The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1877-06-09
For The Cecil Wing.
An Advanced Leaf from Quilp's Diary.
He Goes to IIopeweIl and Oxford.
HOPEWELL MILLS, May 2Sth, 1877

HoPEwELL MILLS, May 2Sth, 1877.
We made the acquaintance of a literary
gentleman yesterday and he told us there
was 4 gang of temperance people turning
things upside down and splitting, or trying
to spill, all the whisky, wine and gin in
Oxford and Hopewell and vicinity, and that
the whole country Whereabouts was in state
OF intense excitement. We concluded we
would accept his kind invitation and go
with him and see the fun. We had another
motive in going. We had been tramping
around the Octoraro hills, seeing the sights
and hunting for news till we began to want
some little recreation and wished for a
change of scene. Our new acquaintance
said it was only seven miles, and SO we
resolved TO go and see the effect of the
great "tidal wave" of temperance that
seems to be creeping over the land and
stirring things up in this part of it.
SO, leaving the "Sun " on Monday morn
ing, we took the railroad-not the cars, but
the road,-for we were on foot, and went
up through the "Barrens to Hopewell,
and now we are sitting in cool spot in the
old mill in the valley of the "Tneed of
all places, except an ice house, the inside
of an old mill is the coolest in Summer
time, this epistle for the amuse-
ment of your readers.
The Tweed is branch of the Octoraro
and flows through the borough Of Hope
well, along valley that is SO level the eye
Of stranger has difficulty in ascertaining
which way it runs. However, we had bet
ter say a word about the Barrens before we
forget it.
They are covered with scrubby pine trees,
which are unlike the pines of Jersey or
Maryland or Virginia, but appeared to be
a species of variety entirely different from
them. They, like the oaks in Texas, grow
up about fifteen or twenty feet high, and
then it seems that the atmosphere gets too
rare or too dense or too hot or too cold for
them to penetrate it further and they stop,
and their tops die, and there they stand
| like monuments of mistaken enterprise.
| 1t is said that nature abhors a vacuum and
seldom makes a mistake. Somebody, or
something, has made great mistake in
trying to grow pine timber on Chester
county barrens. 1t can't be done. Though
useless for purposes of utility in the vege-
table kingdom, the Barrens are prolific of
grand results in the mineral world, pro-
ducing thousands of tons of chrome, mag
nesia, and other minerals and at least one
spring of high repute for the healing pro-
perties of the waters. 1t it called the Black
Barren Spring and is near the Rock Springs
in the Eighth district.
While sitting in the old mill we heard the
shrek of steam whistle, and, looking out
of the mill window, we saw a miniature
locomotive streaking it down the meadow
on the other side of the Tweed, and our
friend said they had jHpeni}e raiIr0ad
here, leading from Oxford to Peach Bot
tom, and that this was the juvenile engine
and train then passing. The little engine
reminded us of big relOcip6de, when we
saw it next morning at the station when it
came along. The train consisted of one
passenger car one freight car, and a plat
| form car with railing round it. This car
was loaded with calves that were being
transported TO Philadelphia They kept
up an incessant bawling, and we thought
how pleasant it would be to take a ride
with Alcck up among the Octoraro hills
and listen to the music they made. | for
| got that have not introduced Aleck to
your readers, but will do SO further on.
The tidal wave began to rise about the
town of Oxford last Monday and will proba
bly, reach its acme in a short time. Mr..
Boughton and wife came wandering along
here and began to pitch in about intemper-
ance and urge the many lnebriates of Ok
! ford and vicinity to sign the pledge. They
held meetings every night but one in the
hall at Oxford, with numbers and interest
increasing every night. Nearly every one
has signed the pledge, and the prospect now
is that all hands will sign it before they are
done leCturing Samuel Huss-a queer,
odd genius, as vicious and depraved and as
full of genuine cussedness as the reformer
of that name was full of religion and piety
signed the pledge last week: and though
ne was pretty drunk when he signed the
document, he made speech characteristic
| Of l,n IIa has hnnn Snhnr Sipnn aud
it is to be hoped has been made sober
man and useful citizen. An eminent ply
sician of the town, who was much too fond
of his cups, has signed the pledge also, and
| it is hoped will be little more sober in the
future than he has been in the past.
In the evening our literary friend and
ourself started early for Oxford. Why
that place is called Oxford, we never could
find out, for there is no ford, nor stream to
ford. within two and half miles of the
place. The kind lady, at whose farm house
we were stopping, arranged that she and
her buxOm daughter would drive to the
village and meet us at the hall after the
! lecture was over and bring us home in the
vehicle.
We reached Oxford and strolled around for
a little while and called upon some friends
of long ago, whose faces, once SO familiar,
we had not seen for dozen of years, and
then we went to the hall, which we reached
about S oclock. The hall is capable of
seating about five hundred persons, and we
learned that on the Saturday night before
there were more people outside of it than
in it, attracted there by the fame of Mr..
Boughton, the warm hearted Irishman and
his amiable and lovely wife, who had, for
week past, been lecturing here; and, that
while they spoke in the hall, other persons
addressed the multitude in the street. We
sat down and waited for a long time, and
our literary friend, who had signed the
pledge on Saturday night and appeared to
be good, Jealous temperance man, said
that maybe s0mebody had taken too big
drink, as it seemed the meeting was never
going to begin. About 81 o'clock lawyer
| Dckey called the meeting to order and
read the 51St psalm, and made very APP
propriate prayer for lawyer to make. We
have noticed when the lawyers offer up
prayer in court at Elkton, that it portents
trouble, and we beggn to fear the worst
here. However, as this one did not ad
dress the same court as our lawyers do.
none of his brothers put in their CAB to
make quarrel and we hope for the very
best results from the prayer he made. Then
he said they would sing a song, and the
choir sang the hymn, commencing "All
| nal lHe power VI JGSuS HdiLc, lISH
the lawyer introduced Hon. Mr.. STUDIOS,
President of Oxford Ten. perance Union,
who arose and said that he would only
speak ten minutes and that anybody could
speak that long upon that subject, and that
the reason he spoke was, that one of the
new converts to temperance, "aoh0 had
necsr spoke BEFORE" was going to speak on
Tuesday night, and he was going to show
him how much could be said in ten min,
utes. Then we wondered much about the
powerful effect of the temperance pledge
upon the young man that had "never spoke
before;'' and we wondered, too, about the
queer sensations he must have had when
he like the chameleon we read of when a
school boy, first found a tongue. And then
we thought of Balaam's ass that never
spoke but once and never would speak
again. and thought how disappointed the
young man would be if after finding his
speech, he should lose it again, and we
wondered too if lie would speak as we'll
and with as much success as the ass.
On the way home we inquired of our
hostess if we had got the matter right, and
Il 4 ,