The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1917-02-15
THE LEON REPORTER, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 49, 1917
Letter From Mrs. Strong.
Geary, Oklaho1
Editnr- r enartar. A m sanding \


Geary, Oklahoma
Editor Reporter: Am sending you
the following for you to publish II
you wish to do SO. | was on program
for a paper at the Modern PRISCILLA
Thought perhaps it might while away
a few moments OF winter weather.
] had nothing to write about J. p,
only he exchanged four or five butfa-
10 nickels with another good looking
woman on the train as we came home
from Iowa, but as | had had such a
splendid good time while in Iowa l
forget the welcome we received from
everyone. | was SO sorry to hear OF
the death of Mrs. Eliza Craig. !
had known her from childhood and
everyone can say, one among the best
has gone. l have been anxiously
looking for a letter to appear in the
Reporter from Morris Gardner or his
Florida was like. OF course, when
put all will not have the privilege to
hear it. There are a few people
from Geary spending the winter
there.
Well next is my paper. l told the
Priscilla ladies l had put on my ear
ribbon SO l would look young. The
subject of my talk or discussion was:
How Can l Still Be Young at CO.,
This sketch or discussion is not al
together question of age but ex-
perience. VINO said l was young at
60. 1t has been so long ago since l
was 80 l have nearly forgotten how
young felt at SO years OF age for !
will be 70 in less than month. !
NAV 1onk np1v and Wrink1Q6 hlt |
have never really felt old, have al
ways looked through the eyes OF
youth at everything along life's rug
ged pathway. That is what everyone
should do if they want or wish to
live to grow old. Madame Bernhard
SAYS love and happiness is the true = e
feel and keep young if they loved
life and loved humanity, love people:
love life, love work and you will
never really grow old. l will tell
you how great was my tenacity to
hold onto life so would eventually
live to be old. l remember hearing
my father say he carried me in his
arms for days had such a feeble
arms had been twice emptied in sue
cession l must have had all the care
loving mother can bestow on her
child. Then l remember at years
of age l was riding behind one OF
my aunts on horseback across Jack
Mountains, Virginia. Her horse SHE'D
l tumbled off in a snow.bank and
ground was covered with rocks;
Again at II years of age: l had
whooping cough which developed into
pneumonia and for days death was
expected at any moment. A scream
saved my life that time SO the doctor
told me afterwards. In those days
doctors methods were quite different
him take some kind of an instrument
out of his case, place it on my chest
and touch spring. 1t lanced 16
little scratches at once, then he took
some little glass bulbs just like an
electric light bulb when lit.
thought they were filled with fire
He placed them on my chest where
he had lanced it. l screamed and my
happened in old Virginia and when
we came to Iowa the boat we took
passage on sank in the Mississippi
river. l was truly glad l escaped
again and on the same river at FIT
| Madison I was skating and fell anG
cracked my head. 1t has always re-
manned somewhat cracked. No fool
no fun followed me at all merry
clown myself | had great love fol
all kinds of exercise. l always kept
my youthful love for horses, both to
ride and drive. l meyer missed a
year without taking a horse back
ride until was so, I also danced my
last dance. At As happened to find
| some gray hairs. And at that age
but to go back to the tenacity of life
I hung to and my great desire to live
and be merry and have good time
l WAS thrown on rock piles and in
bitches, a scary horse threw me into
the midst of large flock Of sheep,
sure thought l was gone by the
time the last one jumped over me.
Mothers would say when their daugh-
tiers wanted to ride wild or skittish
never made any difference to me. My
mother died when l was IA. That
was the first great sorrow of my life
and life was not so joyous after that
as there was one brother and two sis
tiers younger than ]. The care,
trouble and anxiety proved great
burden on my father. / always re-
if could not go in good company to
stay at home. How inconceivably
different things are in the present
day. At IS | took a severe cold in
the winter of IS, seemed as though
l could not get relief from pers s.
tent cough. An old lady, Mrs. Puck
EFT, knew of my mother dying with
consumption and told me if | did not
get married | would also die of the
same disease. Well, did not want
to die and could not get married for
the fellow ! had in view was in the
far west, trying to follow Horace
Greeley's advice, grow up with the
country So in the meantime Mr..
Strong came along, and at 10 | mar
ried him. l always said ] would not
marry man unless he had team of
horses, not oxen as they had SO many
years ago. Well he had a team, but
one of them was blind in one eye,
and he nearly stepped off bridge
with me the first time rode him so
l did not get very much but l soon
got more than l bargained for, for
at "a l had four babies and did not
start until had been married a