Gilpin observer., 1908-05-07
Copyright. by Joseph B. Bowles.)


slowly emerge for the last rites in the
drama of Uncle Billy"
Country churchyards are generally
very beautiful spots, and flowers grow
in them on all Sides The sense Of an
eternal Sabbath seems brooding
among the white headstones and over
the soft, grassy mounds that heave
between the quiet paths.
When we did not go to church we
used to drift of to the woods and lie
down under the century, oaks and
watch the sunshine sift down on the
grass and the leaves. There was an
indescribable sense Of perspective in
looking into the tops of these wood
land elders and wondering just what
life and color and motion had passed
before them in long review since the
time when the tree first sprung as
sapling from the hillsides.
One OF these oaks slanted from an
abrupt slope towards a shallow creek
and under 1t a spring bubbled up,
where watercresses grew, and where
the meadow-frogs rendezvoueu. To
this spring resorted sundry catbirds.
| jays and robins. fitting their heads
back and draining the cool water with
| particular relish. Fox squirrels
| scampered up and down the broad in
| cline OF this great tree. and occasional
| ly wayfaring crows perched in the top
most branches. Tho grass beneath 1t
was thick and soft, and a continual
breeze seemed ever-present in its up
per twigs, however still the air was at
its base. 1t was a veritable cloister.
THE groves were Gods first temples: ere
| man learned
| To hew the shaft. and lay the archi-
| trave."
And many an hour we dreamed and
mused under the shade OF this forest
| leviathan until the waning sun threw
shadows down from western battle
| ments
| In the pastures and meadows the
sheep nibbled, budding in woolly
mass at the approach Of any intruder,
and dashing away in panic at the sight
of dog. Cattle grazed on the slopes,
or. at the approach Of noon, chewed
the cud in the shade Of elms and
naples.
After church was over the Sunday
| SCuoolS tOOh up, anu Tie SoA6
Sunday school hymns and studied or
recited their lessons until the time
came for them to go home. The usual
custom after church was to go visit
ing" This meant another hitching up
OF the horses and trip of from three
to seven miles to some neighbor' s.
there to unhitch and stay to supper
and to sit around and discuss all the
news Of the neighborhood.
The morning sermons are thrashed
over. the funeral, If there has been
one. carefully gone over. and the ante
cedents of the deceased, and Of his
immediate relatives commented on.
Crops always furnish fruitful theme
for argument or prophecy. and the
men and the women invariably sep
arate and talk in different groups. The
men often gravitate to the barn. the
women to the parlor, and the children
usually play in the yards. Visiting"
Is one of the tokens Of society among
the married folks. and the organ is
generally pressed into service and a
little Sunday music and singing in
dulged in. A girl who can play the
|
which is considered an enviable one
in the country.
The advent OF some one from a dis
tant settlement always is hailed with
great interest, and I have seen such
an arrival crossquestioned at length
by group of interested bystanders. A
man like that usually has a grist of
fresh news to dispense, and until he Is
pumped dry is an object of general in
terest.
One of the peculiarities in life in
the country is the fact that a great
many families are related to one an.
other by marriage. and nearly every
body is everybody else's thirty-second
cousin. The result is that there is a
sort Of tab" kept by each person on
all the births. deaths and marriages
that occur in the surrounding counties.
and the interest manifested never
grows less on account of this distant
relationship.
Even when a man takes his family
and moves to another state he general
ly takes his old paper. just to see how
things are progressing in his old coun.
ty. and when he comes back, as he
often does, to take up his residence in
the same neighborhood from whence
he formerly departed, he is up to
date" as to the neighborhood happen.
ings. and can tell just who has died,
who's been married. and all other
items of local moment.
These Sunday "visitings" arc the
free-for-all debating societies OF the
district. and friendships are cemented
or feuds started at them. according to
circumstances.
No business IL ever transacted on
Sunday. and the inevitable remark is,
"I'll SEQ you tomorrow about that" II