The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-08-30


 : acres that Ole and his countrymei thought they owned they having paic
 for them) the "castle" was to have
 been the lordly home of MT Bull, whose dream it was to establish for his coun' trymen settlement all their own--s colony where thrift would beget pros
 perlty, and prosperity peace.
 But, as truthfully said by Robert
 Burns, 'the best laid plans O mice and
 men gang aft a'glee,' so fate, with a
 ruthless hand, cast the hopes of Ole
 Bull and his colonists into the pit of
 despair and soon after the first twelve
 month had flown startling fact sud-
 rdenly upset their fondest plans and
 turned their happiness and content into
 sadness and unrest, It became known
 to the colonists that the title to their
 land was worthless; that all the money
 they had paid out was as if 1t had been
 thrown into the fire, and they were left
 at the very verge of starvation with
 out even a rift of hope in the cloud of
 despondency. Many of the colonists had put into the property every dollar that they had. Others used money that had been borrowed from friends. When II liiC SOlOlll5lS Sul ONti tIiCll llSl BY disappointment and grief there were
 those among them ready to klndle the
 fire of resentment against Ole Bull. At
 this door was placed the blame for the
 disastrous termination of the colonists'
 roseate dream. They forgot that in the
 shrewd game of the land owners, in
 which the title to their 12,000 acres had
 been swept away, Ole Bull was by far
 the heaviest loser. He. like they, was
 left almost penniless, but they thought
 only of their own losses and the hard
 ships that the future held in store for
 them.
 | But Ole Bull, though almost heart broken over the cruel fate that had overtaken his own fortune and the col ony plan which bid so fair to be bless
 ing to his countrymen, did not despair. . It was a time when something had to be done, and that quickly. The stores of the colonists were about exhausted; discontent was manifest upon every hand; winter was coming on, and suc- cor must be had somehow. homewhere. It was then that Ole took up his violin again, and for the next few months nearly all the money he made with his fiddle went toward buying provisions and clothing for the Oleona coonists It is said that when he left the colony on this occasion he walked through the forest to Lock Haven, thirty miles dis tant, carrying the case containing his precious fiddle under his arm. At Lock Haven he gave his first concert; the second was given at Williamsport, and from each of these places wagons load | ed with supplies were sent back to the | diseartened coonists In the Kettle | Creek valley.
 Of those who took part in the settle | ment of Oleona and New Bergen there is but one of the number living in the locality to-day. This person is Mrs. Mary Andreson widow of Henry An dreson, who was Ole Bulls secretary and manager, Mrs. Anderson I found in little house far back In the hills, where she now lives with her adopted son. She is past S4 years of age, and the history of her career Is quite excit- Ing enough to make most interesting 
 She was indeed a remarkable woman, for besides being successful trapper, 2 w1elder of the axe and a tiller of the soil, she distinguished herself as a log lriver on Kettle Creek during the early years of numbering on that stream. Having the strength of two ordinary nen, this woman, with pike pole and ,anthook, waded knee deep in the tur- oulent stream wrestling the stranded ogs into the water and breaking jams with an intrepidity seldom displayed by |, "A 1. | . life of this sort. that one finds her to- lay a sufferer with rheumatism and able to leave the cumbersome lrm- chair that was made especially for fer use. But her memory is yet quite .ood, and she told me many interesting hings concerning Ole Bull and his col { nists. Those of the latter who were nable to leave the country after the ownfall of the settlement now lie bur ed in a little graveyard just below the Id Oleona inn. Mrs. Andreson told me of the coming f Ole Bull and his countrymen; how happy they were; how they anced the nights away to the enchant- 1g notes of Ole's fiddel, and how they ult castles in the air during their J laking held at the Oeona inn the Nor ,egians danced so Justify that the floor { ave way and the dancers were thrown { ito promiscuous heap on the floor be- w. All escaped injury however, and fter drinking to the health of Ole Bull \ nd the success of his colony they ad- turned to another department and con- nued their revelry. Ole Bulls castle" though but a two- .ory frame structure, was looked upon \ a quite extravagant feat in architec- Ire. Except for the wayside tavern, les abode was the most pretentious ( ructure in the country roundabout S ,r the colonists lived in log houses, . ,metimes as many as five families un- . AT one roof. After the building of MT. ull's castle" and the erection of the [ vern, the colonists constructed con- 'rt hall, wherein were held. at regular tervals, rousing, roystering merry akings.
 Mrs. Anderson told me an interesting cident in connection with Ole Bull and is concert hall It occurred soon af- r Ole Bull had left the colony to earn oney for his peoples maintenance. hen he had played concerts In New Drk, Boston, Philadelphia and other ,lI aces 1t was one day announced by a lOniSt who had just returned from an |