Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1896-07-10

That TILED iouod the village
La tnr Indian summer days.
At telephones. helloin',
Mru are maxim much ado,
And trolley cars are scudtin',
Full I folks and hanger too.
III rather move more mod ra e,
Wh-u | 20 from place 20 place,
And stop IL do my talSih
VIA teller tace u face.
We used to take a lantern,
With itS trnstv little ugnt;
Which answered ey 'ry purp -,
Wuru We wandered out a ulght
But now the lantern useless;
fOr Il \ lighted ey'ry"here,
By irciric lamps baZin',
On wire up in the air.
But IectriC lights peculiar;
Fisu Z like the light o day;
II makes th- sh ,d- trees gloomy.
While their fr win shadders lsy,
jest moviu back an Ter ard,
ma weIrdiSh SORT - way;
An darkness rOuds IN punches,
Nong tbe dappltd ssor . gray
The city's all .boomin'.
la d whIri. an buzz, an whir,
With ev'ry part a-rattiin',
An ev'ry1hing aslr,
Each person grtun somethlag,
a
The folks q suit me better,
As tney used 10 be oe ore.
He IS to, much fuss an hxins.
An it's not the place tor me;
Id like a little village.
Seen as BetntUwu used to be.
The INFLOW. vii age gardens
With their wooden fences round.
Gave better things for dinner,
Than are in the market found
But now, they've changed the garden.
Into greens ord for "A avn;
Where hydrantS splash It rundown,
Ana the mower runs AZ dawn.
loved the wide old common,
In the evnin' lone an still;
Where village COWS at nOouddS,
.raZrd unh-rdad al their Will,
There Oftim-- have We ramhled,
Where tn iSt' hin moDnbeams lay,
While IL ht hawks tiuttered tow rds Us,
An the rabbits Jumped away.
No engines wins IT, screschin',
Then a scare the birds away
'Cept down AT Harvey's saSmill,
Where the fact stands today;
No lows O planted -hade-trees.
l. lng thu sidewalk up Al down;
But tg'lur for 81 timber,
Skirtlu' round the edseO town.
Twas pleasaut AZ the meetiu',
OF Suudaya tsrnoOn,
The congregation s!nEin,
In common metre toon;
with prayer that seemed worth auSw rln
An good prehchln comm next,
What IL the elder skirm!shed
Quite distance from the text
When tellin' bout the pleasu ~,
Thatll come o bein good,
Though iva mt in best o grammar,
Yet the sinners understood,
An vh n, wroughtup in earnest
With The stubborn ones he'd plead,
An al the throne o mercy,
For blessing lntercede,
Down on their knees they'd promise,
That a better life they d lead.
Id like 20 see my cronies,
Jest 10 talk with them awhile;
They seemed so much more friendly,
vi little less o style.
Weva mt afraid o JOHN,
Nor o playiu harmless tricks,
An Jest took solid comfort
In discussin' politics
We'd often stop an ar4ue,
Il the President was right,
or talk about thu prospect
o the wheat crop bein light.
An Tracy 4 come a-hoii'rin',
At hl, oHe %. up tue hill;
- iiin in ais wagU',
Dua htIr gri-t 20 ,-.lIl
Now Tracy drives surrey;
A his ''ch-~' nuts. steppin high,
Ia silvrr-plat,d harness,
Cut a fgger uashin' by.
Why. once | Auowd the names of
Every ueighbor that I'd meet,
Now. Z seems that none but strangers,
Ever pass me or the street
We shouted IN A. "hOw-are ye,
In a friendly sort o way,
Now. ~ one ever slacken-,
'Nough % pass the time day.
We "a ed TO 20 adshiu',
Over on McCarty's Pond;
An ira, tor mink an mus.rat,
All around the marsh beyond
But now The u>h are -carey.
There's ne trappin any more;
An >ickly lookin strangers.
Are a-lOungin long the shore.
They've got new tangled notions;
An they call the po"d, The Springs;
An say the waters med cine,
An lot o foolish things
They've built fancy hotel,
An they call II resort
An talk d goin "a OOatln',
When they jest rJw round Tor sport.
They've made some roads O gravel,
All a.windin round in curves;
An say the marsh l. private,
An belongs To their preserves
They talk 10 me Of progress
An Of enterprise an suchi
But when fellers lonesome,
The-e'll never help HIM much:
An its 50 sad and lonesome,
In the city rush an strife,
can't help kinder longin
For quiet village life.
'specl 'twould seem some diff'rent
Now that am old an gray;
An 'Lindas died an left u,
An the boys have gone away.
OF cour.c d be 30 happy.
To have Linda back again,
An both the boys "a children,
stead o. ben' grown up men
You see. one day they limited.
" faint the -uine since mother gone,
Now. Ralph % Texas ranchman,
An Lew oil IN Oregon.
An so can't help thiukin'
That it's little short - sin,
For me 10 stay here mopin',
H. the city, crush an din.
But there's great. white city,
Where / m gOiu bye an bye.
To f6da home that's pleasant
In the mansi Dns OF me sky,
An when I've passed the portal,
ON Us faireSt golden street,
My good old village ne ghbors,
I'm expectiu' sure to meet.