Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1892-08-04


hay for the same purpose.
As stood at the porte cochere Of the
hotel, looking down into the eyes of Q
bright young girl from Tuxedo, who is
here for her fathers asthma, though he
is not here yet, heard, borne across the
beautiful bosom of the Swananoa, the
mellow bray of Marguerite. She came
with famished snort, and Sheridan
some twenty odd miles away was no
where. There was rattle Of tiny hoofs
on the gravel drive, little glad cry of
recognition from the mamma, and the
clay bank mule Marguerite was monkey
ing with what is called the maternal
font.
The reader can readily understand
how the mule Marguerite, by connecting
herself with my palfrey, had hurt me
socially at Kenilworth inn, and how the
young lady who came here to try the
balsam and the healing of the North
Carolina mountains for her fathers
asthma excused herself to get heavier
wrap, thereby intimating that there was
a GOODNESS between us, also that needed
a heavier rap. Anyway, have never
seen her since.
To return to our national roads, it is a
wonder that we have, as Americans, so
long submitted to the savage and danger
ous ruts over which we haul our empty,
wabbly, worn wagons. The reason is,
doubtless, that we generally select our
choicest and densest ass to superintend
the building and repair of our roads, and
in many cities our streets also. He
works on the roads in summer and sits
on the jury in winter. He is generally
a man who is selected because he has
never been outside of the county. He is
noted for his gravity, gloom and the
opacity of his mind.
Another reason is the same that has
been fatal to most all farmer movements,
though started with the most holy and
honest motives, viz, that we farmers
cannot, like the residents Of cities, see
each other every twenty-four hours and
plot against other trades. When we
have done over nineteen hours of work
and another hours wholesome thought
interchange with our calf kindergarten.
we must needs rest in order to be up and
combating with the early bird for the
i'll advised worm.
Still, somehow the foreign peasant in
several European countries, far inferior
to ours otherwise, has q road over which
he hauls o carload as compared with the
silly little convention Jag which we see
SO often here.
am patriotic, had almost said, to a
degree. shot away two solid hours of
fireworks here this year, sent to me by
the manager of Pain, the international
pyrotechnicker and faller of Sebastapol,
Peking, Rome and other cities that had
formed the habit of falling; did it, too,
where the celebration of the Fourth of
July has so long remained unobserved
that the best bird dogs here tried this
year to retrieve the common crackers,
and looked thoroughly ashamed when
they thought they had flushed a three
pound rockes and yet say that, patri-
otic and enterprising as we are in other
things, in education for instance, and
the ambition to havt about eight more
churches than we can support in each
village, together with other real evil
dences of advancement, we have got the
worst country roads that have been per-
mitted since the days when the earth
was vast hot, steaming ball of mud, fit
only for mighty lizard farm.
Some states have by nature delight
full country road. Kentucky was born
with good roads. So were Colorado and
Wyoming. In the very heart of the
Rocky mountains these last two states
have a natural roadbed wherever it is
needed. Forty and fifty miles per day
with an ordinary team is the rule rather
than the exception, while in the spring,
when the frost is coming out of the
ground and the new milk COW is a
burden in th1 land, the rich, deep, black
country road of Iowa and Illinois cannot
be passed even by two-thirds majority.
But what are we to do?
We may laugh over it if we choose.
Some people have wonderful control
over themselves in their grief. Once
there was young man on board our
steamer, coming from Queenstown
homeward bound, who was the life of
the party. When others were i'll and
had gastritis quite a considerably, he
was always our bit of sunshine. He
could tell stories-funny stories-tell
them, too, SO that they sounded like
reading from large leather covered