The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-03-10
A NUTMEG HISTORY.
REV. SAMUEL PETERS, BOOK OF con-
NScTlCUT STORIES.

/
AlvaSs Good Natnrsd-Many Learned
| Fsweno Took Nk ssatsments Seriously.
Tas little state Of Connecticut, ever as
ISOLATED In memory with wooden nutmegs
ana ether svideness Of Yankee ingenuity,
| has furnished abundant material for the
sla Sssnest AID instruction OF those Inter
GATED 10 sss carly history OF eur land. But
OF all abs Rcoounts and historles regarding
shas worssy Now England state the ono
which 70 probably tAs lsast known and yet
may 9saaly he called the most humorous
10 Hssls book published anonymously in
LonaaR In 17sl, enlisted GA General His.
tory OF Cosnsosiout, Iaelading Dssorip-
hon OF the Country and Many Curious
sud lnssrssting Anecdotes. Tho author
wss THE New. Samuel Peters, man of
| considerable Ingenuity ond activity, who,
By haa Arm loyalty to tho crown inmedi-
ately preceding the Revolution, made him
ssat extremely obnoxious TO some Of the
Connoot1out Sons of Liberty. Some Of Its
| stoFteo havo been considered fully AS good
In their way as those in "Knickerbookor
History Of New York" They nro present.
cd with suoh evident appearance Of truth
as actually to havo boon regarded serious
| ly by many learned scholars, and moro
| than ono writor since has undertaken in
very laborious manner to show how truly
inlstakon tho author was in certain stnte-
| rnents.
Ono Of Dir. Peters best stories, which
| shows that he possessed u rare imaginn-
Two FACULTY, is tho celebrated frog story
| which no tolls In oil seriousness, Us ono of
| tho notable occurrences in Windham.
| Frogs no states, arc very numerous In
that Vicinity, 80 that strangers are often
terrified at the hidoous noise He AYERS
| that 30 different voices have boon distin-
| guishcd among thom, some Of which ro-
semblo tho believing of u Bull, and then
| rises to his supreme effort in describing q
march OF u largo number of frogs one
night In July, 1885, whom they found q
| pond about fivo miles from Wlndham dried
| up. They decided to go to a river on tho
| other side of tho town, and, to quote tho
author, "wero under the necessity of tax
Ing tho road and going through the town,
| which they entered about midnight Tho
bullfrogs were tho leaders, and tho pipers
| followed without number. They lllcd q
| road yards wide for miles In lenRth.
| and wero several hours in passing through
| the town, unusually clamorous. The in
| habitants wore equally porploxed and
frightened; some expected to find an ar
| my of French and Indians; others feared
an earthquake and dissolution of nature.
| Tho CONSERVATION was universal. Old and
| young, malo and fomalo, flod naked from
their beds with worse shriekings than
those OF tho frogs. Tho event was fatal to
| several women Tho men, after q flight of
| half mile, in which they mot with many
broken shins, finding no enemies in pur-
suit OF them, medo a halt and summoned
resolution enough to vonturo back to thoir
| wives and children, when thoy distinctly
heard those words from tho enomy's camp,
Wight, Eildorkcn, Dior, Tote. This last
they thought meant treaty, and, pluoking
up courage, they sent q triumvirate to
oapitulate with tho supposed French and
Indians. These throe men approached in
their shirts and begged to speak with tho
| general; but 1t being dark, and no answer
given, they were soroly ngitatcd for some
time betwixt hope and fear. AT length,
| bowevor, they discovered that the dreaded
inimical army was an army of thirsty
frogs going to tho river for littlo water
| such an inoursion was never known be-
fore or since, and yet tho people of Wind
ham have been rdioulcd for their timid-
| lily on this occasion. 1 verify believe an
army under tho Duke Of Marlborough
would, under like circumstances, have act
ed no better than they did,"
The famo of Wethorsfleld as an onion
| raising town was known throughout tho
country at that time, and Parson Peters,
| With his critical observation, does not fall
|
In On interesting anecdoto. The town, no
says, raises moro onions than arc con-
sumed In all New England, and it ia also
| rulo with tho Wethersfleld parents to
| buy a SILK gown every year for each daugh-
| tor above seven years old until sho is mar
risd. The young beauty, he further relates,
lis Obliged to weed patch of onions
with hor own hands, which she performs
IN the cool OF tho morning before sho
dresses for breakfast This laudable and
healthy custom is ridiculetl by the ladies
in other towns who idlo away their morn
| inSs In bed or in gathering tho pink OF
catching tho butterfly to ornament their
| toilets, while tho gentlemen far and near
forgot not tho Wcathersfield ladies' silken
industry"
| Another amusing story, told with much
| detail, IL tho timo honored ono of TIE slsy-
Ing OF the boar by General Israel Putnam,
and no compares Putnams bravery on this
occasion to TINT Of David when he slew
the lion and the bear, and afterward tho
| giant Goliath. The facts In tho case rs
told by Peters arc that one night in 1864
a large bear stole pig from Mr.. Putnam's
pen. The squoaling Of the animal awnk-
enod tho refolute Putnam, who, immedi-
ately jumping up and not stopping to
dress, but arming himself with n hugs bill
| lot OF wood, started out to rescue his pig.
Ho was obliged to follow tho bear for over
half mile, and being guided to tho cave
by the dying grunts Of his pig he finally
came face to face with tho bear, which no
Immediately killed with q we'll directed
blow of his club, and thon followed up his
WORK of destruction by Staying two cubs
also IN the cave. rho ncighbors, ON view
Ing the spot where the deed took place, do
clared, so the history says, that Putnam s
exploit exceeded those of Samson or David.
New York Times.