Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1934-07-26

at OllVe Green. our route TOOK us
over a great wooded hill and then
down a narrow valley past this old
John Foster, sr., home. This was
our halfway house." or resting
place We were never in a more
clever home-like place. Sometimes
was couldn't get away, they would
just compel us to stay and eat. The
Fosters were great people to argue.
On one of these occasions, when
other company was there, and we
had to stay for dinner, when on our
way back home, old "Uncle Johny,"
eve mean the senior uncle Johny)
and his wife got into an argument.
The old gentleman claimed that
words could be said, (powwow if
you please) that would stop the
running of blood. Mrs Foster said
it was no such thing, it couldn't be
done, and then the argument waxed
hot. Easton and his brother "Jim," !"
and others took sides, but it wasn't
settled. Granny Boney," as she
was Familiarity known, Easton's
grandmother, was living at the old
Foster home then. When she was
80 years old she would come past
our old home place walking, using
rough stick for a cane, on her
way to visit granddaughter, Mrs
Sarah Hoskins Once she came
along dragging a huge black snake
she had captured in the woods She
was an old pioneer and wouldn't be
afraid to face bear. A remark
able family, those Fosters.
That man up at Cleveland who
wrote to the state liquor director
asking for the privilege of making
whisky in the basement of his
house, strikes us as being the type
Of man that old Diogenes was look
ing for, and perhaps he's just the
man the city needs to assist in di-
recting their municipal affairs.
Snakes!
This is the time of the year that
people see snakes, real snakes.
Some people drink too much boot
leg, and they have snakes in their
boots" They are the imaginary
kind, even more dangerous. Ninety
five persons out Of a hundred are
snake when they see it. AS to cop
perheads, that's all right,-but
probably they are the only poison
Gus species around here, If you
want to see an excitement among
berry pickers, or picnickers, jut let
someone find a snake. Wife found
one comfortably located behind a
looking glass in the kitchen. From
the very beginning of the human
race we've had snakes, or serpents,
ience with one The ways of snakes
are not very well understood. Their
rapid locomotion over the ground.
and the way they capture birds is
not very clearly understood. Some
aver that snakes have legs, This is
a mistake. Agur, a man of wis
dom, who adds a chapter to King
collection Of Proverbs
(Chapter 30) says he doesn't un-
derstand snakes. Well just quote
what he says "There be three
things which are too wonderful for
me, yea, four which l know not
the way of an eagle in the air; the
way of serpent upon rock; the
way of ship in the midst of the
sea: the way of man with a
maid" Let us now see if, at the
present time, we cannot help Sol I
omon's contemporary out on, at
least, some of his problems. Weu
take them up in regular order:
First, "the way of an eagle in the
air." Since man has conquered the
air and planes are more numerous
than autos were 80 years ago, and
men have made study of aerial
navigation, of currents, and cross
currents of air, etc, it is cur guess
that birdmen have a very clear idea
as to how the eagle rises upward,
apparently without effort, and scars
away through the air. Second, The
way of a serpent upon rock" All
Of us have seen snakes out on logs,
rocks, ETC., exposing themselves. ,
but how long do they stay there, if
the sun is hot? Naturalists tell us
hat snakes cannot live long expos
I'd to the direct rays Of the sun;
that a rattlesnake left in the sun,
without any shade, will die in 20
minutes. While it is true that they
oask in the sunshine, they only re-
main for a short time in the direct .
'ays of the sun. That is new to
many of US, and is it any wonder
hat the old proverb collector
hought it strange? Now for the
bird one, "the way of ship in the
midst of the sea-" Today if you can
ind a sailor who has rounded Cape
Horn in a "wind-jammer," Ga ship
With sails) he can tell you aston
shing things how ships behave in
ime of a storm that is, If he lives
o tell the tale. But they don't all
20 down in the gale. They ride
through safely, apparently ready
md anxious for another onslaught.
f the matches are we'll battened
lown, even if the deck is awash,
md the steersman lashed to the
Wheel, that ship will seemingly per-
orm miracles in the midst of
.ruel, savage sea. But it was too
much of proposition for Agur.
Vow that leaves only one, the
ourth, ''the way of man with
maid" Here is where we "throw
lp the sponge" If any man, since
he days of Solomon, living or dead,