The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1881-10-14
ccllanenus.
A Drive i'm Hartford County.

one morning to accept the invitation of our
kind host to drive to Havre de Grace. Our
way lay among the hills which were crowned
by waving cornfields and thrifty orchards,
tempting us with their wealth of luscious
peaches, never more inviting than now when
the ominous words "the peach crop is fail
ure," greets us on every side. The high
price of this much priced gift of the Summer
before we left home had convinced us of the
truth of this assertion, now it seemed hard to
believe.
But soon the fair fruit was forgotten as we
gazed on the beauties spread out for us by
mother nature. To the right, a broad land
scape, with ever and anon a glimpse of the
Chesapeake, its surface dotted with little ISL
ands, so green, cool and inviting; with the
light mist that lay above them we half be-
lieved at last before us lay the enchanted isles
of our day dreams. To the left, the forest
giants guarded well the way. Here beauty
reigned in every nook and glanced from
every spike of golden rod
The four miles scarcely seemed one, when
reaching the summit of the last hill Havre de
Grace appeared in the valley below A love
lier little city one can hardly hope to find
Situated at the mouth of the Susquehanna, it
has the Chesapeake also for boundary. Its
founders must have been men of broad views
and generous impulses as well as fine taste,
for the houses, even the oldest, have home
like look, while many are commodous, with
all modern improvements. There are four
large, well-built churches. Most of the
streets are broad enough to allow wide
grass plot between the carriage-way and the
sidewalk, while flowers bloom on every side.
The towns general appearance reminds one
of New England village, but cross the
threshold of its homes and the greetings that
await you could only come from Marylanders.
Passing through the town en- route North
ward one can form no idea of its beauty. Its
population of three thousand is busy and
prosperous. In the midst of fertile district
1t is at all times supplied with an abundance
offrut and vegetables this has led to the es-
tablishment of two large canning houses, one
belonging to a Baltimore firm. The Tide
water Canal terminating here makes it the
depot of considerable trade in lumber The
fisheries are very profitable; nice little for
tunes are constantly being accumulated by
persons engaged in this business. Ship re-
pairing is extensively carried on and a visit
to the yard is interesting. Near the shipyard
is the lighthouse, a neat and substantial
structure We could not look upon it with
out recalling the gallant defence of the town
made by ONeale, just at this point, during
the assault under Admiral Cockburn in 1918.
The enemy approached in nineteen barges.
O'Neale manned a battery himself and kept
up hot fire upon them until wounded in
the Leg then he continued the fight with two
muskets, which he loaded and fired until cap
tured. They were about to hang him as
British subject found in arms but hearing
the Americans intended to execute two of
the British prisoners in reprisal they con-
cludcd to forbear and keep him as prisoner
of war. All honor to this noble Irishman
who showed so concusively his love for his
adopted country. This gallant act reminds
us of little incident which occurred at the
same time in one of the homes of Havre de
Grace. The family of another Irish gentle
man was seated at table when the cry "The
British The British y resounded through
the streets. All fled to the shelter of the
shrubbery in the back garden save one guest,
the sster-in-law of the gentlemen, little
Quakeress; she quickly commenced to gath
er in her apron such valuables as were at
hand Just az she was about to depart some
"red-coats" entered the room and babe her
pass over to them the silver which she had
secured. She declined; as they advanced to-
wards her she seized the heavy silver teapot
with its boiling contents, and standing on
tp-toe, for she was tiny little lady,
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tempted to touch her or her treasures Fol-
lowing the example of their doughty COM
mander-Admiral Cockburn, who never car
ed to attack those prepared to defend them
selves-these brave men, who made war on
women and children, turned away and left
the house, while the little Quakeress with a
quiet smile proceeded to deposit the contents
of her apron in safe hiding place. Cour,
ageous little woman, you were worthy to live
in the age which produced O'Neale
Having taken n look at the Park, which is
as yet scarcely more than beautiful garden,
with fine possibilities for the future, we turned
old Charley's head homeward, and taking
another route passed into the Second district,
which is very fertile and the great canning
centre of the State and county. Soon we
came to the fields of Cyrus Osborne &
Sons, near Aberdeen, who are the largest
land owners in this neighborhood. These
gentlemen, like most of the farmers in this
section, have canning houses on their farms.
Mr. Henry A. Osborne has one hundred and
fifty acres in sugar corn and puts up at his
factory about eight thousand cans day.
We had been invited to witness the process,
and stopped therefore at the factory of
Messrs. Cyrus and Charles Osborne. We
had been warned that one must not be so
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wished to enjoy canned vegetables but curl
osity and a secret belief that they who pre-
sumed to condemn had never witnessed it
themselves made us the more determined to
go, see and then conquer our aversions, if
necessary. Outside in the shade were little
groups of men, women and children with
just enough of the Bohemian about them to
suggest gypsy camp. They were preparing
the peaches and did not appear to be work
ing very hard. Within all was hurry, the
twenty-five hands moving hither and thith-
er rapidly. At the long table young girls
with nimbe fingers filled the cans with
peaches, passing them to Others who put
them in tub ofsweetened water. Next they
appeared on the other side of the room,
where the capper quickly fastened the caps,
making at the same time tiny hole in the
centre of the top. He works with such ce-
lerity that he can cap three thousand cans OF
peaches or five thousand cans of corn in a
day, the corn being put up in smaller cans
They are now ready for the tester. Arranged
in crate, which holds sixty-three cans, they
are let down into tank OF boiling water, the
water reaching but not covering the top
Here they must remain for three minutes
Then, if the cans are perfectly secure and the
air all exhausted, they are lifted out and the
Upper with great dexterity fastens the little
opening left by the capper, He can tip