg-p0StS
which Little Delaware" provides for the
punishment of offenders. The HtOdUS OpeF-
dHdi is to secure th- head of the cul priU at
the top, with his face inward, his arms
clamped to the sides of the post, %ud his
back barred to receive the caStigatiou. The
pHCTU, III which the criminal IL competed
- stand before punishment, is also here. 1t
is regarded by eVil-dOerS as more severe as
we'll as uuore humiIiatinS than the whipping
post. The prisoner, attired i'll prison garb,
is required to ascend the platform, where
his legs are placed in stocks, his head and
arms secured, the latter being raised aioft,
and in that position he becomes spectacle
for the scrutiny, the scorn, and the insults
of the populace. 1t may seem strange, but
II Is nevertheless true, lnlJ All Will Nuoil
| conversed on the subject defended these
modes of punishment as right and proper.
To remark made by me that such punish
ments were relics of barbarism, gentleman
made the reply, so is hanging confess
that l felt the reproOf.
While we were thus cOnverSing, large
bird, appearing at distance not unlike our
hawk, but with greater breadth of wing,
few over our heads. On inquiry, l was in
formed that it was one of those unnatural
scavengers of which we read so much, buz-
yards or turkey buzzards. They are very
abundant here, and are supposed to contrib
ute to the health of the place by consuming
all putrid matter.
Our chdperOne, former Pennsylvania,
when told that | had been in Delaware only
some three or four hours and had already
seen three objects not to be found III my own
State, Informed me that he could soon show
me two more-the mistetOe, the favorlte of
the ancient Druids, and the holly, both OF
L. l l