Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1888-01-05
ANIMATED BARRELS.


looking and woebegone appearing
country 10 be found in Southwestern
Massachusetts,. not even excepting tn,
sandy dunes and cranberry swamps o
Cape Cod. is TO be found in that Ions
waste of territory lying between the
| boundaries OF Taunton. New Bedford
and Middleboro, and much the larges
part of which is within the confines o.
the township of Freetown. But this i:
just the town where people live to be
| from eighty. ninety and ninety-fivt
years old, scores of them. A canvas.
of the town would disclose an average
OF one person over seventy years old tc
every third house. and an average of d
person of eighty or over to every
twenty houses throughout large por.
| ton of the town.
In low. oid-fashioued farmhouse
| on the Assonet road dwells the patri-
arch OF all this community of aged
people, Ennis Hathaway, the man who
enjoys the distinction of being the oldest
inhabitant i'll town where old age
| codnts for a good deal. He was
born in FreetowE. in house near by
where he now Gves with his son, on
March II, 1897. Gray-haircd, with a
pinched and wrinkled face, the old vet
eran sits in his chimney corner by the
window and tells stories of his younger
days, and Of the changes that time
has wrought within the span of
nearly a century of his recollec-
tons. He dwells with special liking
upon the stormy times of the war of
1872. in which he was private and of
which he is n pensioner. He was at
tached 10 the ''coast guard stationed
at Fort Phoenix. in Fairhaven, when
his comrades sighted in the offing the
British privateer Nimrod. that was
known to have been prowling abent in
neighboring waters for several days.
The guardsmen took a schooner from
the dock. loaded her with empty bar
rels. covering over the decks and
matches in imitation of u vessel bound
to sea loSded with ordinary freight in
barrels. 1n each barrel u guardsman
was stationed. Then, apparently
shOrthanded, the schooner sailed quiet
ly out into tie bay. baking course out
toward the psivateer that lay ut anchor
outside. Down she bore on the pri-
vateer. whose men had never suspi-
cion of the tricA, and sll at once, when
close alongside, the barrels turned
over all ut one tame OH the deck of the
and fierce round of shot
taking the privatoersmaa by surprise.
forced shen to sUsrendeu- before they
n 9x1 a efsausS-fs tn rally
another experience ir whish Mr..
youag n,aRdse,Od was when he Skipped
in schceser froms Assoaet for the
South. and was casa awaY off; Cape
Hatteras:. BE final& reached lrSti.
after long exposure, more dead t&san
alive. Willis. in the 3<nlth, at SarSn-
nah, hc;. witiF several other Northern
ers working ut or near the city. vasss
drafted to. fights the IisS4 Sans but they
had heard stories of hsrd usage. and
%. fight " foe. chat was NO PARTICULAR
fs,c of theirs. they deserted. Wis Nzas-
recnEls with gunt guste.
The olGi rnanz rs slightly losing Iris
raind, but-otherzxise his senses are, APP
pnrently anirupsiie<i. HIS sigl4j hear
ing: sense OFF s4Ee5t- and 0sNch seem to-
be as gootE as those of haRf the men Of
SIXTY to seventy years cSi age whom
one mighG selee6 at r1ssiogsEs. His
strength is failing and he.olm NOT en-
ees: himself much il. walk tsy ab<ssFt the
hSuse withossti frequently sbDppsng. to
rsst; He says -thsE he has used tobacco
aahis life, beth fae smoking and chew
ing and. willie .he-c3Oes non see that it
has, done lsii4f any harm. neitherrdoeS
he- see that its has>keen of any help To
hin. beyond the. great ccNAfort iss has
been to hine- and It's assistance in PASS
ing away many. dull hours He has
used very little. liquor irss all lisslifs-
except for medicine. and then rarely
and sparin ely. as be has hod:very little
sickness. Hh atAtibutes has, great age
as largely owing to his coming OF
race. His father. Joseph
lived - the age of ninety
two years. and his sister. who died. last
year aged ninetE-five years. was for
several years the eldest resident eli the
town whese. she lived. Added to. the
natural keirdiho0d of his raoe he at
tributes his age to his sinple mode of
living in the country. He was, engaged
in out-o1-ioor labor rs a carpenter and
farmer she larger portion of his years.
although he learned the eabineo-mak-
er's trade and worked as it for . num-
Der of years This kind of labor,
added 80 temperate habits, and taking
good care of himself in a general way.
he thinks has led to his living to his
ripe old age.-BoSto,s GLOBE.
Mr.. Greeley's Mistake.-One even
ing an associate editor of the Tribune
accosted Mr.. Greeley as he came to his
desk with some such question as thiss
Didn't you know, Mir. Greeley. that