The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-07-02
COMMUNICATIONS,
bold snrlng.

coast to take part in the Vendean war, enjoying the hospitality of an old re- oluse who had home excavated among | the roots of great oak, who proudly presented his guest with drink from | a nearby spring. and, intently watch | ing his face, as connoisseur in wine might, at length, said: How do you | find that water, marquis?" As the toe sin was sounding in distant towers at the time, the mind of the marquis was somewhat preoccupied and the hermit received no reply.
 Recently, on rediscovering Cold spring, after an interval of many years, We found 1t was clear, cold, and refresh ing as in other days when we gathered oat-tails by the winding river there, and birch, slippery elm, sassafras and wild flowers around the rock
 1 The grassy opening in the woods just up the bank above the spring, used to be favorite out of the way place for pitching quoits, and on revisiting the spot few weeks since, we were vividly l reminded of a group we saw playing | that ancient game there at almost our l last previous visit Captain Ben. 1 Beecher was at the fountain, surround | ed by the fragrance of lemons, and the aroma of a West India fluid for which | his cellar and swell-front sideboard, | were famed; and the players were, Charles A. Ingersoll, Alfred Blackman, Dennis Kimberly, Minott A. Osborn, Judson Canfield Andrew L. Kidston, Lucius Gilbert and George English professional men and merchants the 1 ,txv I.a1t I,n. clearly how things could go on without but they have all 'joined the in- numerable caravan" The spring flows on and on in the same way 1t did on 1 that summer day when it reflected the rubicund face of the old ex-captain of New York packets and steamboats
 At that period Orange street (hardly a house beyond "Old Milly's then) came to a. full stop at rail fence in the rear | of Henry Whitneys extensive acres, and marrow foot paths, with only here and there traveller. (percival, maybe, one) converged through the woods tow ard the spring.
 We hear nothing of quoit pitching certainly capital fun in close con- test, to cut in with ones iron disk an inch nearer the goal than a contestants play, or. with his quoit touching 1t, to set your flying and ring the hub" It l is a good many autumns ago that we and a friend stepped from skiff there at the spring. and, on the spot we have mentioned, had an afternoon of rather one-sided discus amusement. As our competitor was very much eavier man than ourself, and, as light artil- lerist in the last war had had occasion to study up on parabolas and all that sort of thing, we regarded 1t as little surprising that we should have defeat ed him in nine consecutive games--and he, with increasing color, and decreas- ing blandness, took the same view of it. What he needed, what he requir- ed, to have victory alight where she properly belonged, was to double the distance between the goals, when, be- ing acceded to, resulted in nine more defeats for the ex-artillerists--when instead of gracefully subsiding, he ex- claimed that 1t was 'the only game we could play worth d. anyhow''-im- petuously ran down the bank and so emphatically jumped aboard the boat that it upset and let him go up to his necktie in Mill river In a rich bari tone voice, for which we are noted, while he clung to the skiff, we tried to restore him to his usual serenity by singing Flow Gently Sweet Alton z
 He declined to return with us in the gloaming; but, when the city was hush- ed in slumber, he came in barefooted, with bundle of damp clothing under his arm, wrapped in a discarded horse blanket toga, and unobtrusively obtain ed access to his apartment, and more or less pleasant dreams by means of grapevine trellis,
 Several decades ago when Prospect hill was known as Powder House lane there was quite popular driving place some ways outset back from the road Lin a thick grove of old oaks and chest
 nuts, afterwards barbarously cut away called Ball Spring cottage, (Scot Ball
 he kept it) which fiourished for few
 seasons and was then. we believe. des troyed by fire. You can see now tht : grass-grown curving approach to it.
 some blackened boulders that indicate
 where the hitching shed stood-and tht
 nearly obIterated cellar where onct
 was stored the barrels and bottles tha l were uraWn upOu tO uldhG thC iiiiilt
 tulips and other delectable compound!
 that the patrons of the festive place
 in their tipped back chairs. imbibeC | through straws on the wide piazza!
 above. We remember Scott gratefully
 for the beautiful picture he made O
 the fine spring down the slope back O
 his cottage; he enclosed 1t in thick
 smooth, blue stone slabs, and looking
 down three or four feet into its depth.
 one could see the small white seas1lort
 stones tossed around by the bubblint
 jugglery below-and the copious over
 flow formed a charming little oval lakt
 set in emerald and fringed with odoroui
 mint.
 Cold spring having been drawn iron it's old time solitude into the publicity o the park and become easily aecessibl
 from the much-frequented broad high . way, should have setting there unde
 the old name and date-cut beeche
 more in keeping with it's excellent aual ity than it has hitherto had. Frontins ] on Orange street we think 1t would b
 we'll to lay up a substantial time stain r ed, messy, cobble stone wall on eithe
 side of rude square columns of the sam
 material tapering up from broad base foot or two higher than the wall line
 and crowned with big round boulders
 This would give picturesque gatewa,
 inuita tion-with an air of antiuuit