Martinsburg weekly independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1873-1875, 1875-03-27
wKrrTxs ron rKz EkMrsxsal ~ - srFsaNxs
REMIN MsCENC rs.
Successes OF Berkeley Boys
Born Poor.

RY A BERKELEY BoY.
In my last "reminiscences / wrote
of "John Westonhaver and his
Mines" This the printer, in the
inevitable hurry of a daily paper,
turned into "wines" In the head
ing-an article the jolly old leu
ton was a stranger to. native
whisky being the heighth Of his
ambition in the beverage line.
In closing my last sketch found
/ was not quite done with West
onhaver's distillery. / spoke Of
his improbable customers. 1 my
self was one of them orce. / have
q sad reason for remembering the
occasion. 1t was an Easter holl-
day. / was wee boy as yet, and
picking eggs" was considered a
great accomplishment, especially
when the picker was provided
with an imitation wooden egg, as
i was by the help of one OF my
fathers slaves, a child OF larger
growth. | went per agreement
with a schoolmate who lived with
the old man, in what capacity /
forget. to his distillery, probably
with no other motive than to get
under cover and in a warm place.
After picking away there for some
time, quite successfully, until the
deception of my fraudulent egg
was found out-"pecking" the
boys used to sound it, the way to
spell it not being particular les
son at school-we at length got
hold of the proof bottle. What
passed there after that l know not;
but / distinctly remember my
mothers sorrow and anxiety when
/ was carried home to her dead
drunk ON old Johns whisky,
swilled unasked by a lot of
thoughtless urchins that we were,
and how she hurriedly set one OF
the slave women to coaxing some
fresh milk from an unwilling COW,
who did not understand the situa-
ton, and therefore "let down"
rather reluctantly after having
been well stripped" in the morn
ing of the .luckless day for me.
/ will recall that word "un-
lucky" Perhaps it was lucky
that the lesson was received SO
early in life; for we must not for
get that the Roman masters used
to make their slaves drink to
drunkenness for the sake of exam
pie to their children. And is it
not true that there would probably
be few drunkards by dint Of inn
itation were only besotted drunk
ards seen by the young, and no
"mersly excited" tipplers?
Well, certainly the owner of the
distillery was not accountable for
my excess, or that of the other
young "whisky thieves associ-
ated with nae on the memorable
occasion in reference. Not that
he would not have thoughtlessly
asked "Jesie," as he called me, to
take a "taste," had he found me
at the dlstillery when he returned
to it, to do which surely would
have been a mark of generosity in
him, while no social crime at that
day of universal indulgence.
But bad as that old distillery
was in its influence, as were others
in the neighborhood of it, there is
a Renaissance connected with its
history that singularly commingles
pleasant with unpleasant thought.
There was a certain man, born
of one of the Teutonic races, who
held the relation of distiller to the
proprietor, he himself being ig-
nOrant at first of the mysteries of
the art OF distillation. This en-
ploye was man of education, as
most of the Germans are, but he
was an unbeliever as to Chris
tianity, both in theory and con-
forming practice. This a colpor-
teur, who left him a copy of the
New Testament, learned to his
chagrin at his next missionary
call; for when he asked the dis
tiller how he liked his present, the
reply he got, made in provoking
GOODNESS Of tone. was 81 thank
you, sir; it is the best razor strop /
have ever had" He probably had
never opened it, 1t is very safe
to assume that his "woman," as
he called her, had not read line
of it for best Of reasons, that is, be-
cause she could not read. Their
children were not permitted to
grow up in like ignorance. They
were sent TO school; but they might
be said to have been utterly un-
cared for in other respects.
The last j knew Of this family
was their squalid life as squatters
upon piece of timber land which
belonged to my fathers estate, on
the banks of Book Creek, far re-
moved from any of the opportuni-
f l..