Morning journal and courier., 1886-10-29
= A CURIOUS FOLK.
Outward and Inward Characteristic
of the Long Island Farmer.

| Outward and Inward Characteristic
of the Long Island Farmer.
| from the New York Commercial Advertiser
| All things else may wax and wane, bu
| not the Long Island farmer. AS lived hi
forefathers so lives he. He is unchanged
| and Interchangeable. GA phlegmatic, conserva
| tive old soul," says the student of human
| nature; "the tightest man on the face of the
| earth," exclaims the land speculator; ''s
| quaint, charming people, living after the
| customs of their forefathers," gushes the
summer visitor. This latter is true
A sharper contrast is nowhere else afford.
ed between the past and present than on
Long Island, the favorite watering place OF
the United States, and at tine same time the
home and heritage of the Long Island far
mer. New Workers are fast getting posses
sion of the island and in proportion are
transforming it; but adjoining their grounds
and villas still stands the old farmhouse
with its weather-beaten, shingled sides; its
double doors and wooden shutters. which are
as securely closed at night as in the days
when the Indians 'lurked around. The old
farmer may count his money by thousands
puG uo W tuo pEllllIlfe ways Ol Liz
ancestors. The old-fashioned shit and miss
carpets, with the breadths overlapping each
other, the mahogany chest of drawers, the
high-post bedstead and the ancient timepiece
still grace the rooms. Every Saturday the
brisk housewife scrubs and sands the floor
and paints the bricks before the fireplace.
The unchanged customs in the farming set
Elements are marvel to visitors. A lady
sixty years old was heard frequently exelaim-
ing: t'Why, that is just the way my mother
did lt!' The progress of tie nineteenth
century is nowhere visible.
The secret of the farmers wealth is hard
work and economy. His money has been
made by fishing and farming. In November
and December he may be seen going "down
ON the NASH to harvest the salt grass that
farmers up in the State would not think
worth cleaning for. The principle that is
apparent here is apparent in all he does, and
has in the course of years brought certain
reward. But money that he has wrung from
fifty years hard toll is not to be foolishly
squandered OF expended without due delibe-
ration. 1t required fifty school meetings in
one place before new school house could be
built. He does not feel the need of these
new and expensive ideas. He made his liv-
ing without them. The schools he attended
are good enough for his children. Conse
quently the little ones come trudging to
school with their "dinner kettles" on their
arms, with no very exalted idea of the aim
of education. One important idea is i'm
pressed upon their minds--hey must learn
to sFcipher." The teachers are live, enthu-
siastic class and are well paid, but this state
of things is not owing to the generosity of
the farmer; another class is leavening the
lump and will ultimately carry the day on
modern improvements. If it depended on
him there would be no churches, no reform
ing agencies, progressive movements of
any kind and if all people were like him
none would be needed. Better, more peace
able, law-abiding citizens cannot be found.
They are these good moral people who seem
to have inherited their goodness from ages
back. An aggressive movement against
wrong is beyond their comprehension. Life
flows on in endless monotony, but it is hap
piness to them.
Their literary recreation is reading the
weekly newspaper, but Canada paper that
could be obtained for twenty-five cents for
six months satisfies them just as well as one
from New York. They are somewhat super
stitious and have great horror of earth
quakes OF anything else likely to disturb their
tranquility. Their aim is to go on just as
they have been going for the past fifty years;
to live slowly and live long; to make money
and save it. They ask for nothing better
than their island home and nothing can ever
induce them to leave it. Death alone brings
change. At a good old age they are gathered
to their fathers whom they followed SO faith
fully on earth