The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1890-10-30
GREELEY'S INITIALS.
Carved in tho Door of an Humble
Village School-House.
where tho Great Editor Learned Iscaaln',
Writin' and Observation-Disclosures Cus-
toms Prevailing in tho Rural Dis
tric.s of Quiet Vermont.

In tho Champaign valley near tho
Vermont shore of the lake lies tho quiet
hamlet of West Haven. This lit.lo viii
lagc, writes New York Tribune CORE
spondcnt, is made up of few farm
houses. an abandoned power mill in u
hollow by the roadside, an inn, known
us Woods Tavern, and the village
school-housc, standing at the junction
of two crossroads. Like many other
villages and farms in Now England,
West Haven has it's feature OF interest.
which is tho little old school-house at
tended by Horace Greeley when he was
boy. When tho fall and winter term
opens somc twenty-five or thirty pupils
are registered on the school-masters
roll-book.
The school-house is = onc-roomeI.
one-storied frame building that has
watched over the Gestinies OF several
generations Here the grandparents of
the village children of to-day learned
"rcadin', writln' and cipherin," and on
the old nail-studded door the aspiring
youth of past generations have carved
their names i'll rude letters, and their
postcrity is fast filling up the remain
ing spaces.
Every thing smaclled of age when the
school-house was seen by the writer
tho well-whittlcd desks and benches
that stretched half way across the room.
leaving only Il narrow aisle that led to
the back row of seats. The walls
blotchcd here and there with glaring new
clapboards and an old jutc bag that took
the place of one of the window-pancs. On
several places wero stuck the ragged
remnants of notices OF town meetings
or lost or stolen" placards In tho cen
ter OF the room WAS an old box stove
full of cracks and contrarincss. and in
one corner near the masters desk was
pile of hard maple logs, sawed three
feet long, for the stove
Among the many names and initials
cut into the school-housc door was one
that arrests attention at once and in
stantly makes the old door the most in
tercsting feature of the room, the
magic charm of which is felt wherever
merit is known and recognized 1t was
the name of n hero who won the love
and admiration OF his countrvmcn by
virtue OF his sterling integrity, the hon
est simplicity of his nature and the
broad reach of his commanding genius.
1t was the name OF Horace Greeley.
At the time the writer visited West
Haven there were people living in the
district who had been his school-mates
ana who delighted in showing to every
newcomer the desk in one corner Of the
room where he sat when boy at school,
and also the road he travelled when he
left his homo to learn tho printers
trade at tho ncighboring village OF
Poultney.
Modern progress seems to have neg
lectcd West Haven. The inhabitants
Still retain all the primitive customs
and traditions of their ancestry. Some
of their methods are exceedingly in
genious, especially in their social gath
erings.
Every other Friday evening an old
man from a neighboring village con-
Quoted singingschool in the school
house. Singing-school night was looked
forward to as the main opportunity
that presented itself to break the dull
monotony Of lonely Vermont winter.
Hero the old folk gathered to exchange
the gossip of the settlement, and here
the love matches of tho year were
the village was privileged 10 show her
preference for her chosen swain for the
first time in public, and here the writer
saw practiccd an ingenious method of
getting out of possibly embarrassing
situation.
II Is the scheme employed by BASH
ful youth to avoid the modification of =
refusal when he offers himself TO girl
as her escort home
lie waits until tho time comes for the
usual ten minutes intcrmission: then.
'auntcrlng up to the girl and
taking huge pound sweet" ap-
pie out Of his pocket, offers
It to her. II She takes it ne is ac-
;cptcd; II not he is refused. But if he has
:omc too late, by reason OF some other
elbow getting ahead OF him, she shows
aim the apple or the core accepted from
he first conner and he then understands
he situation perfectly. Thus commu-
lication has been carried on without q
word having been spoken by either one
IN tho subject. Meanwhile they have
'een chatting about something utterly
orclgn to the matter uppcrmost in
heir minds.
All Vliis can be done so slyly that no
ono Is the wiser and the sting Of n posi-
i've refusal is prevented
Everybody brings their own candle or
amp, and turnip or potato serves as l.
'andlcstick by simply cutting n hole in
which to place the candle.
n Family with an Appetite.
An adrian doctor says that down in
'almyra, Mich, resides family of
seven. Every Monday regularly three
lundrcd-pound hog is butchc rcd and
~ the following Sunday the hor