Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1876-09-29

not ''calash' or an ''elIiptie" in all the
throng. but when, Morton, the knight of
the fiddle, came in from jefferson in his
nice bare feet, with clean linnen trowsers
rolled up to the knees, and squared himself
to the business of the day" then Obed be-
held ''reels, A" and filings" and balancing
partners" such as are unknown in the
sehottisches and polkas of ''these degener-
ate days"
The merry music ceased, the feet Of the
dancers were quiet, the guests departed to
their homes, and 0bed. passed as if by mag
ic, with his now animated companion to the
old smithy across the ''creek, to hear the
Rev. Joseph Badger preach earnestly to
and pray fervently for the boys who were
''gning to the war" Obed attended we'd
dings and funerals; participated in ''hnsk-
ings" and ''paIings;" saw new families ar
irving and the thrift of the town increasing
as the merry jehus Of the stage coach"
wound their horses along the old Ridge
road; viewed the girlhoOd Of his entertain
er merge into motherhood with promising
family about her; heard - the break
fast bell ring, and as the good woman was
to lead the way to the dining room there
was bright twinkle in her eye and ro-
seate hue upon her cheek. Then there
arose in the mind of Obed the query,
''Where are those thy companions Of the
long 4goY' Obed pressed not the question.
He let silence answer "whereY
The morning meal dispatched, and fami-
ly worship ended, Obed entered carriage
with his host, passed through the town,
crossed over to the East Village, wound
down by the Harmon farm, descended the
hill, and the Harbor was before them. 1t
was not as Obed had seen it on his first vis-
it. The Harbor was not. The teeming
multitude was gone. In place of the cease
less murmur and the scorching sun of that
memorable day, there was the hum OF bus:-
ness and cooling breeze.
As they passed round on their tour of
observation his friend pointed out to obed
as an object of interest. what he had often
heard the rail road fathers" speak of as
thev made their enthusiastic applause to
the people of the "Fourth Range" Plum
Point. Obed gazed on Plum Point. Long
and earnestly did he gaze. Obed thought
of the days long gone when the red man
came and gathered the ripened fruit, and as
he ate it ''wooed and won his dusky maid. ;
Then Obed saw the period of the white man
advance. Young Hubbards and Hulburts,
FitcheS and Fisks, HarmOns and Haskells,
and scores more of whom Obed never heard,
took possession of the ''Point" and appro-
prlated its plums, or bathed their limbs in
the waters of the ''creek, whilst the poor
Indian" looked sorroWfully on from the
surrounding bluffs. Then Oiled remember
ed that Uncle Sam" took the 'ereek" in
hand and ''scooped" its bottom and it be-
came the ''Harbor," and men came from
far away that they might buy fish and lime
and salt. Obed's father threaded weary
miles of ''bridle path" that he might pro-
cure salt at the Hsrbor.
But Obed could not stop to muse upon
all the changes the Harbor has undergone.
The locomotives came screeching down on
either side of the valley. Obed turned his
eye towards the lake; it was all astir with
crafts of commerce; there before him and
on either hand as the results Of these ap-
pliances Of industry, were vast quantities
of coal, iron and lumber. Then it was that
Obed realized how, in the eyes of the
Fathers" Plum Point had lost all its pO-
etry. The rolicking boys have become util-
itarian men. Obed perceived that the
''dredge" and the 'tscow" had done their
work and Plum Point is Plum Point no
longer. 1t is Plum Island now. And
Obed said, as Plum Point knew no white
man hundred years ago, so no white man
will know Plum Point hundred years to
come. 0bed will do what he can to save
its memory from oblivion. Obed will.
When he seated himself, his observations
ended, in one of McCoy's hest, with his
back to the Harbor and his face to the
south" there was much more of amiabIlity
in Obed's heart than there was once upon
time of which he forbears to speak. With
visions of Plum Point as it was, and the
Harbor as it is to be, extending far back in
to the country, floating through his mind,
Obed was at peace with al! mankind. Obed
was.