The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1876-08-26


exactly what is transporting in Towsontown anC
vicinity which may prove of interest to thu
general reader. 1t will be readily seen, by peo
| pie who know the place as well as we do, tina
to get up any number of interesting items o
| occurrences and doings in and around Towson
town is no easy matter, for the reason that there
| are few strangers going and coming, no steam
railroad, no mills, foundries or machine shops
there, just at this point our nerves are shocked
by the excruciating notes of cheap fiddle, be.
ing rasped under our window by ragged Ital-
| ian youth. Politics and the several political
clubs are the absorbing topics but we Wont
| deal with them. The new brick dwellings oil
Messrs. VIM. s. Keech and Adam H. Krout are
| progressing finely; they-the dwellings we
| mean--will be ornaments to the town when
completed Everybody has returned from wa
| ter-places and camp-meetings and have settled
| down to business. Mr.. Cooper has improved
| Pennsylvania avenue by putting in substan-
| tial stone gutter. The same gentleman is get
| ting his "fre-ladder" ready for operations
| (Hope none of us will have occasion to use it,
| thought woods meeting, under the auspices
| of the NJ 2. church, commences in Chew g
woods tomorrow; another chance for all the
sinners. The late Judge Griffith was a member
of Mt. Moriah Lodge of Masons, and his fu-
| neral services were conducted by the lodge.
| Hawkers of vegetables and fruits make our
streets resound with the inspiring strains of
| their melodious voices. The STRAINS" are
about good the articles they sell. Prof.
Gonzalez is of the opinion that ten people as not
| a large audience to greet two accomplished ar
| fists. The Prof.'s head is level we agree with
| him. The cOnundrum now is ''who will be
| Judge Grffith's successor? ?" We give it up, and
so will some of the applicants. Those letter.
boxes havn't been fastened on to the horse-cars
yet great many of our people are going to
the Centennial about Oct 1st; we will go about
that tme-if the walking is good. The bed of
| the railroad between this place and Lake Ro-
land is running away as rapidly as it can ;
every rain that comes causes a loss to somebody
of several hundred dollars. AS the time for the
| opening of our high school approaches the spr
its of the boys are becoming correspondingly
depressed. Business is dull about the Court
House not much money coming into the
Office. The Yorktown turnpike company's old
toll house in this place stands more than half
upon the bed of the turnpike; if the house be-
lOnged to private individual he would be COM
PEELED to remove it instauter the company
can violate its own charter, but outside parties
are not allowed the same privilege. It's hoped
that when the York road car stables are re-
moved to the White House property the time
between this place and the city will be short
ened somewhat. The health of Towsontown is
unusually good. A bridge of some sort is very
badly needed over Towsontown branch at
point where said branch crosses Charles street
extended. A number of colored laborers ar
rived at the water works from Virginia within
a few days past. The book agent and the light
ming rod agent-two necessary evils-have
been around this week. young irishman
named John Cronin punched the head of col
ored lady, for which playful freak he now Ian
guishes in limbo. "Sandy Bottom" is the same
joyous place it was of yore; pigs and goats dis
port themselves in the sunlight, and annoy
the neighbors by getting into their corn patch
es, &c. Joseph Westerman is Towsontown
institution he is not fair to look upon, yet
there are many worse men in the world than
he. Towsontown obtained it's name from Gen.
Obediah Towson, patriot who did good SER
vice in defending his country against the Brit
ish; he visited Towson Lodge of Odd Fellows,
soon after its foundation, and presented it with
an oil painting of himself, which still hangs in
the hall he has been dead about twenty five
years. The Court House yard needs more trees;
as the season for planting is near at hand the
want ought.to be supplied. Tramps are not SO
numerous as they were short time back; the
question is, what becomes of these fellows
We are painfully afflicted with. base ball it is
an inspiring sight to see half dozen or more
half grown, able-bodied boys vending their
way to the ball field each afternoon their par
ents should find them more profitable employ
ment. There is to be grand concert at the
Smedley House one evening next week. A
number of our citizens are getting in their win
ter's supply of coal it is worth about $3.50 de-
livered at Riders station, N. C. R. R. Our
brass band is among the things that were; it
ought to be revived at once. Hickory poles
will be cheap after the 18th of next November !;
they will make excellent fire wood as they will
be we'll seasoned by that time. Immense num-
bers of grasshoppers were seen on the fences
Just south of this place, few days ago we
have not heard of their doing any damage to
vegetation. Mr.. Lewis Vogle has large stock
of beautiful baskets of all kinds made on his
premises when you want one call on him.
Mr.. John Ridgely has fast mare, probably the
best stopper in the county. The oldest man
in this town is Mr.. Daniel Shealey, Sr. Dur
ing the war of 1Sl2-14 on the spot where Ep-
som chapel now stands there was powder
magazine. The lot was decided by the Chews
for church purposes and the church can be
used by any denomination good many years
ago the Episcopalans as well as the Methodists
held services in it it is now used exclusively
by the M. P. church. The Masons talked some
years ago of erecting hall here but we have
heard nothing about it lately. Our steam rail-
road having gone to the Court of Appeals the
prospects for its early completion are worse
than slim. There is very little done here in
the matrimonial line; the fees of ministers
from this source would not keep them in paper
collars. Mr.. J. Wesley Lee can handle the rib
bons over fourth hand team with consum-
mate skill he displayed his ability in this line
on Sunday last There are more dogs here
than in any other town of its size in the State
we don't say this to boast but simply because
it's the truth. Chas. E. Fendall, ESQ. and wife,
and Maj. John l. Yellott and wife, left for the
Centennial on Wednesday morning. Mr..
Joshua Plaskitt, of Baltimore, well-known
here-abouts, was on the train that met with an
accident near Stemmer's Run on Wednesday
morning; he escaped with a severe cut on the
face. Mrs. Elizabeth White, between eighty
and one hundred years of age, is the oldestper
son in Towsontown; she is still active and
hearty. Our population augments only by
natural increase; there are no strangers loca-
ting here. The cornerstone of the Court House
was laid on the 18th of Sept, 1853; many of
those who took part in the ceremonies have
long since passed away. The two oldest houses
in Towsontown are the gate house, now occu-
pied as an office by the railway company, and
the house now owned by Mr.. Lewis Vogle,
formerly owned and occupied by Frederick Zu-
horst. The Hays and Wheeler burgee on Thurs
day become fastened around the halyards of
the pole in such way that the flag could not
be pulled down. Mr.. Fred. Myers, with COM
mendable bravery, assembled the pole and rem
eded the trouble.