The herald., 1895-07-12
HALSTEAD'S .PADDY'S RUN PAPERS
he had it from your own lips"

each being positive that he came from
wonderful country, SURPRISING all Others.
a WelshInan remained q Welshman, and
a North Carolinian stood by tho Old North
State to the last and spoke Of "Karcleena'
as his own native land. Some of the
North Carolinians believed rather in the
perpetual motion than in the plenary in
spiration of the Holy Scriptures, and when
they were religious they we're apt to get
into the church that was furthest from
form and ceremony. Reformed Baptism
and the New Lights were presumed to be
extremely liberal. The majority OF the
Welsh were devout, and their congrega.
tional singing had singular and pathetic
charm. On soft summer Sunday even
ings when they sang with the windows
of their church open, giving the'hymns in
the Welsh language, they seemed some
times to fill the whole valley with their
weird melodies. The southern people had
O number of funny ideas touching signs
and troubled themselves good deal about
adjusting their labors according to 1.-THE
sign," and had minute knowledge when
the sign was in the foot or in the head;
when it was good time to kill hogs or to
thrash wheat, and they attributed mys-
tical influence to the moon. They were SO
faithful to the doctrine Of the rule of the
moon at night that they were rather dis
posed to extend her jurisdiction to the day.
The new moon told the whole story of the
weather for the month, and its appearance
was revelation. Snow that fell in April,
1t was a southern superstition, "made
good eyewater.
The one thing there seemed to be a gen.
eral infatuation about in the mixed popu-
lation Of Paddy's Run was 'the improve
ment of the mind" A considerable num-
Der of young people who might otherwise
have been happy deal of the time were
allowed no comfort because they were told
1t was their duty to improve their minds.
1t did not seem worth while to make that
the leading object of life in many cases,
but public opinion was determined, inn
plaoable and indiscriminate. There were
two duties marked out The first was to
live for another world, and the second was
to improve the mind in youth. cannot
quite imagine what all the violence about
the mind came from. It was very lovely
to be sure, but excessive. I had just reach
ed the stage Of despair as to grammar and
triumphed over about two-thirds of the
arithmetic when was startled by an in
timation that it was contemplated should
prove my mind" and regarded it as
threat. There was man named Tizzard
who had printing Office across the Indi-
ana line on the White Water, or in the
woods adjacent, and he gave great deal
Of attention to his mind Ho Hopublished an
occasional paper that, believe, was called
"Centinel He would spell Sentinel
with &c" and he would do nearly any
thing else, If he had chance, to show that
public opinion had no influence on him.
He stood by his mind and said what Mr..
Vanderbilt did not about the public.
He had an institution that in some re-
spects resembled a school, and he called 1T
"Philometh. I do not know whether
there was any teacher but himself. was
in terror of Tizzard and his Philometh,
and the poor man never offended me-
had u glimpse of him once, and he was
large and dark and had plenty of hair. I
haye picture of him in the long gallery
of paintings possess in the halls of men,
ory that no one else ever saw, and in that
one he resembles John Brown. Tizzard
had advanced views I believe 1t is fact
that he lacked piety to such an extent that
no might have founded a new religion.
One of the stories about Philometh was
that boy could go there and study and
learn trade at the same time! l cannot
tell what the trade was, but 1T may have
been the printers trade. That was what
I thought was the threat hanging over me.
The combination Of improving my mind
and at the same time picking up trade
ought to have been alluring to me, but it
was not Philometh came to be identified
in my mind with exile from Paddy's Run;
but though invisible and mysterious, 1t
was not very far off. My father said he
could 60 there and back in day with
two horse wagon. 1t was somewhere in