Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1896-07-09
The Valley and the City.

s'I'm going back to the country I'm sicl
O. this dern'd old town:
It's reggeIer fyin' dutchman, a wbHlin
aTosn' an aroun',
I'd as lief be locked in prison, an woTkin' !
way n cell:
don't say farms IS heaven, bat a city Is
mos'Iy he'll.
Death il the food an water, and nary soul
10 care:
Death on the streets an crossin's, and dezil
in the cussed air.
Why blamed If the men an women draw
hardly quiet breath,
For broodin' over the city is the black faced
angel of death"
The above Is quoted from poem by
Ernest McGafey, entitled. His Long
ing and it expresses the sentiment
OF many a person who has left the
dear old home in the country TO seek
his fortune in the city.
Especially is the second verse appli-
cable TO city life at the present time,
for you have ali heard of the big cy-
clone, and how much damage If did to
life and property, and almost every
day since the city has been visited by
a storm more or less seyere-each one
severe enough to make the people feel
very uneasy and fearful.
There is hardly a day passes but
what some one is killed on the street
Last Monday a man vas caught by a
dangling wire and electrocuted in the
sight of a crowd of people who were
powerless to save him. Thursday an
other man was killed by trolley car
in sight OF his home. One can hardly
look at a paper without seeing an &C
count of some accident: but it is not
the object of this article TO tell of all
the unpleasant things connected with
city life, but tell of how /, being filed
with '.his longing" visited aud spent
a delightful week in that most beauti-
full of all places-Arcadia Valley.
arrived Saturday evening on the AR
cadia," and when / got up Sunday
morning and looked out over the Val
ley, thought had never seen such a
beautiful. quiet day. nor the Valley
looking so lovely.
What contrast to Sabbath in the
cityi for there it is more like a big
holiday-so many going pleasure
seeking in one way or other, going "a
wheel" riding. driving, and focking
to the parks and other places of
amusement on the street cars and boat
excursions. Il seems to me that the
very atmosphere mas a different ap-
pearance on Sunday from other days
in the country. l attended Sabbath
School and services at the Presbyterian
church, where. after an absence of
nearly seven years, / met many young
people who had grown out of my mem
DRY, and nearly all the children were
strangers. Among the congregation
/ saw many familiar faces, and some
new ones, while faces that used to be
seen there were missing. some having
moved away, and others gone TO their
long home. Every one seemed glad 10
see me, and it does one good to be
welcomed home after so long an abb
senee.
AT the old homestead We bad a fam
lily gathering of brothers and sisters
with their little families, and spent
the afternoon talking of the old times,
and singing the old familiar songs.
Monday l started out TO do the Val
ley. l could not pick up and go it a
foot and alone, as I was nursing a
badly sprained ankle, and had 10 de-
pend on the kindness and convenience
OF others 10 haul me around. Every
thing about the Valley looked natural,
with a few exceptions. Every body
looks little older. the Valley more
beautifully. and the burnt district
rather uncouely. Mr.. Fairchild looks
rather ont of place, keeping store so
far up the street Mr.. Begley don't
look natural resting at the REGISTER
Office. and Henry Simerman seems to
have no abiding place
Arcadia has been greatly improved
and beautiEed- and made ready for the
summer boar6ers," who are expected
as soon as the weather becomes more
propitious-
saw the new Woolen Mill. II
looks ali right. if it would only go.
also saw some of the soldiers of whom
I bad heard so much. and the smoke
of their camp fires. but did not go far
enough to see the camp
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