The Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1885-1886, 1885-11-09
The Ell Of the Year.

The later OclJber with its wealth of
lnveliness, has come and gone, and we
revel in the delights of early November,
which this season comes to us with per.
feet days. and lovely autumn woods, rich
in diversity of colors, like the coat of
Joscph-comcsAtO us with wealth of
fruits, wealth of MONDAY suns, and
morning and evening fogs, and to many.
with wealth of fever and ague also, and a
wealth of rheumatism.
And how different our months of tthe
falling eaf-the sere and yellow leaf
from those of many parts of foreign lands.
Europeans are astonished and am aZed ut
American autumns. In some foreign
land the leaves on the trees never chan &c
color till whole grand forest looks like d
gorgeous bouquet. but the green leaf
slips from lis parent branch and falls uu-
furnished to the ground. But here in
America, before the trees are naked the
woods assume all the hues of diving
dolphin.
This wonderful coloring Of the leaves is
attributed to the peculiarities OF our soil
and climate The chemical elements are
different and of greater variety than in
many European countries. In a chemical
analysis of our autumn leaves they are
found to have absorbed good deal of
iron. Iron is, however, the life of ami.
mails and plants. 1t gives coloring and
beauty and enjoyment to everything.
Take man from whose blood the iron
has almost departed, and you will find
him a melancholy, m0rose, morbid fel>
low, more morose and morbid still, in the
fall and in the spring of the year. In all
the beautiful, rich leaves that we behold
in forest creations and in the flowers OF
the field AMI garden. this most powerful
of all chemical elements is always at work
1t adds to the glory and the grandeur of
the day, and it invigorates and animates
all about us.
Glorious October! Superb November,
What delightful resonance, appealing
to the senses, is awakened when we men,
ton these lovely fall months They
breathe of hope and energy for the future,
and waken glad memories of the past.
Nuttlng days in the forest, cider making
in The orchards. with the welcome smell
of flowers and pippins. rambeaus and
ladybushes; the .boyish shouting
at old, crazy eyed, high. boned Dob>
bin, turning the windlass of the cider
mill; the juicy crush of apples, and the
gushing fluid. Delightful memories,
these But the fact, as well as the mem.
DRY is still within us. We have patent
cider mill, to be sure. But that is not
nearly so romantic and picturesque as the
old wooden one of our boyhood DAYS,
with lis uncouth cogs. And we have
patent apples. too. but they have not the
delightful relish of the Baldwins, and
9fecning, and russets, and gillif1owers of
the DID time. Still, the boys of the pres.
cnt day seem just as jubiant while the
spry pony turns the patent mill, as we
were when crow-bsit Dobbin plotlded
slowly his weary circle only at the crack
of :he whip, taking every chance to idle
when he was not urged to his work.
But welcome season, still, is the fall
of the year to youth. Perhaps he who
is in the October or November of his life
may OF greet the season of decay and
death with equal exultation, for to him it
is both an emblem and a memorial. And
yet, to the old as well az to the Young
the fall brings many blessings and joys,
though they may be ameiorated by the
fading luster of age.