Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1886-02-11
This and That.

Mr.. EDITOR Some time ago arti-
cles in your paper from our blooming
town Gn the summer time) were quite
numerous, but of late they have been
conspicuous only by their absence. We
would have you know that we are not
all dead yet and that we still dance,
on this mundane sphere, to the music
Of the town clock and perform our daily
vocations more regularly, if possible.
than we did before the advent of that
watchful sentinel in our midst.
Boreas. with his boon companion,
Snow, has descended from the icy re-
gions, and cruelty swept over the hill
clad land Of the Bloomingtonians,
driving some of the shivering natives to
the shelter Of their fre-sides, there to
muse and dream of the outside world
until the ripping of the brooks in the
distant springtime awakes them from
their Rip Van Wrinkle sleep.
Weather prognosticators had told us
that we would have little or no snow
this winter Truly, it came late, but
from the vast somewhere above, it came;
andit has at last calmly, certainly, and
TRANQUILITY taken possession and spread
its white dominion over the universal
North This bridal veil on the face Of
nature signifies days and nights Of
pleasure, fcrgetfulness of toll to the
Christian world, and ] think children
are happier at the sight of the first
snowfall of winter than they are even
at the sweet scent Of the first flowers of
spring. Did you ever watch the SNOW
flakes fall? Each particle is said to be
fairys palace. Some imaginative
and wonderfully learned scholars tell us
that every snowflake is inhabited by
happy little beings who are born, hold
their revels and live their long lives of
happiness and delight, die and are
buried, all during the descent of the
snowflake from the world of clouds to
the solid land | do not know whether
to believe these scholars or not. They
are of that same school that tells you
that every square foot Of air possesses
some ten or twelve million Of more or
less, perfect little beings; and that at
every ordinary breath we destroy mil
lion, more or less, Of these happy lives
The sigh of a healthy lover is supposed
TO swallow up about twenty millions.
They insist that the dust which will,
as all know, accumulate in the most
secure and secret places, is merely the
remains of millions and billions of those
little beings who have died of old age
All this, of course, is mere speculation.
But NC do know that the snow is,
in some parts Of the world, thickly in
hahited. Fresh and very deep snow on
high mountains in Idaho, has been seen
black with little insects called snow
feas, They are said to be as lively as
possible and will blacken your foot
prints after you. walk as fast as you
may. They are infinitely smaller than
the ordinary flea, but exactly the same
in locomotion. Tourists who ascend
Mt. Shasta frequently write of finding
red snow-red snow-feas. These are
found only on the edge of the old snow
and late in theEyear. The snow world is a
world of its own and worth any mans
study, and the most uninteresting part
is certainly not that which we know
least about
The Literary Society," Well it makes
Inc smile to think of the last meeting.
We were all there, and, in fact, great
deal more than all, for there must have
been nearly one hundretandfifty persons
present certainly more than one hun
bred and twenty five. We had special
programme the week before-the
speciality consisting of a lecture by the
president and an admission fee of ten
cents. The lecture was addressed to
young men, and was pronounced ex-
cellent The audience somewhat ex-
ceeded one hundred in number and was
intelligent and appreciative, but it was
surprising to note how many people
stayed at home-presumably on account
Of the ten cents. We also had an I'M
usual programme at the last meeting,
which was as funny as the lecture was
serious, and perhaps as proftless from
an educational standpoint as the lecture
was instructive. That doesn't seem to
be saying much for the last meeting,
but it must be remembered that,
"A little nonsense now and then
Is reshed by the best Of men"
and, that a humorous programme will
d Nv the largest audience most any
where, particularly if the humor can be
obtained for fun The last special
feature was the appearance of an
amateur negro minstrel troupe, consist
ing of two Of our boys and five spright
ly, fun-lovlng young maidens. Bloom
ington has always been noted for it,
pretty damsels, but it is surprising how
much the application Of a little carbon
will enhance the natural beauty 1of q
maiden-how it makes the eyes sparkle
the tempting red lips stand out prom
inently, and the cheeks glisten so tina
you can almost see yourself in EN-.
BARFLEUR.
Montfort Monitor: After brie