Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1877-11-15
Communication.
RemiscenceS of by-gOne Days
For the Fayetterille obserrer.

DSllefe IL Is the mature or
all persons, when they begin tc
get old, to love TO study and
talk of old times, and even to
visit the old places, and recount
the joys and pleasures of the
days that are past. 1t is but a
few days ago | met with an old
friend, a former citizen of Cold
Water, and he told me he had
just few days before paid a
visit TO his old hcme down in
the hills near 3. ID. Hicks. 1t
looked like he really got several
years younger when he was
telling off. 1t really did him
good, and so it does every old
person. Butt was going to tell
you and your readers some of
my experience in travelling,
when | was comparatively a
young man. | think it was in
the year 1916 that some four of
us, near neighbors, took it in
our heads to pay a flying visit
to Marshall county, Mississippi,
some two hundred miles. The
writer had a brother there he
was going TO see, and the ball
ance of the company were a.
like circumstanced. There was
no railroad in those days; our
travelling equipments were a
light lickety two-horse carriage
minus the springs, our ponies
were wild, knew nothing about
wagons, and one of them had
some kind of fits, but we did
not know it at the time, but we
found it out afterwards to our
SORROW. Corn and fodder for
our horses and rations for our
selves, and a good tent cloth.
Thus equipped We left our homes
to be gone one month, all young
and vigorous, and full Of mis-
chief. 1t was frolic we wan
ted and We got it you may de-
pend with vengeance, as the
seQuel will show.
We did fine for the first two
anda half days,and had dgot as far
as Franklin county, Ala, late in
the evening Of the third day
when our trouble began. Our
horses took a fright and into
the woods they dashed; our
young friend and travelling COM
panion, A. B. s., was alone in
the carriage driving, the ball
ance Of us were out walking.
One Of the lines broke, they
took a circle Of a small space
and into the road they came a.
gain leaping a ditch at a bound,
smashing up things generally,
scattering men, wagon and
horses and things promiscuous-
ly to The four winds, and off to
the woods the horses went like
lightning. They ran about
mile different courses and when
found were fast asleep. just
then We were getting into the
frolic, two miles to a house, the
same to water, a smashed up
wagon, wild horses that we did
not think would do to risk, we
were down in the mouth pretty
bad you may guess.
Next day was Sabbath; we
could not be there SO far from
water, so we gathered up the
broken fragments and went to
a shop some two miles away and
worked manfuIly all day long,
and by Monday morning were
ready for the rold again, Those
horses never ran away again.
Strong grass ropes and two strong
man in the wagon and the writer
hold Of bride bits for twelve miles
before breakfast, you may guess
we brought them to their milk.
One day, | recollect, We began to
meet an unusual number of young
children from two years old up to
ten or twelve, black, ragged and
dirty. Soon we came TO a sudden
turn in the road and there was a
cabin, in front Of it for fifty or
sixty yards, the fence was lined
with old breeches and the like
stuffed full Of one thing and an
other, laid out on the fence to
dry. The place, shouted some one,
here's the shop where they have
right new ones just made and
laid out to dry. The incident did
to laugh about for many a day.
To say that we ate heartily on
that trip, would be small talk.
We ran out of grub day or so
before we came to our journeys
end; it was away down on them
long ridges in Mississippi some one
would go to house to bay some
thing to eat, ask for bread, got
none, meal none, meat none, that
was the tune all day. At last K.