Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1881-04-16
OUR VILLAGE.
a Bundle of "reminiscences of an Old
Fashioned Country Community.

Fashioned Country Community.
A few years ago / was accustomed to
pass some of the summer and autumn
months in a quiet town of Westchester
county, n. Y. Quiet, did say? 1t
was remarkably so. Nothing has dis
turbed the dream-like repose of its
people from generation to generation.
They go on living and dying, both con-
ditions being very much alike from
father to son, all of them appearing to
be of about the same age.
The village church is the only scene
of excitement, and this consists of we'd
dings, funerals and revivals, all equally
depressing.
Brother Leeds.ha always shod men,
women and children on the same pat
tern, and Bob Harrington never adopts
improvements in horseshoeing. They
all have ways that are unalterable, and
we who lived among them dropped into
their grooves. We came to believe that
these ways of high antiquity must be
right. When Bob told me that the
bunch on my horses hip denoted a
SPAWN I allowed him to doctor" him
accordingly; and when Bill Rowe the
storekeeper said that my blind dog
would be cured by his liniment l
bought bottle of it from him.
Then there was one favorite occupa-
tion that kept the minds of the people
uncomfortably astir. It was "taking
constant litigation of some sort or other
going on, and Squire johnson, who
lived on the hin overlooking the lake,
was "setting" somewhere all the time,
to the neglect of the business of his
farm. There was scarcely property
enough in the town to attack to any
purpose in lawsuits, but there were
chickens and character. The former
gave rise to suit compared with which
Jarndyce against Jarndyce was nothing.
1t arose originally from the fact that
Jim Ryan "shooed" his neighbor's s
hens away from his garden. This
charge increased to that of shooting
the hens, and this was gradually mag
nified into an assault and battery with
intent to kill the owner of the hens, and
would probably have eliminated in will
full murder if the complainant had not
died a natural death before the termina-
tion of the suit.
We never had any literary entertain
ment in our village. Thought, study
and intellectual progress were totally
suppressed. There was no progress of
any kind in that direction. When an
adventurous interloper dared to suggest
that shade trees along the line of the
,,o1n ,ooI would hoonfifx- ~ ap1 odd ~
the comfort of travellers, everybody was
astonished ut his audacity. "Trees," F"
exclaimed old Yollock, "why should I
set 'em out? I'll never live to see 'em
grow, even if cared about emp "But
your children will see them," urged the
innovator Let 'em plant their own
trees, if they want to-" reioined Yol-
lock: 81 don't believe in tuch stuff !;
trees is meant for pertickler purposes.
Apple trees is meant to bear apples,
ellum trees make good enough wheel
wright work, so does ash and locust !;
oak and pine trees was meant to burn
mp in stoves. Shade trees If divine
Providence had meant TO have things of
that kind, il would ha' sot 'em ont nat
rally on both sides of the road p The
heAt utg 1OlioChy W DS COlShStSut, cut
down for fuel a few struggling willows
that grew near his house, making his
homestead even more desolate in its
appearance than it was before.
They once attempted to start debat-
ing society in our village, but 1 think it
had only one meeting and the question
then was a peculiar one. (Which has
done more harm to the world, liquor or
women?" AS happened to be present
and was called upon by the dominic for
an opinion, 1 endeavored to express it
without giving offence to my neighbors
who were ranged on the opposing sides.
"Good liquor" observed, might be
taken under medical advice without in
juring any one, and good women are
most certainly beneficial. Bad liquor
and bad women are undoubtedly both
injurious" This sentiment was so fav-
orably received that all further debate
on any subject was voted to be unneces-
sary, and the club dissolved.
The Westinghouse was thencefor-
ward the sole place Of assembly and
that for prayer and religious discourse.
On one occasion there was an exhorta-