Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-08-27
IN A PRIMITIVE WAY.
soJouRN IN THE RURAL REGIONS OF
 SOUTHERN MARYLAND.
Where Progres. Peacefully slumbers and Ambition Docs Not Entrr-A Historic chureh-,rueh Fertile IAnd-why There |. So Much roverty-An Easy Life.
Ispeclal CoTrsspondencc.l

queer, old fashioned and out of the way places in North America, these rural re- gions of southern Maryland were lunE the quecrcst nnd most old fashioned '.Hcrc," said tho occasional visitor, ''eycry fellow docs today just hs every fellow did ls0 years ago" "Baek thcrc." said the Oc- casional western man, who came to sec tho home of his Anccstors-''back thcrs they still use wooden mold board blows. horse collars made of Shucks and pitch forks of wood, things which went out of use in the west 50 years ago- Back thcrc they put a yoke of oxen to a cart with a horse in the lead, dig the ground with sawmill hoo and make their women do the milking. Tho owner of the best farm in tho country sits on a shack chair in a rickcty log cabin, chcws long grccn twist and splits through the cracks. The people use oysters and crabs in place of pork and beef, and in the dark you can't tell n white man from a dnrky by the way they talk ''
 ADeiIxhtfuI Transition.
 And so, with n big discount for the ex- aggcrations of humor, 1t was for many, many years in portions Uf this country, and so, to a very slight extent, 1t still Is in the nat woods and back on the sand ridgcs and pIny hills. EvCrywhcrc else n wonderful change has come over tho coun- try, the growth of Baltimore, Washington and the new towns along the Baltimore and Potomac road has caused all the fer tile lowland to bc turned into truck farms In every direction one secs beautiful resi- denccs crowning the hills which overlook the Potomac and the numerous inlets branching from it, while the villages arc like the boom railroad towns in Dakota and Nebraska On the inlcts one sees many beautiful yachts and other sailbOats, and every town of any size has some kind of hall whcre occasional lectures arc delivered and home talent disports itself in amateur thcatricals. In short, all this old south Maryland country is in the most delightful of all transition statcS-that Is, the narrow valleys arc cultivated like gar dens, the villages are as pretty as any in New England and the roads arc good, while back in the hills and fiat woods nrc the same old style Marylandcrs, living very much as their fOrcfathcrs did bcforc the Revolution, cultivating their little patches in the most primitive way, living largely on corn bread and fish and for amuse- mcnt wrestling, throwing quOits, horse racing. cock fighting and drinking corn whisky
 am delighted with the general appear ancc of the people. They are tall and strong, deep blue eyes and light hair prc- dominating. Their complcxions arc clear and rutidy, and out of a hundred people met on the rnad I have not seen one with any signs of malaria It Is evidently very hcalthful country, and do not know of any place whcrc one could rctrcat for the autumn months with moro profit, for all kinds of small fruits arc generally abundant, the peach crop Is often pccul- iarly good, watcrmclOns abound in their season, and. as to muskmelOns, this Is the native land of the cantclOupc Time was, and thatsnot many years ago. when grcat deal of this rCgion was run down by over cropping with tohacco. Now therc Is the greatest possible variety of production. To- bacco culture has been given up, as 1t has in many other placcs in the state, till thcre arc now but five Maryland counties which make any considerable rcturns in that line, and the states yield Is but half what 1t was hs'furc the war. Nevertheless, some | of tho old people insist that 1t Is still the most profitable crop in this county-St- | Mary's. One man can cultivate threc acrrs in the finest kind Uf tOhaccu besides raising grain and other stuff sufficient for | his family, and the clear profit on good tO- bacco was last year S65 per acrc-
 Rural Political Opinions.
 Tho Popc's Crock branch of the Balti- moro and Potomac landed me at Cox sta tion. and thence, with jolly young Mary lander. I took tho delightful ride across country to this place. Delightful 1t Ger tainly was. Our driver was a black cyclo- pcdia of local knowledge. and he poured forth n continuous stream of racy dcscrip- | ton as WIG whirlcd along across tho white oak levels, over tho piny ridges, down the sandy slopcs and across tho salt water 1 flats, wherc the incoming tide was flooding tho marsh grass and tho morning air blew from the lower Potomac so soft and cool that every breeze brought rest to the l wearied brain.
 Every milo or SO on the road is a quaint l old fashioned country storc, and every | store sells whisky. Down tho intcrsecting l roads, which wCrc generally ovcrarched l with heavy timber, came all sorts of rural people with queer old fashioned carts drawn by oxen. and hero and thcrc along | tho rnad We met a regular tobacco convoy, | one big hogshcad and black driver to each cart. Wherever VIC stopped, as we often did nt the country storcs, nll the talk | ran in two channels. One was that times never had bccn so bad for farmers, and If tho drought didn't give way pretty soon | times would bc much worse, and the other was on politics. tho sum and substance of each mans opinion about congress being | encomrasSCd in the brief but expressive | phrase, 'D-n Gorman!" Now and then ono went into particulars, the gist of | WhlCn was lilll tnt SSHhlAT was ENSiNAiSA- | hlc for all the delays. and that if the tariff
 bill had been passed in May the talker
 would have been several dollars better of.
 If one wanted n worly fight, all he hal tO
 do was to speak few words in defense of
 the senate. Thrcc hours Of this sort of
 enjoyment brought us to this beautiful
 village at the head of Chaptico inlet The
 old village has disappeared long ago II
 was strung along by the deep water land
 .f Nlarr k,ns.f raIss
 The head of the inlet filled in till the
 landing had to be moved farther down, and
 pretty modern town has been built on
 tho hills. Tho thing came particularly
 to sec was the famous old parish church,
 and hero, trust, a somewhat egotistiC
 digression of a few lines is permissible. A hit of History.
 In l7i5 50 or thcreabouts there came tC
 this pnrt of Maryland lot of Scotch and
 English cxilcs-the Catholics because theil
 folks had secured religious liberty in this
 colony, and the others because, according
 to vague tradition, they had been on the
 losing side of the unpleasantness of lI4o-
 in Scotland. Among them were my an
 cestors on tho maternal side, and In this
 church my grandparents secured for theii
 children what little religious instruction
 they got It Is only by tho usual historic
 fiction thnt Christ church of King and Queen parish, St Mary's county, Is so an
 cicnt, for the original church, built Tn leys was mostly removed, and the present struc' turc was put up in i73o-
 In 1874 tho British camped at the big
 spring south of town, and on a day still spokcn of with a sort of horror party oi their drunken soldiers brOko into thu l church, ran their bayoncts through thu
 fine old organ, which had been a present , from English friends, and broke open thu vault at the back of the church In Il | had r,srentlx bcen laid the corpSe of