The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1876-05-18
A DAY IN THE HOODS.
Animal Picnic Of Whitworth Fe.
male College.
I30 Girls Turned Loose to Tease
the Teachers.
A Pleasant Time for All--Ecstasl Of a
School Girl.

WHITW0RTH COLLEGE, May IL, 20.
Editor Brookharen LEDGER
Would you like to hear a simple story of
our Annual College Picnic? and, if tell
you, will you crafty a girls vanity by
showing her letter to the readers OF The
LEDGER in print?
Yes? Well, here goes.
On Thursday evening, the llth inst, Mr..
Johnson told US we might have a holiday on
Friday, and asked US whether we wanted a
quiet day at home or a picnic. OF course
we preferred q picnic-who wouldn't?
What school girl ever wanted a quiet day
at hoiae2 Good gracious! mol! We
wanted to get offin the woods and gather
flowers and play in the creek and make
.our-wood whistles and hoiler-so a picnic
We had.
Friday morning about one hundred and
thirty school girls filed cut from the Col
lege in command of Captain Ricketts, and
L@ieutenants Powell, Coulon and Echardt.
~ AdBpI@i tOpP was hCNCl io'
a frollc, and the Captains best tactics were
in demand to restrain the too animated
manifestations of delight at so much fun
as we marched out of town with Captain
r. at the head of the column, with his i'm
mense ~chappeaa nodding and bowling in the
wind. know the people were reminded
&c tIa Tb;1l,n, oE Tsool =. .Los. .sJu:,
age to the Promised Land with a cloud for
their guide. Everything promised a day
of unbroken happiness all were in good
humor. My partner was one of the love-
Hest in all the happy throps; the enjoy
ment she afforded will bind the day in my
memory until nay school girl days are for
gotten. admired her before; l love her
nolc.
We soon reached cold Brookhaven," a
spot which nature seems to have set apart
for picnics. Its stately oaks-its wide
spreading beech trees-the beautiful elms
that shade the gravellv knobs around the
mill-the fine spring which gurgles out of
the rocks in the hillside, inviting you to
come and drink OF its pure waters, as sweet
now as when it slaked the thirst of the In
dian hunter in his parsuit after the red
deer which abounded in these virgin
woods over which he claimed and exercis-
ed absolute dominion a hundred years
ago-aIl presented a picture of such varied
features that it could not fail 10 present
some object Of interest to every one. Art
has inst added enough to the picture to
give it additional interest, without impair
ing its natural beauty.
"rhe widc-spreading pond
And the mill which stands by IT,
just breaks the savage wildness of the
scenery sufficiently to give on assurance of
the presence of civilization. But enough
of this description. | will leave the bal
ance to the better skill of Prof. Coulon who
WIS on hand with hia tracing instruments
and sketch book, and | know he is going to
show YOU 4 picture, for | SAW him sketching
old oak tree
The brave old oak
That has Waived in the wild long"
And it was SURF enough a subject for a
painter.
We met with many little adventures dur
ing tie day, which would be tame and un-
interesting to the Chords of creation" but
are "awfui' amusing and interesting to
school girls. For instance, Prof. Powell
fell in the creek and called loudly for help;
but mary help" Who was there TO help?
We couldn't swim. But we did the next
best thing-we clapped our hands and hol-
Tered and laughed lust as loud as ever we
could" Ungrateful creatures! we had our
laps full of ~magnolias that he had just pull
ed for us from the topmost boughs of a
great tree, up which he had climbed at the
peril of his life.
Prof. f. was at sea without chart or
compass. He ~foundered about in the
woods like mad, but he enjoyed it though,
and 30 did we, for the more the teachers
get disguised with the fun the better We
like it.
Dinner was announced about 10 a. m.
and continued with greater or less vehe-
mence until 5 p. III. The table was the
countless baskets into which We had crowd
ed ham, bread, eggs, mince pies, cake, jel-
lies, pickles, candy, and every species of
sub-tantials and nick-nacks in generous
and i~ndiscriminate profusion. The dining
room was the wildwood, walled in by the
fresh trees and covered with the green TO-
liage and the blue canopy of heaven.
This Annual Picnic is a great day, the
annals OF the College, is our love-feast, and
on it the girls end all their old feuds, when
any exist, kiss all round, and "make up"
But we had no such use for the day this
time. We had no troubles to settle, but
we must go through the form or we would
not feel right.
We were surprised when 5 o'clock was
announced. The Captain was suspected of
moving up his watch, but the order of
"fall in" had to be obeyed, and we return
ed to spend the balance of the evening in
telling what adventures we had, or ought
to have had and it is wonderful to see
how this sort of rivalry develops the facul-
ty of the average school girl for fictitious
narratives.
know you are tired Of this ra milling
nonsense. Good-by.
SCHOOL GIRL.
GratuitOus Advice.