Connecticut western news., 1883-09-19
Our Cornwall Letter.

Our Cornwall Better.
 CORNWALL, Litchfeld county. "The great Creator, from his bounteous store
 Cast Cornwall into heaps; and did no more.'
 So said President Dwight of Yale col lege, when first he rode over the hills i. and mountains and along the deep gorges of this stony and rocky, but goodly town. Standing on the summit of Cream Hill-from whence in clear day the highest peaks of the Catskills can be seen-one beholds on every hand, as the most prominent feature. mountains and hills of every shape, of varying altitude, all-in this glorious month of July-clothed in the richest verdure. Heaps indeed, all around and everywhere, but heaps of surpassing beauty, clothed in their qdeenly dress. Descending from that lookout by a steep road, running northwest two miles, we find ourselves in the narrow Housatonic valley when the river of that name, winding between mountains on either hand, pushes its rapid course towards the sound, dividing Cornwall from Sharon on the west. Proceeding south along this valley, with the river on our right and steep hills and noun tains on our left, we cross numerous brooks which, after winding their bab- bling way through the gorges of these Cornwall heaps, discharge their clear, bright, flashing waters into the princi- pal stream. The ascent from this valley and river, which mark the entire border of this town, to the ground height of the land is some two miles and by three or four different roads. As you go up, farm houses, mostly painted white and nearly all of them indicating thrift, ap- pear here and there, wherever the ground is little less steep. Thus in- tense labos in digging and blasting con tinued for hundred years, has suc- ceeded at last Tn creating little oases of meadow and pasture. But the higher ground reached, the parts known as Cream Hill and North Cornwall pre- sent scene of beauty l have never seen surpassed. Meadows, which the labor of six generations has at length freed from rocks and stones; pastures which, though still intensely rocky af- | ford the most nutritious grasses, small fields of corn, oats, rye and potatoes, all made fourishing by careful and judi cious culture, combine to present 8 scene whose varied charms defy the best efforts of pen or pencil to describe. | DAIRYING.
 This is the grand business of all these | farmers. These hills and mountains these heaps of President Dwight flow with naizt, if not with honey. inspect ed beautiful herd of twenty five mich COWS, every one with name of her own I cannot give the amount of the daily yield, but 1t is large. It is packed in the dairy house, which stands over 8 large, cold spring, in glass bottles of one or two quarts each, and sent to the city, when full bottle is given to each customer and the empty one taken in. Several other adjoining farmers send their milk to this one to be treated Tn the same way. Others pursue differ ent method But in some way, ,dalrylng is the business of all Cornwall Every thing else is made to subserye and pro- mote this industry.
 THE PEOPLE.
 As yet the good old puritan stock is in the as cendant To some extent there are German and Irish laborers in the field, and German and Irish girls in the kitchen and dairy-houses. Rut these helpers are helpers and not slaves. They are treated as members of the family. They attend the family wor- ship. They read the Bible with the children. They go to the same church They soon come to feel an interest in rhe family and all its concerns. Thus the element at first foreign gradually be- comes assimilated and while the na- tive-born sons and daughters largely emigrate to other portions of our coun- try, these immigrants take their place, and are, to considerable extent, be- coming indentifed with that puritanism which is indigenous to rocky, New Eng land soil. To be sure efforts are made by interested parties to prevent this re- suit; but the process is steadily, though silently, going on in all those families which retain the true puritan creed and practice ssThis is our native land"
 It may be thought I have spoken with undue enthusiasm of these heaps, of President Dwight. But we were born and educated here. As children we played on these rocks, rambled through these gorges, climbed these hills, gath cred straw berries in these meadows and trouted in these brooks, By that road we went to the district school, by that one, to the pond to catch the roach and pickerel and by this one, to the church and Sabbath school We go to the cemetery.
 There are the tembstones of our par ents, our brothers and sisters. We wis 1t the houses of middle-aged men and women who are now bearing the burden : and heat of the day. They are oul nephews and nieces-for our own broth CTS and sisters are all gone. When we left Cornwall, fifty years since, these nephews and nieces were not yet born But they received us with open arms