The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1876-03-04
"REMINISCENCES OF ELHTON
IN THE BY.GONE.

Hear land o cakes and brother Scots.
Frae Maiden Kirk to John o'Groats
chiefs amaug You taking notes
AND faith he II Print EN-.
Few of the present denizens of our much,
reviled town, enjoying the Injuries of gas
light, street lamps, fireplace heaters and
rapid railroad transit, have any proper con-
ception of the good old days of tallow dips,
whale oil lamps, black jack fires, dark
streets and stage coach jostlings; and while
lounging in my old arm chair, a few even
ings since, dreanily recalling some of the
now almost forgotten worthless of those
by-gone days: Cairne Burgoine, Alck
Moore, Tom Foster, Phil Jackson, Dan
Moore, Zeb Ferguson and Jake Anderson,
not emitting Prince King, the colored phil
osopher; it occurred to me that few
sketches of the times in which these heroes
lived and aourished, might not be uninter-
esting to some of the readers of Tile Wig.
l name Prince Hing as the colored phil
osopher, because Of the COOL calculating
manner in which he considered every pro-
position submitted to him. Upon one oc-
cason, the blacks had, under the instiga-
ton of some restless spirits, determined
upon a revolt, and it was suggested that
Prince should be called into their deibera-
tons. He appeared among them and in
quired into their purposes. SWELL" said
they, "we have determined to release our
selves and our brothers from bondage, and
to rise on New Years eve and kill all the
white people," WE'LL" said Prince,
"what them" why" said they, "we
shall get all their property for ourselves.
Well take al! the money out of the Bank,
and divide it among u.s." "Well,' said
Prince again, "what them" Why"
said they, "we will throw open all the
stores and get all the clothes, and whisky
and tobacco we want" "Well, what then ."
why. We shall not have to work any more;
we can get as drunk as we please; have a
we can eat and drink without paying for
it, "Well, what Them Why-why
-why--'' The answer did not come very
readily. Princes catechism was rather too
long for his brethren, and not having
studied it very closely, they were not pre-
pared to go further in it.
His suggestive questions led them to
think little more upon the subject, while
the idea, that there were more people in
the world than the inhabitants of Elkton,
presented itself, and visions of the gallows
in the distance doomed up before them, SO
that under the philosophers cross exam
ination, they wisely determined to defer tn
matter, at that time, for while at least.
Jake Anderson! Who, of forty years
residence in Elkton, does not remember
Jake Anderson, the prince of BARRIERS and
the prince of fiddlers, who with store box
or something similar as {, platform for his
chair, in the old Washington Hotel where
the Howard House now stands, would,
from Z O clock in the evening until sunrise
in the morning, bring out of his old cremona
such moving notes as would compel our
first willing, but afterwards weary feet, to
"dance all night, till broad daylight" too
tired indeed, to ego home with the girls in
the morning." Not SO Jake, however, for
apparently he was as fresh in the morning,
{. S he was at the opening of the ball. And
the reason was, as they say, that he never
lost wink of sleep; for leaning back in
his CT. air, his arm would move with the
same pr. 'cision, his foot keep time with the
same aeon racy, and the figure calls come
out forua,'d too;;" "chassee four" "bal
lance" "sming corners" "promenade ALL"
with the same regularity when asleep as
when awake. So they used to say, but
don't vouch for it.
But the next day. Aye, there was the
rub with many. Too much wine, too much
apple toddy, sour stomacbs, sick headaches,
swelled feet, and other inevitable conse-
quences of such dissipation. All, me! how
often have seen that these gayeties were
but the prelude to darker scenes and sadder
after-pieces in the drama of life. How
many painful instances Of early life blasted,
and premature graves opened by the demons
that wait upon these festivities in the fairy
forms the evil one loves to give them, can
memory even now recall? Those who sur
vive, should live to magnify the szaee that
saved them, and to warn the present gener-
alton of the pitfalls that lie in that path,
the entrance to which is often bordered
with flowers beautiful in the morning, but
whitening before nightfall, only to strew
the graves of loved ones, once the hope
and pride of fond but I'm wise parents.
But find myself running into train of
moralizing, though perhaps not inappro-
pirate, SO 1 will conclude, with the promise
of MORE ANON.