Evening journal., 1907-08-10
What | Know About
Delaware Politics and
Other Things
INTRODUCTORY.
By Washington Hastings

speeches, to intersperse in proportion ephets Of
praise and abhorenes draw up antthetea characters
OF great men, setting forth how many contradictory
virtues and vices they united and aboundina in vhs'
and wthouts'-sll this is very easy"
And so having ,out reached milestone Of allotted
e ana nlnN'os that perhaps some Of the things that
remember may be interesting my friends and enemies
the following narrative. The Writer.
was born atihe mile House Farm one mile south
III u ,l9 Town OF New Castle. ON the banks of the Della
ware River the fifteenth day of September 1887 The
first FIVE years Of life passed there in the family
u my srandiather Jesse Hastings tenant OF that farm
was too young to realize my surroundings
hontes which that worthy had encounter at
~, steI, III nus struggle Tor existence remember
wen. however wandering river shore playing
IN me sand watching the passing ships soar
s., s w. ann puzards ana wondering what 1t all
meant sometimes, perhaps, like little Paul Dombey
asking myself what the wild saying or
ana tne butterflies and hunting the grasshoppers in
the heds picking backberries along the old hedge try
ing to hsh for "minnies" with pin hook. in the old
stasnant pond tboth hedge and pond there TO this
oay helping CD my grandfather gather chips and drift
wood along the river shore 10 help make the family pot
pom IN snort living the usual life Of innocent care-free
childhood knowing nothing of the past caring fear
ing nothing for tho future.
Like old, old picture It all comes back and at
seventy In perfect health with mind and memory
abated' it seems but yesterday
In the Autumn Of 1872 the family at the old farm
house broke upthe head OF it being longer able to
keep IN the racoand separated. thereafter
7'Tea " @ "Sys' avs most OF them moving into New Castle
II was there that got my first Infant School lesson
SO TO speak In politics. the Clay and Frelnghuysen
WING, and the Polk and Dallas-Democratc campaign
OF 1874 being the school a Democrat; and Joined
heartily with the Democrat boys In their jeers and gbes
at the oe-cabin skin and hardcider candidate
ana the crude campaign Of the day, "Oh, Poor
Coohey Clay, On Poor cooney Clay, the White House
was not built for you home you'll have to stayi'
did not like the Wings those youthful days and later
III me- aiter had learned the story of the repeal Of the
Missouri compromise. which John NJ. clayton the high
Clay voted for and Daniel webster and many other
shining lights of the whg party in the Northern states
apoogzed for II they did not vote for liked the wings
The eight years Of my life in New Castle were very
Similar presume 20 the lives Of other boys Of ike
age age ana environment played skinny" and towns
bali on the green, hshed in dyke" went in swim
ming up the shore gathered walnuts the "Boweryn
az Hocom6s and Newloves, attended the District school
in the old Arsenal buildings under "od Man Grubb'
ana odd Pippin played George Grays big alled-in
yard got ride occasionally Jack BacNs beautiful
! little white pony, saw men whipped the whipping
post on the by the Jail WALL right In front of the
school house door Perry Bailey hung out on the
hares Corner road and got spanked for IT, slipped
! the shops of the New Castle Manufacturing Company
whenever had chance. and there. in the boiler shop
first made the acquaintance of John Callahan fore
man, whose firm friendship / then acquired which
lasted for long years until he afterwards. the
foreman OF large shop In this city and subsequently,,
! died here Not polished cultured man by any means
was John, but an honest large-heartcd true man. whom
any one might be glad to Know, and whose iendsbi
any man might be glad possess knew him well
for forty and though paths ia life widely
dverged after we frst met a child and he a vorn,
mani feel like paying this small tribute to man
Of admirable though humble life. and character Of
sterling worth
As everybody In New Castle did in those days I went
down to the railroad wharf the Battery every sum-
Robert Morris" the May boats. land their pas
sengers from Philadelphia and New York Baltimore
and Washington, via the New Castle and Frenchtown
Railroad II was great event in the daily life OF the
old town in summer time
Davis Of the bob Morris" called her Samuel
Cooper tall gaunt very deaf with large black stock
supporting very high "sand-up' shirt collar was the
presiding genius OF the railroad sixteen miles long and
all under one management" and what grand. great
in my hoy and
saw Henry Cay--or a very tall ugly man. 1 thought
/ then whom they said was Henry clay-among the pas
sengers from the boat the railroad evening
And the railroad The locomotive the trainl How
used 10 run out along the road and rc ON thc fsne ~
see them pass; and wave to Ben and Point the
promised myself that when got a man I would
! surely be an engineer fireman. least obi the
visions and dreams of childhood. they come but
+ My religious training in those early days was I am
Christian family the heads Of It being members the
Presbyterian Church and among earliest recoecons
in the old dearborn" the to Presbyterian
meeting" in New Castle; and Sunday school
IN the afternoon My teachers in the latter Miss
Margaret Darrach, and after her death. Emily
Schohed. Gentle. patient, Cody both. I seem
to see them now and to hear their kindly voices they
tried TO interest class Of restless. mschevous and
sometimes, unruly boys in the Word OF God.
stu into their youthful minds the eternal principles Of
religion and upright Christian living found theren and
found almost only there
And the morning service;
The Rev Or John b spotswood-though he was not
d. D. then think-soemn grave and reverend indeed
with his long sermons oh, long, I TO think
they would never end. have in my possession now a
| small volume OF the New Testament. with his name
and mine, written in his beautiful handwriting in
1SiS. the fly leaf which presented me at one of
the Sunday school exhibitions celebratonsthey had
them in those days, though not elaborate and inn
posing, perhaps, as now-for repeating tho Ten Com
mandments without break the mistake word
prize the little book highly only
Citations connected with It, but because tells why
eeved it. wonder If could repeat my part Of that
program as perfectly now2 l doubt il!
And the Church musicl
Old Mr. Arthur McCalmont the leader Of the choir
with his footing horn" TO call ST. a curious
little instrument that he blew the emitted
giving the pitch" OF the tune and Miss Sophia Moody
the principal female snger-'soprano," believe they
call them now-a- days-and the Of them They
certainly could lead the congregation in singing IIark