The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1886-08-07
RcminIscenc-, Of s1oshuse1ah
Bill Nye an Boston Globe.

/
| Bill Nye an Boston Globe.
A reference to Methuselah at recent
public dinner has awakened in my mind
many recollections and "reminiscences
of this grand old man. We first meet
Methuselah in the capacity of son. At
the age of sixty-fve Enoch arose one
night and telephoned his family physi-
clan to come over and meet Methuse-
lah. Day at last dawned on Enoch's S
happy home and its first red rays lit up
the still redder surface of the little
stranger. For 800 years Enoch and
Methuselah logged along together in
the capacity of father and son. Then
Enoch was suddenly cut down. 1t was
at this time that little Methuselah first
realized what it was to be an orphan.
He could not understand why Enoch,
with no inherited disease, should be
shufled out at the age of 365 years.
Methuselah now cast about him for
some occupation which would take up
his attention and assuage his wild, pas
sionate grief over the loss of his father.
He entered into the walks of men and
learned their ways. 1t was at this time
that he learned the pernicious habit of
using tobacco. We cannot wonder at
it when we remember that he was now
fatherless. He was at the mercy of the
coarse, rough world. Possibly he learn
ed to use tobacco when he went away
to attend business college after the
death of his father. Be that as it may,
the noxious weed certainly hastened his
death, for 600 years after this we find
him a corpse!
Death is ever surprise, even at the
end of long illness and after a ripe
old age. To those who are near it seems
abrupt; SO to his grandchildren, some
of whom survived him, his children
having died Of old age, the death of
Methuselah came like a thunderbolt
FROM clear sky.
Methuselah succeeded in cording up
more of record, such as it was, than
any other man of whom history informs
IS. Time, the tomb builder and anna
front yard and looked at Methuselah,
and ran his thumb over the jagged edge
of his scythe, and went away whistling
low refrain.
He kept up this refrain business for
nearly ten centuries, while Methuselah
continued to stand out amid the general
wreck of men and nations.
Even as the young, strong mower 60
ing forth with his mower for to NOW
spareth the tall and digni6ed drab hor-
nets nest and passeth by on the outer
side, so Time, with his Waterbury hour
glass and his overworked hay knife over
his shoulder, and his long Mormon
whiskers and his high, sleek dome of
thought, with its gray lambrequin Of
hair around the base of it, moved all
around Methuselah and then passed on
Methuselah decorated the graves of
|those who perished in dozen different
wars. He did not enlist himself, for
over 900 years of his life he was exempt.
He would 60 to the enlisting place sGn1d and
tell him to 60 home and encourage his
grandchildren to 60. Then Methuse-
lah would sit around Noah's front steps,
and smoke and criticise the conduct of
the war, also the conduct of the enemy.
1t is said of Methuselah that he never
was the same man after his son Lamech
died. He was greatly attached to La
mech, and when he woke up one night
to find his son purple in the face with
membraneous Group, he could hardly
realize that he might lose him. The
idea of losing boy who had just round
ed the glorious morn of his 777th year,
had never occurred to him. But death
loves shining mark. he garnered little
Lammie and left Methuselah to moan
and mourn on for couple more cen
turies without him.
Methuselah finally got so that he
couldn't sleep any after 4 O'Clock in
the morning, and he didn't see how
any one else could. The older he got,
and the less valuable his time became,
the earlier he would rise so that he could
| get an early start. AS the centuries
filed slowly by, and Methuselah got
where all he had to do was to schuffie
into his loose fitting clothes, and rest
his gums on the top of large sleek
headed cane and mutter up the chin
ney, and then groan and extricate him
self from his clothes again and retire
He rose earlier and earlier in the morn
ing, and muttered more and more abou
the young folks sleeping away the bes
part Of the day, and said he had ne
doubt but that sleeping and snoring til
breakfast time helped to carry off Lam
But one day old Father Time came
along with a new scythe, and he drew
the milestone across it few times, anC
rolled the sleeves of his red flannel un
dergarment up over his warty elbows
and Mr.. Methuselah passed on to tina
undiscovered country with a ripe ex
perience and long, clean record.
We can almost fancy how the physi
clans, who had disagreed about his cas-
all the way through, came and insisted
on a post-mortem examination to prov
which was right and what was really tn
matter with him. We can imagine HOY
people went by shaking their heads ant
regretting that Methuselah should hav
tampered with tobacco when he kneV
! that it affected his heart.
But he is gone. He lived to see hi
own promissory notes rise, flourish, ae
quire interest, pine away at last, an
finally outlaw. He acquired a larg
farm in the very heart of the count
9 seat, and refused to move it or plot
, and call it Methuselah's S addition. H
. came out in spring regularly for &c
: years after he got too old to work OF
his poll tax on the road, and put in h
time telling the rising generation no