The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-06-08
PLUMVLLE CHANGE.

Plumville "'foh de wah" was an unin-
teresting little village lying in a remote
valley of New England agricultural dis
| trict. If the soil was thin the rocks were
/ thick-so thick, indeed, that it was grim
joke that shotgun was needed to get the
seed corn into the first and between the
second. Owing to this bedrock the drain
age was poor, and what the drouth 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 monu-
mental pair of crossed poles to bar the en-
trance to the meetin house. And yet these
! natives-New England men and women
/ were not lacking in shrewdness and COM
mon sense. They were simply discouraged.
/ With all their hard labor they never got
! beyond the bare necessities of life. They
! had no amusementS, no expectations no
! hope. The women never had time to sit
/ down, but spent their time cooking and
washing in the kitchens The front room
was always closely shattered, the front
| steps were overgrown with coarse weeds,
and the front gate refused TO open. Every
body came and went by the back door,
| along the narrow, worn footpath. No flow
ers were cultivated, and few varieties of
vegetables. News was old wherfit reached
Plumville, and excited little more interest
than archaeological stories.
Few books were bought, and those few
Of kind in which no rational being could
feel an interest. Games of cards were Ia
booed There could be no social life in SO
sparsely settled region. 1t was 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 toward ''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 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 sentimen-
tally or economically (for he had himself
worn them at two separate ceremonies)
preserved his with care.
In the spring of 1880 old Mr. Elkins fell
sick. His wife had just died, and he had
no children. 1t was an added burden to
the weary neighbors, who felt 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 -ehef was great, therefore,
when somehow or other nephew's widow,
or cousins daughter, appeared as nurse
and housekeeper. She brought zee
with her-a slip of a freckled girl about
sixteen years old, whose name was MiIly
French. Milly assumed the care of the
chickens, MIXED the COW, fed Towser, and
as she came and went about these duties
the neighbors wondered to hear her sing
ing like happy bird. She threw open the
front blinds and let the sunlight sacri-
legiously stream through the windows; she
even set the sacred front door ajar, and sat
on the doorsteps on pleasant afternoons
with her knitting work. If the sunset
were very gorgeous she was seen with idle
hands. The spindling grass was sheared
off so that the gate would swing back
easily.
Its enough to make Mis- Elkins turn in
her grave" said Neighbor Flint.
AS the summer advanced, all uncon-
scious of Plumville etiquette and conven-
tionality, AIilly wandered in the fields
hunting for orchids or took long walks to
of plants, which she industriously trans
planted in the virgin soil of the Elkins
front yard.
"Well, naverp' said Mrs Flint, as she
peeked through an opportune crevice OF
her side window. What won't she do
neXt?"
But Milly watered her honeysuckles,
prOpped up her daisies, put rich loan into
the sandy waste, and was rewarded By
multitudes of blossoms. When the hens
scratched up her treasures she contrived
an inclosure of palings that circumscribed
their operations. By and by she added
trellis for a wild rose bush, and "A long
tent of Irvine for her fluffy wood clematis.
Little by little the small house, unpaint
ed, but tinted a soft, silvery, weather beat
en- gray, began to outline its windows in
bright green, and to throw woodbine gar
lands all over the homely porch. Season
after season went by. Milly now had seeds
and cuttings to give away. She carried
bouquets to the sick, potted a root for
friend, brought jar of mignonette from
Lincoln or received package OF seeds
from florist. 1t thus came TO pass that
every house in Plumville soon boasted a
flower bed and in winter every kitchen
had ut least one window full of petunias
or geraniums, the steam of cooking or
washing causing them to grow wonderful
". Cold frames for pansies were manu-
featured; even Strawberries and asparagus
were attempted. And that these improve
ments might not fail the land about the
house was drained, low branches Topped
off, the sink nozzle extended to a safe dis
tance, till light and air and dryuesS came
10 these denizens Of the kitchen.
You would not have known Plumviile
Why, the shoemaker, who came back to
stay, pretended he had never SCENT before.
1t was rumored that a baker cart would
come over from Lincoln once n week. and
on the strength of it the postmaster cleared
off a shelf and drove six nails in the loose
doorSteps. But this Plumville boom is far
ahead of my story. Long before the flow
erS had begun TO be very common there
Milly French puzzled much over the I'M
used church. One day she got the KEY and
went in. Though il was August, the in
terror was cold and damp, almost like
cellar. Cobwebs hung from the two long
that extended the whole length
of the building Torn hymn books were
lying about and several window panes were
broken. A general air of desolation Der
vaded the place. MilIy sat for a long ume
thinking. Then she walked very
quickly TO Mrs. Flint's, who lived near by.
''Oh, Mrs. Flint, isn't it disgraceful to
have our meeting house shut up'" she cried
on entering.
LA, child! what should it be open fory"
asked Mrs. Flint in amazement
Why, TO have minister. as they do az
Lincoln and everywhere else but Just here
in Plumville."
There's no use talkin. Milly; we haven't
any money. nor any public spirit"
.'If YOU'LL helm me LII have that church