Connecticut western news., 1880-12-01
A STRANGE FAMILY.
The Notorious Babcocks of Orange
 County, New York.


 A resident of Cornwall, N. Y.. told a reporter of the Sun about a strange fam fly that live in the mountains of tbat neighborhood. He said :-" The Bab- cocks have. been the pests of these noun tains ever since I came here, and that was sixteen years ago. They live en- tirely alone on the hills, and never do any regular work. They are not farm CTS, and though the wild land where they have their homes, just outside the inn proved ground, would give them suffi- cient crops in the summer to support them all the winter, they never raise anything They make splint baskets, and come down. to sell them. They live almost entirely on nuts, which arc @ery plentiful on the hills in the summer, but they make no provision at all for the winter, neglecting even to lay in stock of nuts and fruit, or to supply them selves with wood for burning, which might be had for the cutting. The first frost, therefore, finds them cold and starving, and they go in a body to the Poor Master; but he can do nothing for them, and they are driven back into the mountains to face the winter No doubt many of them die of cold and ex- posture in the terrible season, for, how ever mild winter may be down here, it IS always bitterly cold and stormy up there. Occasionally few of them make their way down through the snow, and beg food and clothing, which they carry up to their friends above In the sum- mer they appear among us again, with their baskets, nuts and berries for sale :; but they never say anything about the way they lived through the winter, and seem to dislike talking about their do- mestic affairs. When one of their num- Der dies in the winter they scrape a hole In the frozen ground and bury the body without any religious formalities. h. deed, they have no religion, and they live like wild animals, without thought of future state. They never send any of their children to school, and, as far as know, not one of them can read or write. Their houses are not worthy to be called by such name. They are built of logs, blanks that they beg or get ln some way or other, bark torn from the trees, mud and leaves. They offer hardly any protection from the wind, and moderately heavy fall of rain or snow penetrates the flimsy roof as though there was no covering there at all. 1t Is common saying among the Cornwall people that when cat gets into 0 Babcock house there is no occasion to open the door to hunt her out. It is only necessary to chase her, and she will speedily find an exit through one of the openings Tn the wall. The houses have no tire-p places, and when fire is to be kindled the occupants about to treat ! themselves to this unwonted luxury simply pile up heap of partially dried wood in the corner, get a light by the South Sea Islander plan of boring hole about half way through a rotten stick, then fitting the point of another stick into the orifice, and twirling the point ed stick around rapidly, by the back ward and forward motion of both hands, until the friction causes the rotten stick first to shoulder and then to burst iLt , a small flame, which i, communicated to 8 piece of paper. When the fire is kindled the smoke Is allowed to escape through the crevices.
 cit Is not thought necessary to go through any marriage ceremony when a Babcock selects his wife, nor have they ever been known to marry out of their own connection. Babcocks form alli- ances with Babcocks, and the children growing up are married to other Bab- cocks. The result of this is apparent. Their faces for the most part bear an ex- pression of semi idiocy, and morally, mentally and intellectually they are all inferior people. They are cowardly to the last degree, and have an aversion to dogs, fear that springs from a brutal practice of some of our people setting their CUTS at them when they go to beg. Years ago 8 man was badly torn by a brute urged to attack him by greater brute still, and from that time, periodi cally, outrages of the same kind have been committed; but the Bubcocks were never known to seek legal redress, and when one of them goes before Justice 1t Is not to ask for a warrant for the ar. rest of another, but to beg piteously fol relief for himself
 "Only once have I heard of Bab 2 cock using an expression that showed that he had the slightest conception o ? social distinctions. The story was tolc to me by MT. Valentine, of Cornwall He said that some years ago, when ole Ike Babcock, the founder of the family was alive, he and party of his guests went up the hills one Sunday morning to visit the settlement, They reached 1t after Q couple of hours of toilsomt and, in some instances, dangerous climb ing. The party stood on the side of { , small hill before a house, and man was lying on the grass near them. Forty , yards away was another hill, on which stood @ woman watching them and lis tening to what they said Mr. Valen tine asked the man if old Ike lived witl him, and the person addressed shook hi
 shaggy head and, without word, point 5 ed toward the house on the other hill. l "Oh,' said MT. Valentine, lookin l doubtfully aero 8 the little valley, 'tha l woman takes care of the old man, doe 2 she 2
 q "The old man raised himself upo f his elbow, and replied angrily: 'Tha