The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1891-12-04
CORRESPONDENCE.
Our Canadian NeIghbors.

RIVER DAVID, P. O., Nov. 23d, 1891.
Mr.. Editorials sit here in my cosy
Northern home the thought occurred to
me that perhaps few notes on this
French Province, over which the British
flag floats, would not be uninteresting to
your many intelligent readers. 1t is five
years now since left Vermont, with its
lovely hills and grand old mountains,
and as the view rises before my mental
vision, feeling of home sickness comes
over me which requires strong effort of
will power to dispel.
The great contrast between the
two countries, lying beside each
other, with only rail fence or an
imaginary line to separate them, think
is not fully understood except by those
who have left the great Republic and
have come here to reside. This is most
emphatically fiat country. AS far as
the eye can reach you can see one con-
tinuous stretch of sameness, which be-
comes a WEAKNESS to soul and body.
There is nothing to relieve the monotony
except the forests; there is a great deal
of wooded and uncleared land. Apecul-
iarity, and l think and unusual one, is to
see all kinds of soft and hard wood grow
ing out of the same soil. Spruce, pine
and hemlock growing side by side of
hard and soft maple, oak and elm mixed
with ash, yellow and white birch, etc.
In the summer when in full leaf it is a
beautiful sight. There is a scarcity of
wild flowers, and as l ride around the
country [ miss many of my favorites,
such as the golden rod, the purple fall
flowers and many others.
The land here is a blue clay, very pro-
ductive and of tenacious nature, stick
ing closer than brother. The Canadian
HdJitdnt is character different from
any other nationality, and Jean Baptiste
has decidedly primitive notions of living
and farming. The idea of improvement
and progress does not enter in his theory
of domestic economy. And as the
wheels of time has not obliterated the
rut of antiquity in which his forefathers
travelled, nothing short of a revolution
or an earthquake will alter his plodding
course and instill modern ideas In his
Uranium. He is witty, good natured, un-
progressive and easy going, will sit
smoking with his neighbor Jaque, right
in the midst of haying and harvesting,
while his crops are suffering to be har-
vested, as happy as if he had a gold mine
at his feet and good sum in the bank.
His BOnne Femme, is the exact counter
part of himself, and can be seen any day
inside her door, dressed in shOrtlgOwn
and petticoat with moccasins on her feet,
spinning wool on a small wheel such as
orr grandmothers used for spinning fax,
to be woven into cloth and flannel for
the winter use of her family.
The farm houses are not scattered here
as in the States, on account of the farms
being differently located The roads are
called ranges and are numbered, such as
4th range and 18th range. The farms are
usually three acres in width, facing the
road and from thirty to sixty acres in
depth, so it can readily be seen how this
arrangement brings the farm houses in
close proximity to each other. The in
terror of one of these habitations would
drive an American housewife crazy. No
closets or pantry room, simply a board
partition in which is left an opening for
a great oblong two story stove tol warm
the two apartments. These heating ap-
paratuses take stick three full feet long
and the amount of fuel consumed during
long Canadian winter would paralyze
any Yankee of moderate means.
Most of the houses are built fiat on the
ground, the nature of the soil being such
that frost does not heave buildings as on
other side of the border to the south of
us. The roof slopes to the road most
always. If one is built with the gable
facing the highway. it is theI exception
and not the rule. All are whitewashed,
very few being painted. In the front
door yard the clay oven for baking is al
ways to be seen, and the bread baked
there 1 can assure you would not do for
dyspetic. Wherever you see farm
house the inevitable clay oven is there to
stay. 1t is not thing of beauty but to
Baptiste and his wife it is a joy forever.
The architecture is indescribable, and is
certainly more usefnl than ornamental.
/ have just time to touch on the politi-
cal situation. At the present time in the
Dominion, politics are in a state of de-
composition and smell badly. AS they