, 1885-11-28
) THE COLONY OF RUGBY.


yi5i no THE COLONY or RUGBY.
3erioas mistakes Of tho Original Settlers
Prr~ent and F~uture-sharp Contrasts.
The colony of Rugby has been in ex-
lstence i've years, and to one accustomed
ID tle marvellous. mushroom-like growth
VI American settlements the first feeling
lral entering 1t is of surprise, for IL is
lp.hing more than a clearing In the
Wilderness with one broad street, upon
which are situate all its important stores
ii dwellings. Comprising at most a
population Of 500 souls, we would hardly
dignity the colony by the name of village,
but the Rugby people, probably looking
more To the possibilities of the future
than to the actualities of the present, can
Il a city The n large general store,
when ia similar places in the United
states Is called n corner grocery, in Rugby
1acpmes the "commissary.n There are no
Ioien conyeniences in the houses, no
gas. 70 lights in the streets, no municipal
or' erl. no policemen, no lawyers, and but
twu P1y sicinns-these last, happily, with
oui tn. practice. The Rugbyans have,
.e- some communication with the
r world in the shape of a telephone.
haye IA church, where the Rev. j. IL.
sluck conducts the Episcopal and
ai.n services.
H%ARDsuIPs OF THB
Many mistakes were made by the orig
nal settlers, but the most serious one Of
all was that OF bringing out the idle and
dissipated sons of English aristocrats, ac-
customed only to a luxurious life in an
"efiete civilization" Not all OF the young
fellows, however, were dissipated aud
idle. There were many among them quite
willing, even eager, TO learn farming and
to adapt themselves to their new mode OF
life, but, though well educated according
10 English ideas, they were wretchedly
educated for the rough and laborious life
Of backwoodsmen. Their training-mental,
moral, and social-had prepared them
for a career totally different from that
of a semi-sayage existence. They knew
nothing of farming, of cattle raising, of
the hard, course toll that all pioneers
have to undergo. There were no capital
lists among the settlers. Some few had
sufficient means to develop the land and
to build a house, but all their money was
needed for cultivation, for the purchase
Of stock, and for maintaining families.
The cost Of living was high, and advanced
with the growth Of immigrants. All food
had to be imported, most Of it from Gin
c%innati, go miles away.
Few of the original settlers of Rugby
were married men, so that, in addition to
their agricultural labor, they were Obliged
TO do their own cooking and all other
household work, because domestic sery-
ants were not then and are not now to be
Ind. Almost all the native women have
their own families to attend to, and can
not therefore be spared to hire out even
should their circumstances make it de-
sirable. or their pride permit il. Many of
the natives are very well-to-do, and, like
Col. Isaac Riseden and his sons, W rich
and highly cultivated farms. Thus it
happens that the bachelors of Rugby are
still obliged to prepare their own food
sweep floors, make beds, and wash dishes,
and they perform their work well and I'M
oornplainingly, quietly accepting it as a
minor hardship of the pioneer life they
have adopted.
RUCBY's PRESENT AMI TUR
Unless there are new accessions, fresh
blood, and some capital introduced into
The colony, it cannot grow into anything
more important than it is at present, and
only the few original settlers that are
lett will derive the benefit of the courage,
perseverance, fortitude, and endurance
OF hardships only equaled by the Pilgrim
AaANAAtANs lAAof hOntNGAF 10 hOL lut ODAH7
ion Of the Rugbyans themselves. They
contend that the worst is not over; that
after five years of experiments with tbs
soil they have found out for what it is
best suited. They say that nature has in
tended the hillsides and sandy slopes OF
Rugby for vineyards, and that with skill
n capital the region might be made into
one of the most famous in the world,
rivaling by its production of vintages
those Of Bordeaux, Burgundy, and Hun
gary, not to mention our OWE wine-pro-
ducing states.
Rugby is IA series of sharp contrasts.
One hour you meet a man wearing a bad
hat, worn pants and cowhide boots,
looking like a rough laborer. The next
hour you pass the same man without
recognizing him until he speaks to you,
because he looks like a London swell, and
it is hard 20 realize that this fair-faced,
elegant young Englishman is the noun
teineer in cowhide boots. Especially on
Sunday It is aus for wonderment, where
all the acknowledgement people come
from. They HE them to church in g~listen-
ing shirt fronts, stand-up collars, silk
neck ties, s%toye-pipe hats, and coats and
p%antaloons of the latest fashionable Lon
don cut, in which great city they look as
II AhNg RAAEhA W bN kOAhk " NAuIIn III
stead Of in this barren place.
Another surprising contrast in the set
Element is that between the outside and
the inside Of their cottages, some of them
being little better than log houses. They
are nearly all furnished in excellent style
and exquisite taste, the furniture, bric-a-
brac, pictures and libraries having been
brought from England. Mrs. Hughes
villa is n notable example of this. She is
the mother Of Tom Hughes and with
her granddaughter, Miss Emma Hughes,
and a few attendants she resides here.
Her sons were settled elsewhere before
Rugby was founded, and cannot now
%relinquish their business to cast their
fortunes with the Rugbyans. Mrs.
Hughes is sc years old, and in full posses
sion of her mental faculties. She Is
slightly built, has II highly intellectual
face crowned by a mass Of snow white
hair, and presents a charming picture Of
beautiful, serene, and dignified old age.
Celia Logan in New York sun.