Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1881-08-18

Ono of the romantic episodes q two
weeks stay 1t Michigan summer 70.
sort = going berrying. Mature has been
pleased to establish cklebsrry swamp
or blackberry patch within three mile3
of every village, lake, bay or grove II
the State which claims to be . summer
resort. The excursion 10 the swamp u
the idea either Of an old 6end who wants
the whole hotel 10 himself for the day,
or else Of some romantic young lady who
doesn't know . huckleberry from .
pumpkin. The party start very early II
the morning to avoid the heat, and they
walk in order to gather bouquets. Also,
in order to fall over roots, plunge over
rotten logs, wrestle with nettles and
drop into concealed holes and boys.
The theological student from Kalamazoo
says something about mosquitoes, and
receives o reprimand that chills his soul.
A bachelor from Canada turns back
after having one eye raked out by .
limb, and the excursion votes to cut his
acquaintance. A grocer from Saginaw
gets mired in swamp, and sly hints are
thrown out that he came along with In
tent to spoil the excursion. The swamp
is never nearer than three miles, and
the route invariably includes three old
slashings, half q dozen thickets, three
brush fences, two creeks, two swamps
and COW with bell on. There 10 Al
ways q geologist in the party, and when
he calls o swamp-ash tree o Eastwood II
10 in tone which admits of no dispute.
The ornithologist points TO o blue-jay
searching for his breakfast and informs
the excursion that wood peckers live to
be fifteen years old and are of . retiring
disposition. The botanist digs up Q lond
wild-tulip root and parcels It out undet
the name of sarsaparilla, and there are
loud burts Of applause rs the forest sud-
denly opens and admits o landscape
composed of q log school house, o yoke
of oxen and . small boy with the brim
of his nat chewed of by mosquitoes.
The swamp is generally reached by
noon, and the first thing in order is to
sit down in the brush and eat some
mashed pickles, crumbled cake, rancid
bread and butter and fuzzy looking corn
beef put up in the hotel dining room.
With one seasons experience an intelli-
gent excursionist can separate lunch
con from the flies and mosquitoes and
pass the latter to the fat woman from
Grand Rapids, who thinks 1t would be
just too sweet for anything to live In .
cave with q Dear.
A huckleberry swamp need not neces-
sarily contain any huckleberries, but
most of them contain from three to FIVE.
They are reached after . push through
. thicket, q wade through swamp and
a climb over n windfall. Sometimes
they are hundred rods apart, but are
generally found in close company In the
vicinity of . good place for snakes.
Having secured the from three TO FIVE
berries and placed each one In ten
quart pail or a peck basket, the grocer
from Saginaw suddenly inquiries what
Internal fool invented this picnicp The
theological student braces up at this and
charges the fat woman with having
lured him to destruction. She retaliates
by calling the blonde school-teacher
from Chicago romantic fool, and by
the time it gets around to the botanist he
struggles up out of the windfall and Of
fers to knock the biologists head of for
the small sum of a nickle, and give him
six months credit at that. When the
excursion gets back to tho hotel they
meet the band who went out TO see the
hidden lake, and found only dead
mule; the band who went to the seas
cades" and found nothing but q mud
hole with q turtle on a log; and the
choice few who sneaked off after trout
and found boy who had heard another
boy say that he had seen creek with q
"shiner'' in il somewhere in the next
county. Then all il JOY and peace, ev-
erything is forgiven, and rs the sun
goes down everybody takes q seat on
the veranda and lies like n trooper about
his weight, appetite and comfort, and
declares that he already feels twenty
years younger.-Detroit Free Press.