The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1874-11-26
health or induced by those of money

SAA VI AAuuo0u Oy IAOsc VI lOuey-
making, the most Of the population
had sought this far-off land of prom.
Use. The majority Of the people were
plain but here and there one met per-
sons of better class. Not many
miles from us liYed Mr.. Meeler; to
look at him one would say he had
never been more than twenty-four
hours at time in a city and then on
load of wood or behind a pair Of
oxen. He was unshaven and un-
shorn. He wore his pantaloons in
the. traditional manner, neatly buried
in the tops Of his boots. He went, in
fine, in the genuine prairie-sovereign
style, and a king upon his throne,
sceptre in hand and obsequious dukes
and counts about him, could not have
been much more bold and independ-
ent. In reality, the man was a cul-
tivated person-under this rough cx-
terror was not only good heart but
a clear mind and a large amount of
intelligence and information. He
had been a Third Street, Philadel-
phia, banker; the first year of his bus
I'M ess life had cleared fifty thousand
dollars; had been prominent vestry-
man at St. Simeon's church, and quite
a contributor to the current literature
ofthe day. The Western fever had,
I'M fine, overtaken him and here he
was, the possessor Of three hundred
and twenty acres of land six years a
resident Of the State; quiet, la
borious Western farmer, hardly
known outside Of the limits of his
township, rough in appearance and as
happy as a prince.
On the other side of US was a Ja-
cob Whitherstraw. 1 need not de-
scribe him, save to say that to meet
him walking into town, perhaps his
stout wife and ruddy children with
him, you would ask him what he
would come and dig so many yards of
ditching or saw so many cords Of
wood for. That man could construe
Horace with college professor and
rattle off Euripides with any senior of
Harvard.
Of course such characters were
rare. Now, Hezekiah Primworthy,
before spoken Of, was a far different
style Of individual.
Though an NJ. d., Doctor Prim-
worthy was hardly the possessor Of
the greatest social elegance. He
could scarcely be called a social dia-
mond of the first water. By a most
undeserved stroke Of adversely, it be-
came my fate to dine at the table of
this gentleman on one occasion. I
say thankfully. Oh vue occasion.
was never punished for any of my
sins by being forced to repeat the
penance. The Doctors young sister
kept his house for him.
:, have already mentioned the mon
osyllabic character of this young per-
son. / can not say that the character
of her conversational powers rendered
the meal more lively. Added to this,
the Doctor discussed upon the ex-
ceeding unhealthiness Of towns at that
season. He recounted no less than
fifteen kinds of diseases at that mo-
ment prevailing to an alarming ex-
tent, and seemed to consider it the
height of tribute paid to his "profes-
sionaP' skill that he had lost more
patients during the sickly season than
any other three physicians in town.
To say that this did not make the
meal cheerful is mild phraseology.
Among evidences Of my previous as
sertion that the Doctor was not ex-
actly a social diamond Of the very
frst-water, may mention that he
cleaned the chicken as closely of
from the bones thereof as if it had
been perfectly safe to eat-though he
told US that he had known chicken to
bring on violent diseases Of the most
fearful character-and then careful
ly laid the bones in several neat little
piles Of one each on the tablecloth.
Why not? Why should he, a pro-
fessional man, be bound down to the
foolish and arbitrary customs of arti-
fetal society? Why, indeed? ? There
was. no room on his plate. There
.uas room on the tablecloth. What
could be simpler?
| What, therefore, with the chicken
bones,. this report of the the Board Of
Health, as Ware called it after we
got home, and the monosyllabic con-
versation Of the lady at the head Of
the table, we spent painfully lugu-
brious hour and half in the Doctors
mansion. He also spiced the CONVEX
sation with gratuitous advice about
the danger of eating this and the dan
ger of eating that, until, do serious
ly assert, there was nothing left
upon the table that was safe, except
the salt. Now salt with other things
is well enough, but salt alone, on an
invited occasion especially, is not sat-
isfying diet. This, too, I may safely
say, did not tend to enliven the scene,
for how can there be feast of reason
and a flow of soul on bare salt? !
assert it as an indisputable proposition
that salt alone is not the proper slim.
ulus of the mental resources nor a
drawer-out of the conversational pow
ers. The connection between brain
and stoma,h h is such that the one will