Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-05-13
A DAY IN LANCASTER.

BuchRnan--A tmennOnlte Friend of the
Late DR.. Hostetter-Plnnked Shad as
Served Fresh From the susquehanna-
A Long Drive Through a Rich Country
Its Points Of Interest.
TFRoM sTAvF CORRESPONDENT
HARRISBURG. May l2-on Friday three cor
respondents of Pittsburg papers saw a large
section of Lancaster county as the guests of
Hon. E. K. Martin. In the party were also
Representatives Kaufman and Baldwin, of
Lancaster county, and at Columbia Hon. A. J.
Kaufman and Mr.. Robert Conklin we're
added to it. On the return to Lancaster in the
evening the party was joined by Mr.. Bowsman
and Mr.. Messner, who are prominent in the
politics of Eastern Pennsylvania. On arriving
at Lancaster from Harrisburg in the morning
Mr.. Martins guests were taken to his law office
where they were introduced to Congressman
Brosius, Judge Livingston, ex-Chairman Hen
sci and other distinguished citizens The ar
rival of the carriages interrupted this pleasant
feature of the day, and Mr.. Martins guests
after driving to the residence of Mr.. Bowsman,
where refreshments were served were taken to
the grave of Thaddeus Stevens, in little pri-
vate cemetery.
The noble inscription on the simple tomb of
the great apostle of freedom, reciting that, con-
sistent with his life, he preferred interment in
spot where distinctions of race did not in
trude, to more ostentatious resting place has
often made many a. heart swell with pride.
When James g. Blaine visited Lancaster he
was taken to the unadorned resting place of the
great Pennsylvania by Mr.. Martin, and as he
read the inscription his eyes glistened. Taking
the rose from his buttonhole he leaned over the
iron railing and placed it in little niche in the
stone as a tribute to one who reflected more
than honor on his native State. Mr.. Martin
took pains to secure the rose the next morning,
and it is now laid away among his choisest
treasures. His guests gathered violets that
grew near his grave as mementoes.
EIFrom the grave ol Stevens in this little ceme-
terry, owned by family that has not closed it
as resting place against any human being of
any race, the party drove to the residence of
Mr.. Martin, and thence to the former residence
of James Buchanan, Democratic predecessor of
Grover Cleveland in the chair of the Chief Ex-
ecutiVe of the nation. The plain brick struc-
ture, reached by way of long avenue, presents
no particularly attractive features aside from
the memories that necessarily cluster around
it. The settlement of the Mennonites is near
industrious, peculiar and wealthy people is a
shining example of the richness of Lancaster
county. Mr.. Schenk, one of the principal men,
bers of the community. cordially greeted Mr.
Martins guestsIapd talked to them about the
late DR.. Hostetter, with whom he had been in
timately acquainted in his youth. When they
met for the last time both were gray haired
men, and Mr.. Schenk did not at once recognize
his friend of the long ago. "Why, Schenk,"
said the doctor reproachfully, II didn't think
you'd forget me so soon. It's only 35 years
since we last met"
+ Lancastrians are prone to boast that their
county is the garden spot of Pennsylvania, and
their boast is borne out at this season by the
verdure clad fields, giving promise of golden
harVests later on. Substantial and elegant
brick farm houses, surrounded by roomy barns
and other necessary structures add their testi-
mony of prosperity, and the little villages that
dot the county are scenes of peace and plenty.
The ''wayside inns' at many of these are re.
minders of the old-fashioned hostelries of story
books, and many of them look almost as
though taken right out of the pictures and as
mine host comes smiling out to greet the ar
irving guests. followed closely by the hurrying
hostler who attends to the wants of the horses
while the portly innkeeper serves refreshment
to the heated travellers, one almost wonders If
it isn't all pleasant and antique dream from
which one is in great danger of being rudely
awakened. A peculiar feature of nearly all the
villages is that each has two inns, one Demo-
cratic and the other Republican, headquarters
for the countryside.
A planked shad dinner such as is served at
Columbia, is poem in fish. No epicure's
dream can more than approximate it, no pen
can do the subject justice; no tongue can de-
scribe it. Planked shad and an appetite sharp
ened by a long drive through delightful
country are a combination that no enjoyment
this side an epicurean paradise can equal, much
less excel. The Columbia planked shad, fresh
from the Susquehanna, nailed to a smoking
pine plank. broiled thereon before a hot fire.
brought to the table on the wood on which it
was cooked; steaming hot, brown and crisp on
the outer surface; white, juicy and haky just
underneath and clear through, with an in
describably delicate flavor possessed by a shad
cooked in no other way, served with crisp,
green lettuce and Saratoga chips; served in a
cool dining room looking out toward the
broad bosom of the sun-kissed river; gentle
zephyrs playing In and out of the open win
dows, a pleasant jolly, brilliant company, full
of jest and song and story-there is nothing
under the blue skies that can equal it, save
and except more of the same. 1t is revela-
tion.
Chique Point (it is pronounced Chickie) is a
fitting sight to follow close on such an expert
ence. Up and down miles OF the winding
course of the Susquehanna one gazes on Yer-
dant hills cultivated fields and beautiful en-
powered villages, To the left lies Columbia,
and stretched across the river is the bridge
that is said to be the longest covered bridge in
the world. 1t is a successor to the one that was
burned when the rebels appeared on the York
side of the river to keep them from crossing.
1t was the most northern point to which they
penetrated, and after throwing some shells,
which fell harmlessly into the stream, they
turned around and went into the Gettysburg
fight salanga creek empties near here into
the Susquehanna, and it and the promontory
of rock which stands some hundreds of feet
higher than the river, along which it rises
almost perpendicularly, remind the local his
torian of the Chiquesaiunga tribe of Indians
which once had domillon over all the sur
rounding country. Another Lancastrian boast
is that the county line extends to the other side
of the water. and that, while York county is
on the banks of the Susquehanna, the river it.
self is in Lancaster county.
-
A champagne supper in the town Of Lancas-
ter was the closing feature of delightful day.
A song or two, few pleasant speeches. and
then, at II o'clock, farewells and the return
journey to the State capital and to bed-tired
out, but with recollietions that will long re-
main green in the halo of memory.
SIMPSON,
BISHOP BEDELL FAILING.