The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1886-12-17

ruB poYuOoD or j, II. THROW
BRIDGE,


ny WILLIAM II RIDEINd,
Copyrighted 1856
If anyone has succeeded in represent
inc The average American boy in fiction Il
Is Mr. TroWblidSe, ! do NOT Ike all Of
lila heroep,-they are sometimes too pre-
cocjous, loo aauCy, too spt 10 claim equali'
~ Withtheir elderp, but they are tue 70
| lie. and their faults are Offset by such
virtues 81 courage, intelligence, seIt'Iel!'
arGe and perseverance,,
This bows in come books we know Of
are 40 unreal that 1t does not se8m posi-
hls that the author hss ever been boy
himself; they arc either wild boys or NV
emile MUNICH suHeus. But all Of Mr.. Trow'
brid ge's boys givo us tho effect Of having
been photographed from lie, and theiE
characters.
He does not picture them In marvellous
exploits OIL the Oordilleras, or beating the
record OF Hall and Kane in the Arctic, OF
doing what no boys probably ever did, OK
cept in the imagination. They are ahreWu,
active, hard.wCrkins fellows on the farm
or in the country store, and their struggles
and adyenturesare Just Of that kind which
American boys 20 through elsewhere. A
GOOD reason for this fidelity TO nature IL
thst Mr.. Trowbridge himself was typical
American boy, and the experiences Of hia
own youth are reflected In those Of bis
characters.
ny head with raEe omantcs'--
he saws In ons Of bis poema, He was
familiar in his boyhcOd with the labor oil
tho field, the dIndgery OF the farm, the
lcontcntions OF the district school, aud
tbose aspirations which carry boy up
etalIs when Ills day . work 10 done to study
| by a ruah.lIght or cracked lamp 10 q cold
garrett,
oialIy jack, g Chance for Himself and Do
inr Hls Best contain very fsithiul de-
scTiptions Of tho iRrm.llfe aud ecepes in
which 1 was brought up" he said to me
one day; although you VIII not ind
much Of me personally in thosa stories,
tho kind Of EChOol | sometimes went 10 is
exactly pictured in "Doing His Best, " and
''Peach Hill Farm" where SO much Of
the action takes place, was on hiS fathers
farm.
Iinterepling Gs his stories, aud l shall re-
neat 1t hero in almost the very words no
used in giving II 10 mo.
His father WAS farmer who IN ISL
enigrated from the East to the wilder.
ness Of western New York, making the
Journey in winter with q young wifc, u
little load Of household goods and an OK
Team, Wentern New York was then o
wilderness indeed. There wss only one
house where the city Of Rochester now
stands, and Crossing tho Genesee river on
tho ice, the pioneer settled eight miles
beyond, cut down the trees, built q log
house, and mado a little farm in the
In this log house a boy was born in the
winter Of 1927, and to him was given the
name Of John Townsend Trowbridge,
John Townsend having been q beneiaCsor
Of the father. Ha was not the fret born,
bat the eighth Of nine children, and It is
easy 10 understand there was no eiIyer
spoon for him. lie lived the ordinary
life Of fern boysin this region, and went
10 school ak or seven months OF the year
n1til he was fourteen, alter which time
he went only during the winter terms and
worked Oh the farm oil summer.
Neither silver spoons nor any other lux
uries. we're there, But his mother was a
woman Of refined and de Yotional nature,
and despite the load Of care, his father
WAS a cheerful man, a good musician and
A capital story teller, who when hia stock
Of bear and panther stories had been eN.
hattsted, would sometimes Gmuao his
children by talking 10 them In rhyme.
There were books in the house, too, and
In reading them tho boy escaped the poY'
etty OF his surroundings, and was borne
In Imagination into the wonderland Of the
poets and TomanCoTs.
~ took up the study Of French by my.
self under peculiar disadvantage, having
none Of the books which now render the
acuuinilion OF that language 80 eaBy, aud
learned to read and translate II in tho
chimney corner, before ever EAw per.
con Rho was at oil conyersant, with ~
he tells Us. Then he learned German
and Latin In the game way, and under
the BSmB disadvantages.
A boy who had spirit enough for this
vas sure 10 baVo ambitions, and Rs no
rad Scott, Byron and Moore no had an
Inc xtlnguishAble dePire to write. Though
10 was vigorous and fond Of outdoor
Iporta, he was ely and Teticent, and no
ieyer whcpOred bis dreams even 10 his
most intimate friends. But while he fol,
owed the pillow no planned TOm1nCes and
Composed verses, And at the end Of the
lay stole into some quiet place and wrote
hem out
When he IVES sixteen yoarB old his
ather died, and two yesrD later he went
o Illinois, where he had q sister living Ia
)upsge county. The following year he
aught Echool In the iieishborhood, and
hen no tried farming, though he had no
aSte for II, u0Bpont more time In GhOot.
NJ grouse and hunting deer than In look'
1E after the land, aud his crop was 0
allure. His heart was cot on authorship,
nd nothing DlsO would natisiy him, II.
ayB and poems were dispatched now aud
hen 10 country papSts, and he tagtod tho
ever.lo.bs.iofgottOn eeslacy Of seeing
IL uhtue In print
The Ranefal who has been yictOnon1 In
attic, tho astronomer who has found
aW star, the explorer who leaps upon
h0Ha which HE le0t ntB iitatto touch,
I'D svcn tho poet hiHseli when laurels
70 Thick upon him, does not tgel the eX.
llation which thiobBln tho bog Whs aces
IL eallieot song In pint and blands
NJ tbs. portals Of tho temple
hlOh Cnehtiles those who have enriched
ls world with good booka, /! IL only
ifage, perhaps, but though It fades aud
ayes him far away ltom that plntious
,inpAby, Tor the moment II dAiAles Ills
ait,