The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-02-14

| Botsford thinks It was something in
his life to leave as a legacy behind him.
the fact that he took the venerable sol.
der Of the Revolution by the hand that
night.
Lafayette was only one OF many
men Of note who came to Wheeling
from all parts OF Europe and America;
came here then as to Chicago now.
ito start somewhere else" The stages
brought, like the coaches to the EPSON
races. lords and ladies' say. soldiers
and statesmen gray" all here for a
few hours only, IL the connections we're
prompt, but sometimes for days when
there was ice or low water. In times
Of low water. Mr.. Botsford has seen
barges fitted up TO take the place of
steamboats,. They were covered with
tarpaulins, cots were put in, cooking
| arrangements provided, and thus equip
ped they were floated down stream,
loaded for points below with the accu-
INFLATED passengers OF two or three
| days blockade at the hotels. 1t was q
] pleasant enough way to travel. in good
weather, said he, and generally there
were enough young and festive people
on board to make the voyage to Mari
eta, Maysville and Cincinnati interest,"
ing. This was the way the early set
tl'IS uoNl tliC SlIo ~ Tic
ginning Of the century. II was the way
that Washington and his party OF sur
veyors tioated down from Pittsburgh
to Point Pleasant in ITO. Many 4 lit
tie tot has foated past Wheeling in
those primitive barges who returned on
the steamboats, and stages some years
later as congressman on their way TO
Washington. H5,t
Conc}usi0n-"Dc ScDectutc."
Much more than what has been writ
ten above was suggested by Mr.. Bots
ford's "reminiscences Of the past in his
long life. but space would fail TO de-
scant upon them. So many years must
needs have multitude of memories.
Life is not much to the man OF
ninety. Mr.. Botsford Is surrounded by
every necessary OF life and all his
wants are supplied by loving hearts
and hands. but still. he says. he gets
weary of mere existence. especially
since his setback from cold contract
ed last fall. which has kept him indoors
all winter. For him "the sun goes up
and the sun goes down, and what Is 1t
all when all IS done" Simply. as he
says. TO go through a routine Of eating
II little, reading u little, and sleeping
and dreaming and thinking and waking
II good deal, and this. he says, has not
much in 1t calculated to make a man
cling to life. No doubt this is the reilec-
ton OF pretty much all people Of far
advanced age, except perchance n very
select few, such. for instance. as Pope
Leo. and Gladstone and Bismarck,
whose lives are kept aflame by the in
cense and adulntion Of devotees and
troops of friends" such as John Mil
ton. when old and blind, said should be
the environment OF all old age. To the
very aged 1t must generally be as 1t
was to the writer Of the mystic lore OF
Ecciesiasties. TO whom the clouds con-
tinually return after the rain, In whose
cars the sounding of the grinding Is
low. and upon whose hoary heads the
weight Of the grasshopper rests as a
burden. For what purpose one-half
of the human race are doomed to die
under five years, and for what purpose
only one person in every five thousand
of the remainder is permitted to reach
Mr.. Botsford's age. is one OF those in
scrutable mysteries which. according
to ancient belief, will only be explained
when the lost books of the Sybils are
opened in the gardens OF IIeSperides.