Evening journal., 1898-02-07
Oh oAK AT sT. ANNEs.

TO SLEEP.
OLD OAK AT ST. ANNE's.
One Of the landmarks of st. Georges
hundred is the old oak al st. Annes 7.
Il Church. near Middletown. IL is FIVE
centuries old. and was full Of life and
vigor long before the Swedes settled
in Delaware. which was in 1898.
Through the kindness of n friend the
Wayfarer is permitted to use the fol-
lowing apostrophe to this old oak al St.
Annc's. Il was written by a promi-
nent son OF st. George hundred, ana
will no doubt awaken pleasant recol-
lections In the minds of all who are in
terested in the history and traditions
of one OF the most charming sections
of the state In the old st. Anne's
Church there is still a fragment OF the
altar cloth. which was presented 10 1t
by Queen Anne, OF England, for whom
the church was named. And in the
graveyard. shaded by the stately oak
repose the dust of many men and WO-
men who have played no small part IN
the moral. social, political and business
advancement Of the state.
The sun had just begun at early morn
To sip the dew that fell upon the
sands,
When. strolling along with footsteps
slowly borne,
Toward the stately oak at OLD 81.
Anne's.
o Oak in vigor yet thou must have
seen
Strange seasons pass. Five hundred
Springs
Thy vast expanse hath mantled o'er
with green;
Grown thy sound limbs ana tell-tale
rings.
Long. long before Anne's generous
hand endows,
Or ere our forefathers came
Were thy gigantic, spreading boughs
Haunted sweet with songs OF feath-
cry fame.
Tho Indian warrior brave, and dusky
mate,
sported beneath thy quivering emer-
aid leaves,
The primal tribe now gone, though OK
Alone in You their simple legend
weaves.
Man, in successive generations, you
have seen,
And listened to the solemn marriage
The bitter tear of grief shed oft has
Beneath thy plying, outstretched
bough.
Standing supreme among thy dark
grey stones,
Grave over grave In distance laid
along,
Prone at thy feet, o Oakl the moul-
dering bones
And sacred shrnes Of those forever
gone.
Hoary, majestic tree! In centuries
fed
You've shaded many ere from lif'
deposed
Resting below thy soft, sweet verna
bed,
Unrestfully you guard them now re
posed.
Consecrated treel Overshadowinl
church and grave
Whilst voices of prayer and solemn
anthems roll.
When swayed by heavenly airs tn
arms do move
Art thou conducting peace from Go
to soul?
o father Oakl is thus your missio
done?
DO you by every root and branch an
stem.
Seek, gather, and represent in one
The many lives that erewhil
breathed in them?
Live on, o wondrous harbinger
o nourishl rooted deep in sacr'
lands.
OF all the forest lords, I love thu
Keep long thy vigil, o oak at old S
Anne'sl
At last when tottering ruined wal
which ivy bands,
With aisle and chancel gone al
rOofless nave.
Contrast with thee the work Of hum'
hands.
May Nature take thy life, which n
ture gave.
THE CATS WORST ENEMY.
Down near Blackbird, in the low
part of this county. there is c
which excites the wonder OF the enti
neighborhood and it has done so (
some time. Pussy belongs 10 farm
named Records, and is a wonder in n
way. Ever since she was q kitten s
has appeared to regard her own tail
her worst foe.
She walks along, switching her T.
and it is all right IL she does not ha
pen to see it, but the moment
switches out far enough for her
catch a glimpse Of 1t out OF the corr
OF her eye, she stops and turns upon
angrily, biting and scratching It
though it We're the property OF sol
other cat. A person who saw tn,