Evening journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1888-1932, 1888-08-10

"Johnnv Appleseed was not, | think,
insane and lie was certainly not weak
minded. lie used to come to my house
when he passed through this part Of the
country. He was q small, wiry man,
with thin lips, dark face and long dark
hair. Ills eyes We're black and sharp and
piercing. lie had a pleasant smile, but
his face was usually sober, and as to his
dress, it was as fantastic and dilapidated
as you can imagine. It was made up of
cast Off garments which he had gotten in
exchange for apple trees or seeds, and he
cared nothing at oil for appearances. /
have seen him at times when his chief
garment was a coffee sack with a hole at
the top for his head to pass through and
one ut each side for his arms.
'IIe never wore shoes except in the
coolest of weather. He said that shoes
hurt his feet, and he could get along bet
ter without them. AT one time | remem-
Der he was at Sandusky, on Lake Erie,
and he wanted to 60 to Buffalo to the cider
mills there for load of apple seeds 1t
was in the depth of winter, and the lake
was frozen over; he was in his bare feet,
and he expected to walk. Some kind
hearted citizens of Sandusky gave him
pair of shoes and forced them uDon him.
He started off walking on the ice. He
told me that by the time he had gotten a
few miles away from Sandnszy he found
his feet very cold, and he concluded it
was the shoes that made them so. In or
/ der to test it he took off one shoe, and
went with one foot bare. i found said
he, that this foot was much warmer
! than the other, and then took off the
other shoe and threw them both as far IS
/ | could throw them / walked in my bare
4 feet on the ice TO Buffalo, and got along
very comfortably
las to Johnny Applcseed's hat, con
tinned DR. Bushnell, The wore any
thing he could get that would cover his
| head, and he usually had a pasteboard
visor, which lie tied over his forehead to
shield his eyes from the sun. He usually
carried a tin vessel along with him, in
which he cooked his mush, and during a
part Of his life he wore this tin vessel on
his head between times as a hat. II was
an ordinary tin pan. He was plain in his
diet, and his stomach did not trouble him.
lie preferred vegetable food to animal,
and he did not believe in wasting any
thing. At one time it is said that he took
some bread out Of a slop bucket at a pic
neer's cabin, and reproved the woman OF
the house for wasting Gods food.
'Ho vas very kind to animals. was he
notY'
Yes; he got his seeds in western Penn
sylvania and near Buffalo, and he brought
them to Ohio on horses. He would take
old broken down, cast off steeds, feeC
them and drive them along with him K
the east. At the cider mills he woulC
J soak the mash of the cider the refuse o,
, the apples, in barrels of water, and tn,
, seeds would fall to the bottom. Ill
. would lay them out to dry, and when IN
had gotten about two bushels he would
nut them in bag of leather and loaS
them on one of these broken down horses
He often carried one of these bags him
self under his arm and against his hip
. and he would often bring several hors
o loads Of them on his western journey
After he was through with the horses Ii
would turn them loose or give them t
some pioneer, urging him to be kind t
them.
sAs to his own treatment of the anima
} creation, / have heard him express til
O greatest regret for having killed a snake
y and it is said that he often put out hi
camp fire at night when it attracted th
mosquitoes and flies. 1t was near her
d. that he had his trouble with a yello'
a Jackets nest, the story of which has bee
/. often told He was working, think, Q
one Of his orchards when he stepped upo
= this colony of yellow jackets. One {
them craYled up his pants leg, and, a
though it stung him terribly, he gentl
forced it down. pressing the cloth car
fully in order that he might not hurt i
, He told the bystanders that it would nc
= be right to take the life Of the poor thing
y as it did not intend to hurt him.
ie s'Where did Johnny Appleseed con
lie FROM I asked.
II ii talked with him about his career
- replied the white haired doctor. IT
" was born, think. IN Massachusetts