Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1903-01-27

y
might have realized something curious
in the look of things.
The square surrounding the court
house and lined with shops was utterly
deserted. The shop shutters were gen
orally up, and the courthouse. which
had no shutters, showed the need Of
them In many shattered pane OF
glass which gave it an air of degraded
desolation. Both in the square and be
yond. grass and weeds evergreen in
disorderly. squalid way many an un-
accustomed spot The ample gardens
behind the houses were ofttnest tan
gle of luxuriant unframed growihs
The asparagus beds flung out their
feathery foliage In great spreading
masses. and against them the ironwecd
and ragweed and jamestown weed
grew tall and lusty. and among these
climbed wild morning glorcS ~ one
side perhaps would be little patch OF
cultivated ground where few sweet
potatoes and Il little corn took UP most
Of the room.
Not man was to be seen anywhere.
but now and again a sunDonnttei wo-
man or several sunbonnetcd women TO
gether would pass from one house to
another.
Inside the houses or on their shaded
galleries groups, still altogether femi'
nine, were gathered. talking with IN
air curiously uniting listlcssness ana
restlessness, apathy and anxiety
The truth was they had special i'm
mediate cause for fear. but they had
suffered so long and so much in similar
ways that in many the capacity for
keen feeling was blunted. Yet they
would have told you they suffered none
the less because they suffered duly.
1t was in 1868. The Federal forces
under General Paine We're in possession
Of this part of Tennessee. and he had
his headquarters at Tullahoma. not
fifteen miles away.
Strathboro had been well stripped OF
men for many day. Even the four
teen and fifteen year old boys were
away fighting But until this morning
few male persons were to be seen
about. and though usually they were
old or sick or deformed. the sight was
comfort to the weary eyes of the wo-
mankind. Rightly or wrongly. they
now involuntarily felt as never before
the superiority Of the dominating sex.
1t was they who were fighting out this
war. and even the least awe inspiring
man represented the power that car
ried fate in its hand And now today
here they were, left without Il mana
white man. that is-in Strathboro. 80;
not literally without one. Uncle Billy
Caldwell. aged eighty-two. still sat at
home in his big chair, qulvering and
bewlldered, and Blossier, the French
man. was also left behind.
This peculiar state Of things was
brought about by General Paine In his
efforts to stop sudden Confederate
raids upon his bridges. railroads and
telegraph wires. These attacks We're
always made and the offenders gone
before punishment could reach them.
and under fresh provocation General
Paine had conceived the Idea Of hold
Ing the few remaining and helpless
male citizens Of Strathboro responsible
for the doings of the soldiers he could
not catch. So this morning an armed
squad had descended upon the dis
heartened little town and had marched
of to Tullahoma the lame, the halt
and the blind. Falstaff's army was a
robust body compared to this handful
Of mutinous spirits.
Uncle Billy Caldwell was not only
eighty-two, but he weighed nearly 300
pounds. If taken. he was obviously
sure to die on the way, and that would
inevitably cause some delay and in
convenience, so it was plainly discreet
that he be left behind. But. as to the
Frenchman there was no logical rea'
son for the leniency shown him. 1t
was simply that the Anglo-Saxon con-
querors had, in common with the
Anglo Saxon conquered. so deep feel.
ing Of his foreignness that he seemed
outside of humankind. The question
Of taking him to Tullahoma was dis
missed with a grin, as 1t might have
been had it referred to one Of Uncle
Billy's ancient hounds. But old Bios
sier himself naturally took no such
view of the matter. He understood
English very imperfectly. but he be-
lieyad fhnt Eln ncr WnS hOnOreI in his