Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1911-03-08

there was in the South. Later on
1 came to understand more clearly
the an'mus of the southern attitude
toward northern strangers, and
felt better as the reasons for it be-
q. ne mere Ineligible to me.
70 clear understanding of the
site q. 4 in the South at that time,
it mt o. borne in mind that this
was the 'cyt Ter of 1859, when John
Brown OF l.awattmie made his
celebrated ra. ~ to Virginia. 1t is
perhaps needles. say that every
city in the south was profoundly
stirred by the old mans movement
against what they called The Di-
vine Institution" 1t did not occur
to me at the time, but in view OF
what aftorward came to pass, thsre
is no doubt in my mind that the
citizens of Memphis firmly believed
that we northern boys were part OF
an extensive influx of abolitionists,
who were making their way into
every part of the South, intending,
when a favorable opportunity pre-
sented itself, to strike blow at
slavery. They seemed to have had
the impression that there. was to be
a concerted movement all through
the southern states, in which John
Brown was conspicuous factor; so
we were looked upon with suspicion.
| think we were closely watched,
our every movement was shadowed
at night, at least that was the i'm
preston among US at the time and
it made us very careful what we
said and did. My letters from the
North were always opened and read
before / was permitted to receive
them. OF course / strenuously OBJ
jected to. what / regarded as an un-
warranted liberty, indeed as an out
rage. / protested against it to the
postmaster, but my protest was not
regarded, it did no good. He told
me there was a doctor, III. Green,
in the city, who claimed the letters.
WELL" l said, "he ought to
know by this time that those letters
belong to me, he has been reading
enough of them already to have
found that out, besides, the post
mark ought to be sufficient" Then
| added another III" to my name,
which l must admit compensated me
in some measure for the loss of SO
many "aitches" the first year or two
after / came to America.
Rather queer, it is not, that Broth
er Jonathan, who persistently
takes such unwarrantable liberties
with the final "g'' and the letter ''r, y
should make merry over the infirm-
ity of John Bull anent the much
abused "h," but such is human nat
ure, we are all slow to see ourselves
as others see us, the mote and the
beam play large part in the af
fairs of men. One evening during
my second year at Lyons, while play
ing with some of my companions, my
arm was accidently driven agains
fence post and injured, so as t.
cause me to c-y out with the pair
of it; whereupon one of my com
panions Lafe Sloan wanted tt
know What's the matter will
you?" i've 'urt my helbow,"
said. "Aw," he yelped, "that'
nothin'; I thought somethin' hare
had hit ye the way you was yellin
and takin' on over it,"
There is story told of the lat
Senators Hoar of Massachusetts ant
Blackburn of Kentucky, which ser
yes to illustrate the local or rathe
sectional peculiarities of speech il
some portions Of the United States
1t is well known that Kentuckian
have little use for the letter "r" a
terminal, while, on the othe
hand, the people of Massachusett
are prodigal in its use. A Massa
chusetts man will unblushingly as
sure you that the battleship I'm
dianar" steamed into the harbor a
: "Havanar, Cubar," in plain sight o
the "Alamedar de Paular." One o
: Mr.. Blackburn's constituents VIII
was visiting in Washington was anX
ious to see what Judge Hoar, o
whom he had heard a great deaI
looked like. He knew that the tw
Senator's were warm personal friend
so he asked Mr.. Blackburn one da
at the Capital. if Senator Hoar wa
in the room. mo, sub, Mr.. Black
burn replied, "Senatoh Ho is not o
the flo, l saw him so out at tha
do, at half past TO-"
To resume my narrative, afte
attaching the additional "H," be
came II. II. Green, and have bee