Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1883-12-22
BUNKER HILL LETTER.
Special Correspondence IsDsrrsDrsr.

my ola goose quill to pen Few thoughts
and glance from my window to catch
the first idea, / discovered that it is
snowing-the first Of the season. hail
1t with delight, not that wish to differ
from my fellow-man, but simply be-
cause it is one of the events Of nature
to which no human being has right to
murmur; neither is 1t in human power
to prevent. When Ihear so much COM
plant, and especially from people who
profess Christianity, against the Di-
vine law Of living God, am sensibly
impressed with their iagratitude and
lack of Christian faith, and am almost
persuaded to believe that we are the
children of Israel still travelling through
the wilderness and murmuring against
the Divine will. | am not surprised (and
indeed am not exempt myself) at men
and women complaining against the
intrigues OF politicians, financial ras-
| calitles, obnoxious laws or the discrep-
| encies and short comings of their fell
| observation-disclosures we all have faults,
and if not innate they are acquired, but
| this is matter among ourselves as
| free agents; yet much of which might
| be overcome by little vigilance over
our own actions. We have plenty of
these old GROWERS, in the latter clause,
among us, and dare say plenty OF
them among you, but those first NAM
ed, as blasphemers off Divine right are
no doubt in the minority, therefore
don't suppose my remarks Will be taken
| as personal in this or any other COM
munity. 1t seems to me that the Amer
lean people are trying to usurp the
right to govern 'sTime,,' and indeed
have succeeded to such extent that
they no doubt will make an effort to
control the seasons. When / was a
boy l think we used calenders, denot-
ing, accurately, by astronomic observa-
tons, the exact time of the rising and
setting of the sun and moon, by which
our clocks and chr0nometers were reg
ulated; but nowadays the sun is ig-
nored as time-keeper, and the rail-
road and other mOnop0lies have asslm-
ed the right to control that important
element, whereas we must be submit
ted to another method Of getting our
time. i have gotten 50 mixed up, that
am almost afraid to yet out OF bed
these cold mornings, for fear I'll be too
late for O'Clock, or too soon for 8
O'Clock. In this dilemma NESTLE down
in my straw pile and let my wife get
out, make fire, hustle around, COM
municate by telephone for the correct
time, and report-then l get up, and
while she feeds the hogs, milks the
cows, chops wood and carries the
water, l have the kettle boiled the
chairs set at table and we are ready to
eat breakfast
The voice from Arden sounds long
and loud upon the road question, and
makes Il very sensible racket. think.
Yet don't know everything in fact !
know but very little, but what puzzles
nae is where are we going to get hands
to work the roads. We had Il few ia
our district until they made overseers
out.of them, and part of our roads were
getting tolerably good, but now they
are all commissioned officers, and you
know an officer is not going to disgrace
ms position by working on the road, be-
sides 1t takes all the money to pay them.
Now Is the accepted time to offer to the
aspiring woman the right OF suffrage,
and just as soon as she casts her first
vote she will be in the line Of promo
ton for a road hand. Wehaye enough
overseers In the county to insure the
much abused women that privilege.
and they will no doubt vote freely in Or
der to sustain the measure, and hold
their honorable and lucrative position.
The thing may be all right when view
ed In Its proper light, but IL is not q
popular move the way our people look
at 1t. For my part am an advocate to
impose sufhcient tax TO pay for the
work, and then we will get more work
done, and have better roads. But
enough Of this, the road from the
poor house to the Commissary
department is good enough for me-
that's all the road travel.
! notice that q great many people,,
who manifest little pride in having
nice stock are giving some enormous
weights for hogs. Mr.. Kennedy's 7S0 Id
shoat caps the climax. i suppose that
was his gross weight and noiliin. said
about his age. NowI would not pre-
tend to doubt any mans word, especial
~ when his figures come within the
bounds OF reason, AMI i Claim that
there Is nothing unreasonable or even
surprising about Mr. KS hog-because
l suspect he has had ample time, and
every advantage to make IA hog. besides
being OF very thriving and heavy
breed. am also in the hog business,
and desire TO tell you Of one that own.
He Is OF the dwarf species, anu | think
was born during the fast OF DR.. Tanner,
at least he partahes OF the scientific
freak which that famed man did for the
benefit Of science. We all know what
Tanner made out OF it-but we must
wait, and see what my hog is going to
do. He is lynx-eyed, and has the ex-
traordinary capacity OF seeing the four
points OF the compass at once, his fine-
ly pointed snOut would make an excel
lent tooth-pic, his silken bristles resem-
BILE the prickly horns of the sun-fish,
and his ears remind me OF rabbit IN
position when pressed by an enemy
altogether he is a hog that is calculated
to win not0riety some time in the near
future. He seems to delight in his firm
refusal to eat anything offer him. I
have offered him some OF the most