The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1880-10-01
erhe Pennsylyania MountaIns.

i The doctor. therefore, with the two
tadies, took passage for Harrisburg.
They were equipped for the mountains,
with valises, short flannel dresses,
waterproofs, a pound or two of good
tea and tin pot. The doctor carried
gun, fshing-tackle and flask OF Scotch
whisky. which was his one catholic
remedy In the woods for cuts, fevers,
colds or rattlesnake bites.
At Harrisburg they took the Niagara
express to Lock Haven, cheerful little
lumber town lying high among the hills,
where they spent the night. Early in
the morning the doctor called Sarah TO
the window Of the inn parlor.
"Thereis my old friend, Hoeven with
the spring wagon. / wrote for him to
among the Nittany mountains"
81 am afraid this Is civilized
wilderness to which you are taking us,
DOCTOR" said Sarah. mo cabinet
makers adorned our Virginia Canaan"
"Oh, the Pennsylvania spurs of the
Alleghanies are tame compared with
those of Virginia or the Carolinas. The
very hills are leveled on top, you will
observe, as il some ancient Dutch Cog
OF Magog had set his broad foot on
every peak, flattening them down. Elk
and Mexican counties are tolerably
savage, but even there the yellow farm
houses with green shutters and the big
barn are beginning to show themselves.
A. few deer, bear and foxes still hide UP
in the Businesses of the hills to which we
are going, but they are fast disappear
ing. There are no wolves nor panthers,
such as we shall find in the higher
ranges of the Appalachian mountains in
North Carolina and West Virginia.
Every county in Pennsylvania is yoked
down to civilization by pike and toll
taxes"
I'm very glad to hear it," exclaimed
his wife. And what society shall we
find, GeorgeP"
You will not have chance to study
my of the picturesque phases of human
nature, OF which you are fond, I'm
afraid, my dear" said the doctor
anAlousIy. PLENTY of bear-hunters
and moonshiners in North Carolina.
But the Dutch or Scotch-Irish farmer
has taken possession of the most solitary
recesses in the Pennsylvania noun
tains outside of the mining districts.
His wife has her patent churn and
wringer, her parlor with hair-cloth
chairs, and photograph album on the
table; his boy is at some cheap local
college, and his daughter Grapes her
calico polonaise by the latest fashion in
the Bear"
But what kind of society is therep"
demanded his wife, impatiently.
"There is church twice n month, sew
ing bees. and apple-butter STRINGS.
The older women seldom leave their
kitchens except to go to church: The
wife OF near Pennsylvania hill farmer
ia parhana tho hurfipct-rvOrRod Er;p ~
being in the United States. But as for
the girls, schools and magazines, and a
day or two at the Exposition in 1875,
have leavened the young people. The
girl does not make as good butter as her
mother, but she works tides and deco
rates pickle jars. She has her lover, OF
course. He does not bring her flowers
or opera tickets, but leg OF mutton
weekly from the sheep his folks have
killed. But there is rs fine an aroma OF
love in it as in the costliest bouquet"
Don't talk such nonsense to Sarah"
said Mrs. Muiock, sharply. "What did
we come to these mountains for, won
derp II only to study vulgar love-mak-
ing and tawdry apings of fashion, we
need not have left New York"
I'VE are going to study nature, and /
am taking you 10 Centre and Clinton
counties, my dear" said the doctor,
meekly, because the mountains there,
though lower than Others in the range,
are more precipitous and picturesque
than any in the State. / can show you
there in miniature the peculiar features
Of Californian scenery; the same effects
of volcanic action on the hills, the great
sand deposits, and the canons. "-Rebeccd
Harding Davis, IN Hdrper's Magazine.