Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1888-08-17

"Johrny Appleseed was not, think.
insane and he was certainly not weak
minded lie used to come to my house
when he pas. ID through this part of the
country. He was IL small, why man,
wi thin lips, dark face and long, dark
hair. His eyes were black and sharp and
piercing He had pleasant smile, but
his face was usually sober, and rs to his
dress, it was as fantastic and dilapidated
as You can imagine. 1t was made up of
cast off garments which lie had gotten in
exchange for apple trees or seeds, and he
cared nothing at all for appearances. |
have seen him at times when his chief
garment was a coffee sack with hole at
the top for his head TO pass through and
one al each side tor 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 20 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 Sandusliy gave him
pair Of shoes and forced them upon him.
He started off, walking on the ice. He
few miles away from Sandusly 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 as
| could throw them. | walked in my bare
feet on the ice to Buffalo, and | got along
very comfortably
"As to Johnny Appleseed's hat, con
tinued DR. Bushnell, "he wore any
thing he could get that would cover his
head, and he usually had pasteboard
visor, which he 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 u
part of his life he wore this tin vessel on
his head between times as a hat. 1t was
an ordinary tin pan. He was plain in his
diet, and lis stomach did not trouble him.
He 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 pio-
neers cabin, and rcproved the woman of
the house for wasting Gods food.
che was very kind to ANIMAL, was he
not?'
Yes; he got his seeds in western Penn
sylvania and near Buffalo, and he brought
them to Ohio Oh horses He would take
old, broken down, cast off steeds, feed
them and drive them along with him 10
the east. At tho cider mills be lJo Id
soak the mash Of the cider the refuse IT
the apples in barrels of water, and mo
seeds would fall to the bottom. iIa
would lay them ont to dry, and when he
had gotten about two bushels he would
put them in a bag of leather and load
them on one Of these broken down Lorscs
he often carried one of these bags him.
self uudCr his arm and against his hip,
and Ec would often bring several horse
loads of them on his western journey.
After he was through with the horses liza
woulI turn them loose or give them tn
some pioneer, urging him to be kind to
them.
''As to his own treatment of the animal
creation, | have heard linn express the
greatest regret for having killed snake,
and it is sand that he often put out his
camp fire al night when it attracted the
musqultoes and flies. 1t was near here
that he had his trouble with yellow
jackets nest, the story of which has been
often told. lie was working, | think, vi
one of his orchards when he stepped upon
this colony of yellow jackets. One If
them cIa.lcl up his pants lcg, and, al
though it sung him terribly, he gently
forced it Gpwl, pressing the cloth o.to.
fully in order that hp might not hu"t 1t.
He told the hya andcrs that it would not
DO right to tr,a tho life of the poor thing,
as it did not intend 70 hurt him
"Where did johnny Appleseed come