The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1890-11-05
GREELEY'S INITIALS.
Carved In the Door of an aun,h,o
Village School-Ho' Use.
whore the Great Ed tor Learned Reaarn..
"ritih ana y eaerln'--primitivo Gus
'on' rvaiilng In the Rural Dis
r.cts OF Quiet Vermont.

namlcG OIL NcSt llavcn. This little viii
lage, writes New York Tribune corrc-
spondent is made up of few farm
houses, an abandoned power mill in
hollow by tho roadside, an inn, known
rs Woods Tavern, and tho village
school-houso, standing ut the junction
of two crossroads. Like many other
villages and farms in New England,
West Haven has its feature of interest,
which is the little old school-houso at
tended by Horace Greeley when he was
boy. When the fall and winter term
opens some twenty-five or thirty pupils
arc registered on tho school-master's
roll-bool1.
The school-housc is one-roomcd,
onc-storicd frame building that has
watched over the Gestinics of several
generations Here tho grandparents of
the village children of to-day learned
"readin', writin' and ciphcrin'," and on
the old nail-studdcd door the aspiring
youth of past generations havo carved
their names in rudc letters, and their
postcrity is fast filling up tho remain
ing spaces.
Every thing smackcd Of ago when tho
school-housc was seen by the writer
tho wcll-whittlcd desks and benches
that stretched half way across the room,
leaving only Il narrow aisle that led to
thc back row of seats. The walls
blotchcd here and there with glaring new
clapboards and an old jutc bar that took
The place CT one OF the window-pancs On
several places were stuck the ragged
remnants Oh Notices of town meetings
or lost or stolen placards. In the cen
Ter OF the room WAS an old box stove,
lull OF cracks and contrarincss, and in
ono corner ncar the masters desk was
pic OF hard maple logs, sawed three
feet long, for the stove.
Among the many names and initials
cut into tho school-housc door was one
that arrests attention ut once and in
stantiy makes the old door tho most in
tcrcsting feature Of tho room, tho
magic charm of which is felt wherever
merit is known and recognized. 1t was
the name of hero who won the lovo
and admiration of his countrymcn by
virtue of his sterling integrity, tho hon
est simplicity Of his nature and the
broad reach of his commanding renius
1t was the name OF Horace Greeley.
At tho time the writer visited Wcst
Haven there were people living in tho
district who had been his school-natcs
and who delighted in showing to every
newcomer the desk in one corner Of tho
room where he sat when boy at school,
and also the road he travelled when be
left his homo to learn the prin tcrs
trado at the ncighboring village of
Poultney.
Modern progress seems to have neg
lcctcd West Haven. The inhabitants
! n nj hn
and traditions of their ancestry. Some
of their methods are exceedingly in
genions, especially in their social natb
crings
Every other Friday evening an old
man from neighboring village con-
Quoted singing school in the school
house Singing night was looked
forward TO as the main opportunity
that presented itself to break the dul,
nonotony OF 4 lonely Vermont winter.
Hero the old folk gathered to exchange
the gossip of tho settlement, and here
The love matches of the year wcre
started or completed. Here Il girl of
the village was privileged to show her
preference for her chosen swain for tho
first time i'll public, and here the writer
saw practiced an ingenious method of
getting ont OF possibly embarrassing
situation.
1T Is The scheme employed by Il bash
ful youth to avoid the modification Of =
refusal when he oilers himself TO a Girl
us her escort home.
lie waits until the time comes Tor tho
usual ten minutes intcrmission; then.
sauntcrlng up TO the girl and
taking Il huge pound sweet" an
plo out of his pocket, offers
it to her. If She takes it he is ac-
copied: if not he is refused. But il he has
come too late, by reason OF some other
fellow getting ahead OF him, she shows
him the apple or the core accepted from
the first conner and he thcn understands
the situation perfectly. Thus comnu-
nication has been carried on without 4
word having been spoken by either one
on tho subject. Meanwhile they have
been chatting about something utterly
foreign TO the matter uppermost in
their minds.
All this can be done so slylv that no
one is the wiser and the sting of Il posi-
tive refusal is prevented
Everybody brings their own candle or
lamp, and turnip or potato serves as 4
candlestick by simply cutting holo in
which to place the candle.
a Family with an Appetite.
An Adrian doctor says that down in
Palmyra, Mich, resides family Of
seven. Every Monday regularly u three
hundred-pound hog is butche rcd and