River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1892-04-21
WHAT A GIRL DID.
Her Influence for Good in Ancient
Plumville.


Plumville.
Plumville 'foh de wah'' was an inter.
esting little village lying in remote
valley of a New England agricultural
district. If the soil was thin, the
rocks were thick-so thick, indeed.
that it was a grim joke that a shot
gun was needed TO get the seed-eorn
into the first and between the second.
Owing to this bed rock. the drainage
was poor, and what the drought spared,
sudden showers swept away.
All the young men went west. the
old shoemaker had moved away, and
even the minister had departed,
leaving a monumental pair of crossed
poles to bar the entrance tothe meetin'
house. And yet these natives-New
England men and women--were not
lacking in shrewdness and common
sense. They were simply discouraged.
With all their hard labor they never
got beyond the bare necessities of life.
They had no amusement, no expecta-
tions, no hope. The women never had
time to sit down, but spent their days
The front room was always closely
suffered, the front steps were over
grown with coarse weeds, and the
front gate refused TO open. Every-
body came and went by the back door,
along the narrow worn foot-path. No
flowers were cultivated, and few
varieties of vegetables. Ne was old
when it reached Plumvilie, and ex-
cited little more interest than areheo-
logical stories. Few books were
bought, and those few of a kind in
which no rational being could feel an
interest Games of cards were taboOed.
There could be no social life in so
sparsely settled a region. 1t was a
custom for the farmer who had
''arrants" in the village to bring the
occasional newspaper or rare letter for
the inhabitants on his route. So if
Brown saw Smith jogging along to-
wards the Center" he BROWN knew
that on Smiths return an hour or two
later he would find anything the mail
had brought him in his yard, tossed
there by the obliging Smith.
Once a year, perhaps, there would
be a wedding, for in Plumville all
widowers speedily replaced their
first" On these occasions it was
usual to borrow white kids from the
doctor, who had sentimentally or eco
nomically flor he had himself worn
them at two separate ceremonies pre-
served his with care
In the spring of 1850 old Mr. Elkins
fell sick His wife had just died, and he
had no children. 1t was an added
felt that they must do" for the old
man. At the best it was fragmentary
service. and the invalid was alone
many hours out of every twenty-four
The relief was great, therefore, when
somehow or other a nephew'S widow,
or a cousins daughter, appeared as
nurse and housekeeper She brought
a niece with her-a slip of a freckled
girl about sixteen years old, whose
name was Milly French. Milly as
srmed the care of the chickens, MIXED
the COW, fed Towser, and as she came
and went about these duties the neigh
bors wondered TO hear her singing like
a happy bird. She threw open the
front blinds and let the sunlight sac
rilegiol sly stream through the win
dows. She even set the sacred front
door a lar. and sat on the door steps
on pie asant afternoons with her knit
ting work. If the sunset was very
gorgeous she was seen with idle hands.
The spindling grass was sheared off,
SO that the gate would swing back
easily.
1T is enough to make Miss Elkins
turn in her grave, said Neighbor / lint.
As the summer advanced, all uncon-
scious of Plumville etiquette and con-
ventionality, Miliy wandered in the
fields hunting for orchids. or took long
wallis to Bacon's woods, fetching her
bask ct fun of plants, which she indus
triously transplanted in the virgin soil
of the Ell;ins front yard
''Well, neverr' said Mrs Flint as
she peeked through an opportune
crivice of her side window "What
won't she do next?"
But Milly watered her honeysuclles,
propped up her daisies, put rich loan
into the sandy waste, and was re-
warded by multitudes of blossoms.
When the hens scratched up her treas
ures, she contrived an inclosure of
palings that circumscribe6 their opera
tions. By and by she added a trellis
for wild rose bush. and a long tent of
Irvine for her fluffy wood cleIhatis
Little by little the small house, I'M
painted, but tinted a soft, silvery,
weather-beaten gray, began to outline
its windows in bright green, and 10
throw oodbine garlands all over the
honely porch. Season after season
went by. Milly now had seeds and cut
tings togive away. She carried bouquets
to the sick. pottsd a root for friend,
brought jar of mignonette from Lin
coin, or received pac kage of seeds
fro n a florist It thus ca me to pass
that every house IN Plumville soon
boasted a flower bed, and in winter
every kitchen had at least Que window
full Of petunias or geraniums, the
steam Of cooking or washing causing
them to grow wonderfully. Cold frames
for pansies were manufactured; even
straw berries and asparagus were at
&c mpted. And that these improvements
night not fail, the land about the
house was drained, low branches
Topped off. the sink nozzle extended to
safe distance, till light and air and
dryness came to these denizens of the
kitchen.
You would not have known Plum
Vile. Why, the shoemaker, who came
back to stay, pretended he had never
seen it before. 1t was rumored that q
bakers cart would come over from
Lincoln once week, and on the
strength of it the postmaster cleared
off shelf and drove six nails in the
loose doorsteps. But this Plumville
boom is far ahead of my story Long
before the flowers had begun to be
very common there. Milly French puz-
zled much over the unused church
One day she got the key and went in.
Though it was August, the interior
was cold and damp. almost like a cell
lar. Cobwebs hung from the two 10 ny
stovepipes that extended the whole
length of the building Torn hymn
books were lying about, and several
window panes were broken. A general