The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1878-06-13
AN OLD FOGY.
A CURIOUS EPISODE OF LIFE
IN PHILADELPH

sThe good old times!' Aud the old
times were good,my dear better, much
than the times you liye in. know
am an old fogy, Nelly said Ephriam
Batterby, refilling his pipe, and look.
ing at his granddaughter, who sat with
him in front of the fire, with her head
bending over her sewing; Il know 1
am an old fogy, and l glory in it,
sBut you never will be for me, granp-
pa!' said Nelly, with smile.
yes, my dear. am for everybody.
1 am man of the past. Everyt thing l
every cared for, and ever loved, ex-
cepting you, belongs to the years tina,
have gone; and my affections belong
to those years. 1 liked the people OF
the old time better than l do those of
the new. loyed their simpler ways,
the ways that l knew in my boyhood,
three score and more years ago. lam
sure the world is not so good as it was
| then. 1t is smarter, perhaps; it knows
more, but its wisdom vexes and dis.
gusts me. am not certain, my dear,
| that, if had my way, l would not
sweep away at one stroke, all the So
called smodern conveniences,' and re-
turn to ancient methods
! 'They were very slow, grandpa
sYes, slow; and tor that l liked
them. We go too fast now; but our
speed, am afraid, is hurrying us III
the wrong direction. We were salts
fed in the old time with what we had.
IL was good enough. Are men con-
tented now? No; they are still i'm
proving and improving still reaching
out for something that will be quick.
er, Or easier. or cheaper than the
things that are. We appear to have
gained much but really we have gain
ed nothing. We are not a bit better
off than VIC were; not so we'll Off, in
my opinion
But, grandpa, you must remember
that You were young then, and, per-
haps looked at the world in a more
hopeful way than you do now
yes, allow for that, Nelly, al
low for that; l don't deceive myself.
My youth does not seem so far of
thst l cannot remember it distinctly.
1 judge the time fairly, now in my
| old age, as 1 judge the present time,
and my assured opinion is that it was
superior in its ways, it's life, and it's
| people. Its people! All, Nelly, my
dear, there were three persons in that
past who alone would consecrate it to
me. l am afraid that there are not
many women now like your mother
and mine, and like my dear wife,
| whom you never saw. 1t seems to
me, my child, that would willingly
live all my lite over again, with its
striies and sorrows, if | could clasp
again the hand of one of those angelic
women, and hear a word from her
sweet lips.
AS the old man wiped the gathering
moisture from his eyes, Nelly remain
ed silent, choosing not to disturb the
reverie into which he had fallen.
Presently Ephrlsm arose abruptly, and
said, with smile:
'Come, Nelly dear, guess it is time
to go TO bed. l must be up very ear
ly tomorrow morning.
'At what hour do you want break
fast, grandpa?
tWhy, too soon for you, yov sleepy
puss. 1 shall breakfast myself before
you are up, or else 1 shall break fast
down town. 1 have a huge cargo of
wheat in from Chicago, and l must
arrange to have it shipped to Liver
pool. There is one thing that remains
to me from the old time, and that is
| some of the hard work of my youth i;
but even that seems to come little
harder than it used to. So, come now,
to bed to bed
While he was undressing, and long
after he had crcpt beneath the blank
cts, Ephraim's th, lights wandered
back and back through the spent
years; and as the happiness he had
known came freshly and strongly into
his mind, he ielt drawn more and
more toward il, until the new and the
old mingled together in strange but
placid confusion in his brain, and he
fell asleep.
| When he awoke it was still dark, for
the winter was just begun; but he