Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1880-12-22
roRErArHEKs' DAY.

HI Il1uN
And the heavy night grew dafk
Tn hills aud waters Ger,
when A band Of exiles moored their bark
On a wild New England shore"
Today, the ed Of December, is cele-
bratsd as the anniversary OF the landing
OF the Pilgrim Fathers at Plymouth,
Massachusetts,. 1t was in 1920 that the
queer little old sbip "Msyl0wsr." with
her precious freight Of Pilgrim advsn-
,ursrs, rolled. plunged and bobb'd her
toilsoms way across the stormy Atlantic
from England. for she was no clipper
built craft. and nnslly ended her tedious
trip in the harbor where the Pilgrims
made their landing and future homo.
A hardy band OF prospectors were
those bold E~uglishmen who thus struck
u ON this expedition to the new aod
unknown Western world at such an un-
ssasousble and unreasonable time OF the
year; but they took along . big supply
Of provisions, and were well provided
with cooking utensils. furniture, srus
and other necessary implements, juds.
ing from the huge collections Of old pots.
kettles. fry-pans. plattrrs. ehairs. tables
and similar relics Of that occasion still
carefully preserved by their postsrity in
Plymouth and vicinity.
They no doubt had their little petty
chickering's among themselves same a.
other passengers do nowadays on q long
voyage. but enjoyed themselves highly
in their own way. They played no cards
but their strong suit was holy singing
aud religious exercises. And when at
length they made their famous landing
on that memorable rock, with oil their
wives and little ones. aud laid the foun-
dation Of their small colony amid the
December SHOWS aud icy storms, they
worked with 4 Christian will. sang their
..hyuns Of lofty cheer" yet at the same
time kept their powder dry and their
clumsy muskets in good shooting order.
for although they shot plenty Of deer
and ~lopg-eared rabbits. they showed
themselves in due time just as handy OF
popping over the m~arsuding savage.
But. although thus taking possession
Of the lands Of the Indians. they re-
spected their rights to as great an extent
AS they felt themselves obliged to. and
although it is recorded that they helped
themselves to the Indian corn which
they found carefully stored in little
hillocks. they only did so because 1t wal
new 10 them and they liked it. 1t is moi
recorded that they allowed the Indians
to reciprocate, when they aitsrwarS
gathered and stored good crops Of th'
same eligible commodity. Quite th'
contrary; they always severely corrected
that propensity on the part Of tbs In
dams in every instance wherever the,
perceived it cropping cut.
Meanwhile they left the eonvenien
Hat rock or bowlder. upon which the.
landed from the ships boat. 10 its orig
inai position by the salt. fossy margin
OF the high tide. They never though
enough Of that rock to take it in out o
the wet. But their postsri,y have dom
so. Being naturally q good landipl
place. the rock was kept run Of and re
m~embered. and in l774 the sand ant
debris thrown upon and around il b!
the see was cleared away aud an Attemp
was made to raise it from its bed
In doing 50 q large portion Of tb'
upper side or top was split Oh. Thi
Was taken up to the middle Of the villsg,
and placed q, the end Of . stone wal
which propp,d up an smbankment. II
1884 this piece Of the rock. weighing
couple Of toni more or less, was re
moved with appropriate ceremonies Il
the north end Of the town and placed II
front OF Pilgrim Hail." where 1t wa
surrounded by Q handsome iron fence
and stayed there until the 9th Of Sep
TENDER last when. after q divorce OF lO'
years, it was taken back aud placed
where 1t was originally taken from. oil
top OF the main rock itself. A massiv'
and handsome stone canopy now cover
i, aud there il will doubtless be allowe'
to remain through numerous iutur
ages.
The history Of the Pilgrims and thei
brave deeds. their many virtues. ant
above all their exalted lone OF character
patriotism. love OF liberty and indomita
BILE determination which placed then
foremost in the advance Of civilization
aud march westward. 10 too well recorded
and known to need any reference at thii
time. Their descendants are justly PROUD
Of their ancestry. and the blooI OF thu
Pilgrim Fathers permea,es the veins OIL
the best among true Americans. Theil
sons were the FIRST to shed their blood il
the revolution. at Lexington and Con
cord. and OF Bunker Hill; and on th'
sea they again shed their blood in de
Tense OF the rights Of American sesmeI
against the aggressions Of old England
In the war Of the rebellion theirs wal
the frst blood shed. as they marched
through the streets OF Baltimore q
the defense Of the integrity o
the Union. and wherever the OLE
dag waves in any part OF th'
world the IONS OF the Pilgrims will al
ways be found among its ready and fore
most defenders. Under the sod OF ''Bu
rial Hill " in Old Plymouth lie iu lopl
reposs the bones Of the Foreia,hers. bu'
history and memory still record and EN-
balm their virtues and their deeds. and
their sons are proud Of their heritage.
..rh. p,tyr;m Fathers are At rest.