The Democrat. (Scotland Neck, Halifax Co., N.C.) 1884-1896, 1894-06-21
PLEASTR RES OF
COUNTRY LIFE.
COUNTRY BOY VERSUS CITY BOY.
The Feeling that Came Upon One Du-
ring a Visit to His Boyhood's
Home.

| t0f. 70 CHHffOIe ODSeTTeT.
There is a fascination about the
ocean, not because it is boundless but
because it is free, and frets at all bar
riers and restraints There is charm
too, about the country. There is an
indescribable sweetness In the stiffness
of the forests and a matchless exuber-
ance in experiencing the absence OF
conventionallty and imperious fashion.
1t awakens strange emotions to visit
the scenes of the boyhood after many
years and to feel that you are free and
unhampered once more
There is no pleasure so intense nor
enjoyment so keen as exhibited by
working horse when he realizes that he
has the freedom of large pasture OF a
spacious barnyard He smells the fresh
earth and rolls and wallows upon it IN
ecstatic delight Then with head erect,
tail c,lrled and nostrils distended, he
will snort, squeal, throw his head high
in the air and run recklessly and wild
ly for hours at time. He is young
again, and it would be sin to bride
him at once. It is the remembrance
of his happy and joyful colt days and is
splendid physic Tor the grown-up
horse For the time being at least,
he's not a jaded scrub but spirited,
animated thoroughbred Men as we'll
as animals. also yearn for such glorious
and healthful exercise
A city boy is permitted to hang
around the soda fountains, gaze into
the windows of the candy shops, pick !
up the stubs of half-used cigars and pop
tirecrackers on holidays. There are lots
of fun in these privileges. He is occa-
sionally also favored with the glimpse
of hand-organ and monkey, mill
tarv parade and the visit of circus
but he Is cramped and circumscribed
bv laws, ordinances and regulations.
For instance, there is heavy fine for
tying a tin can to a trembling dogs tail
There is actually a forbidding penalty
for a harmless and innocent amuse-
ment like that. The city yormgster is
a stranger to more than one half OF the
diversions of rural life. The country
lad can catch minnows IN the branch
and green frogs in the pools. He can
go swimming IN the creek every uay In
the summer; he can even steal off oc-
casionally with the little darkeys on
Sunday. He can rob birds nests, fight
yellow Jackets and raid Watermelon
patches in their season. In muscadine
and chinquepin time he wears look
of settled satisfaction. though he may
be tortured by internal aches and pains.
There is occupation in gathering wal
nuts and hickory nuts, twisting rabbits
from hOIlOws and blowing bladders IN
hog-Ei!ling time. His crowning glory
is to break the colt. He often, in SO
dong. breaks limb or his own neck,
but is the happiest boy in the world,
and is the material out of which our
best and greatest men are made. Hot
houses produce exquisite and tender
plants the unkept forests grow the
hardened timber and the giant oaks.
| lately was thrown with the proprie-
tor of a planning mill for a travelling
companion He was rough, blunt and
an unsentimental looking man as one
ever meets He was preparing for a
horseback ride of 40 miles over a lone
" coun tl'y road. He declared he never
she'd tears at a funeral, but that he
loved to get out where no one could
hear him. sing some sad song at the
top of his voice and then cry and wall
about it. He was like some speakers
who are affected by their own voices
and weep over their. own eloquence.
He ended by avowing that he was the
'durndest mixture of business ana SEN
tlment' | ever saw, and | agreed with
him Apropos OF this tendency to give
vent to ones vocal powers in solitary
places. this writer once heard Gen. Bob
Vance singing with stentorian force
and fine expression the familiar song.