The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1877-07-21
For The Cecil Wing
7 For The Cecil WING.
QuiIp's Diary, that He Kept as a Bohemian.
| He Goes TO See the OctOrarO and its Mills.

/
May Goth.
Bidding good by to our kind friend, the
postmaster at the Sun, we started to visit
the Cecil Paper Mill on the site of the old
forge on the Octoraro. We did not care so
much to see the mill as to see the pretty
and romantic stream again, and though we
had hidden it good-by and did not expect
to see it for years, perhaps never, we felt
a longing to gaze upon its waters and listen
to its music. This feeling was so strong
within us that we started off down the road
alongside Of the valley of Stone Run. This
stream is well named, for stones are "thick
as leaves in Nalambrosa there, and we
have reason to believe we frightened the
men at the mill of our old friend Addison,
when we passed it, in our hurry to reach
the pretty stream, which we soon after
wards did.
Then we sat down on moss covered rock
and unused upon the queer, strange charac-
ter of him whose name you hare applied to
us-the black and hideous "Quilp," we
mean,-and how, in the language of the
immortal Dickens, "the dark and Shiny
waters of the Thames, after strangling him
TO death, had toyed and sported with his
corpse, now bruising it against the Shiny
piles now hiding it in mud or long rank
grass, now dragging it heavily over rough
stones and gravel, now feigning to yield it to
its own clement and in the same action lur-
ing it away until. tired of the ugly play thing,
it flung it on swamp-a dismal place,
many wintry highland left it there to
bleach" And then we hoped that none
of your readers would think, because you
had given us his name, that we were like
We were led to these reflections because
the Octoraro just here is quiet and placid
as the Thames, and we found that it squalls
and cries only when, like some other chill
dren, it is crossed and can't have its own
way.
Then we went on up the stream towards
the mill and passed the noble old bridge
and the pretty school house, and in all our
more romantic place. 1t was not open
yet, and we asked two urchins, who were
playing near, who taught the school, and
they told US Ella Jenkins. If Ella can't
teach successfully here, she need not try to
do so any where else, for the air is full of
poetry and song.
Pretty soon we came to the paper mill,
and upon finding the gentlemanly and oblig
ing foreman, Alexander B. Kay, he intro
duced us to a countryman-or country dog,
perhaps we should say-of "'Skye, the dog
with the beautiful eye." Mr.. KS dogs
name is "Tiger,' and he said he was very
valuable dog and made war upon the snakes
we had heard of the snakes beforehand
other varmints, and had killed many hun
dreds of the snakes and almost extermin-
atad the lid. Tiger is a full-blooded
Scotch Terriers. Ssather being imported
from the isle of Skye ana s>et $50.
The Cecil Paper Mill, owned by Charles
Wells & Co., of Philadelphia, is a larg,
and we'll conducted mill. 1t contains six
engines and a seventy-six Fourdriner ma
chine, making manila paper out of jute
butts and bagging, averaging about two
tons of paper day. The jute is imported
from India, and the fibrrous part of the
plant is separated into three sections, the
butts only being used for paper, the other
parts for other purposes. On the bank near
the mill, in a building erected for the pur-
pose, is generated the steam for the use of
the machine and other mechanical pur-
poses in the mill. This is late improve
ment in this branch of industry and has
mill. This firm employ twenty hands and
run the mill night and day. They haul their
paper and stock to and from the "Sun"
over the worst roads in the world, as Mr..
Key told us, using team of eight mules
for that purpose. The farmers complained
to us that the badness of the roads was
caused by the heavy loads this mule team
drew, and that it was impossible to keep
them in proper repair. We don't know
how it is, but feel constrained to say that
it would be an improvement to many of the
roads if the loose stones were removed from
them. This firm fills large orders for paper
from Georgia and the other Southern States.
They sent $50 tons to Georgia in the two
last years.
no tn ha
strange crookedness of its channel at the
"horse- shoe" bend, and had reason, when
we got there, to sympathiZe with our friend
who had tried to find its source and about
whose tribulations we wrote in former
leaf of this diary. Mr.. Kay told US that
Ira Reynolds, who owned the farm that
was embraced in this serpentine coil of the
"Baby Riuer," would show us around. He
uel, who was repairing the road. We told
him our errand and he said he would GO
with us, and, so dropping his pick and
shovel, we started up the hill, and, going
about a stones throw, we came to the top
of the ridge, about three hundred feet be.
low, on either side, the Octoraro flowed.
We hardly knew which to admire the most,
the adamantine strength of the rocky hill
Or the persistent energy and pluck of the
creek that has strove for centuries, perhaps
for many cycles ere the historic age began,
to force it's way through and still keeps
pegging away at the strong old hill on the
east side, and then goes away round four
or five miles and comes square at it again
from the west. The neck of land between
it's channel here is only about two hundred
yards wide, and the channel on the west
side is twenty -four feet lower than on the
east By constructing tunnel here, it
could be utilized and would be one of the
finest water powers on the stream.
Mr.. Reynolds has fine farm here, con-
tanning some $50 or 500 acres. Almost en-
tirely encircled by the Octoraro, for quiet,
romantic location, that of this farm cannot
be surpassed, and we were surprised to hear