Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1896-06-20

And then they crowd around the lat
ter to shake hands with him and talk
politics after the manner Of all true
MissOurians.
There are occasions when Mr.. Bland
is accompanied into Lebanon by Mrs.
BlaDd and two or three Of the six
Bland children, ard when this is the
case Mollie is left at liberty in the big
blue grass pasture stretching south OF
the Bland homestead. The family rock
away is then brought into use, and
between its we'll worn shafts may be
seen Peter, the carriage horse" dear
as an heirloom to all the Blands, be-
cause Peter has been their carriage
horse for IS years and is just like one
Of the family. There is tradition
among the people of Lebanon to the eff
feet that Peter has made this trip into
town so often that he insists upon It's
consisting of just so many steps at
such a gait, and that when he misses
his calculation by half dozen PAGES
or so he goes back home and starts all
over again. This, however, is given
only as a tradition, not as cold fact
DRIVES A "CNE HOSS SHAY"
What is true concerning Peter and
his sacred claims on the family rock
away is that about three years ago Mr..
Bland bought a span OF carriage horses
and retired Peter to the rustic but hon
orable plow. The new span of horses
were a great improvement on Peter,
so far as appearances went, but one day
they got frightened at a passing Frisco
train and tried to run away with full
cargo of Blands homeward bound, and
from that moment Peter had a job for
life between the rockaway shafts. The
span Of 'uobby" bang tails were SOLD
BY Mr.. Bland without moments hes
itation, and the only good they have
ever done the Bland family is to point
the old fashioned moral for the ben
eft of the younger BANDS that hand
some is as handsome does"
Either Mollie or Peter, with Mr..
Bland solus or accompanied by Mrs.
Bland and the children, traverses a
pleasant old country road, winding
through soothingly rural scenes.
All along one side of the road there
has been spread before the eye a sue
cession of fields of wheat, and orchards
dot the landscape here and there IN a
way that would fill the soul of truant
schoolboy with everlasting bliss. AS
YOU take the last turn in the road you
see the Bland home, a plain two-story
red brick house, with a quaint wooden
Dortico in front, and the lawn, where
Mrs. Bland entertains her neighbors OF
summer evenings has for shade several
beautiful maple trees. The brown old
Missouri road goes right on past the
side of the Bland house without stop
ping. but there is bowed Old tree IN
the corner of the fence at that exact
point, and it is at that tree you stop,
and TO it you tie your horse and enter
Mr.. BANDS grounds by side gate, which
opens on a path leading to the front
door
All around stretches the beautifully
Level landscape, dazzingly clear in the
rarefied atmosphere of the Ozark pla-
teau. and Of all that wide and pleasant
country but a modest 100 acres under
cultivation are Mr.. BANDS and 24O
acres of wild land still verdant with
its virgin forest trees. a corner of the
uncultivated land touches a corner OF
the cultivated. and it is the regret OF
Mr.. Bands life that the former, like
the latter, isn't blooming with peach
and apple and cherry trees, or green
and gold with wheat. or velyety with
grass. He says. with sigh, that his y
years in Congress have prsyentd his
keeping I'D this farm as it should have
been kept up.
And then he looks out across his
land with that farm love in his eyes
that never dies out Of the soul OF a
country bred boy.
When he is at home. Mr.. Blan6
spends a great part OF his time in his
study. a tiny bit of den to the west
Of the old ia hioned hal, with stove
three chairs and roll top desk for fur-
njture.
Here he receives callers and talks tt
them freely the while he chews gre0
wads of tobacco and crosses and un-
crosses his legs TO suit his comfort. he
seldom wears collar or cravat, but MS
grav heard flows down his broad breast
and somehow you find so much dignity
and purpose in this earnest man. LOT
getful of personal appearances, That you
forget them yourself
Mr.. BANDS family consists OF nj:
wife and six children. Ten children
were horn to them, but four of them
died. The eldest is Miss Fannie Bland
a girl of 10, who IS being educated J..
Washington. Theodore, boy OF II
comes next, ard he is at school at 81
louis. The home children are Hugh
aged "A: George Vest Bland, aged Il
Tohn aged Z. and the baby, Virginia
Elizabeth. aged 8. The home children
RIM about barefooted, are healthy ano
stroo 3 g ri would make the White
House a Scene Of continual excitemenj
if their father ever got there.
There is considerable disparity in the
ages of Mr.. and Mrs. Bland, but thai
has had no effect upon their happiness
Mr. BLAND is Ct years old, and Mrs
Rland 43. and yet they say both fee
Young and recognize no difference OF
years.
Mrs. Bland has a placid, quiet face
with large blue eyes Her hair is gen
orally worn parted in the middle, and
anv nainter would be glad to have hei
nose for him were he painting a picture
of the Madonna. She is remarkable
for a woman whose husband has Pres
| idential aspirations.
Her candid and frequently expressed
opiniOn is that his chances OF Iandlne
in the White House are mighty slim
She does not like politics or politica
life. and the possibility of her reign
ing in the White House does not dazzle
her a bit. She would rather live on
the farm near Lebanon. She is vastly
.....,-t.d IN the rtell hainP of The