West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1879-11-29
Uncle John on the Ad,en, OF wm,cl


The las, rnsc Of summer has fadcd and
gone. Fans and paraSolS have been laid
away, and busters have become an uhomi-
nation. The summer Of 1879 has taken it's
place ON the shelf aud its joys and pleas
ureS, along with its dust. perspiraiion and
heated misery. now exists only iu memory.
No more summer night strulls In tho
moonlight; mo- more delightful plurgrs i'm
the water; no more mosquito music, and mo-
more flies in the butter
Well. let IL 60 There are some pleasant
features about summer, hu, give nae the
crisp and bracing air of Wlu,,r- the iuvig
oratiou which comes tVm exercise lu the
frosty air
never like the languor and lazincss thut
seem 60 attach 90 warm weather When
the mercury is fooliug around the 100 dc
grccs mark ON The thermometer, people
seem TO move aud breathe as If they were
maintaining life under protest. You rise
in the morning as il i, was a great cNcrtiun
10 get out of bed, and even the operation
of eating is performed rs il it were % pen
atty inflicted for some kind of crime
There is nothing like cold weather 20 stir
up mans energy. IL hrightenS the eve,
has,Cns the pace and stimulates The ambi-
ton. Even the averngc tramp, ON a sharp
and frosty morning, cnlivcns his gait so
that you can sec him move without taking
sight 10y telegraph pole.
Winter is not looked forward too with
longing by the very poor who dread the
necessity Of coal and, clothing; but FOR
tunatcly there are not many people i'm the
United SH'cs, proportiouatcly. who are
in danger suffering from want. The
"hard time exist no longer Business of
all kinds is booming, aud everybody feels
confident and happy because Of the sus-
picious outlook. All who are ready able
and willing can Get rcnumcrativc employ
mcnt, and hence nobody need qunkc when
the whistle of winter is heard
Winter in the country is the jo'lics, of
the seasons. Farmers don't have the benefit
Of the theatres and kindred amusemcnts
such az We have in the city; but they have
glorious sleigh rides, joyous social gather
ings and many accessories Of pleasure that
city folks never experience.
City folks don't know what winter fun
is, unless there has been a mighty change
since. | was a boy, some fifty years ago.
II akes the blood in the old mans veins
jump and tlump even now to think Of tho
sleigh ing parties we used TO have i'm the
county. None of your starchcd affairs,
with a driver pcrched up on box i'm front
and the sleighers sitting liked starchcd
mummies in the seats. None OF your dress
parade slcigh-riding through streets pass
lag hundreds of other slcighcrs, all starch
ed and stiil and conscious of being on cX-
hibition. No dragging through chocolate
colored snow, no humping on stone pave
no fN,t oil q q. q
liveryman the next day for your alleged
fun.
Such Is city sleigh-riding.
But the country variety, when was boy,
was very different thing.
The old two horse sled, with the box full
OF clean straw. No seats, no starch. no
drcss-paradc. \ dozen boys and girls squat
ted misccllaneousy in the straw, with
enough buffalo robes 10 keep the party
warm. The whip cracks and away we 90.
Over the country roads. through the spot
less snow, and nobody looking at us but
the man in the moon, who seems to roug-
ishly wink his left eye. Everyone is talk
ging. Eyes sparkle like the moonbca ms
in the snow, checks glow like carnaton
roses, and happiness rcigns supreme
But the slcigh-rides arc not the only at.
There are the singing schools the spelling
bees and social parties,
An, yes, the spelling bees, how ! used to
enjoy them! Two rows Of boys and girls,
hard-spellIng words fred at them by the
local school teacher and the havoc made
in the ranks by misspelling! Wei ] re-
member once when all was spelled down
but myself and Matilda Jane Tompkins.
Matilda was a sweet little girl and was
sweet on Matilda. We were ON opposite
sides, Of course, and az the hard words
were given ! trembcd for fear she would
miss first. At last ] spelled Cincinnati
with two 'tts,' and the look Of pain sho
gave me showed that she would rather
have missed herself, ! saw Matilda Jane
about year ago. She has grandchildren
older than she and ] were at the time Of the
spelling match, and she has got into the
habit of wearing her tocth in q glass Of
water at night.