F 159 .L2 L4 Copy 2 Columbia treats her strangers weel, The langer kent she grows mair dear, And aff the heath nae Scot can feel So much at hame as here! Columbia— Calebonia^ H ScottisbaBmerican Song. " Thy spirit, Independence, let me share, Lord 0/ (he Lion heart and Eagle eye ! " I. The land we left— aye to us dear! We've sung it lood and lang; But hae we nae a country here As worthy o' a sang? While Scotland's name and Scotland's fame Wl' us can never dee, Columbia noo we've made oor hame, And praise to her we'll gie! The Mither Land! The Mither Land! Let's couple wi' her name The Independent ither land We noo hae made oor hame! II. Shak' oot the starry banner's fauld, And let the Thistle wave; The rampant Lion's nae mair bauld Than is the Eagle brave! The land we're in's a peerless land, As big as Scotia's wee; Weel worthy by her side to stand And aye oor hame to be! We'll ne'er forget the Mither Land, Nor need a Scot think shame To sing wi' pride the ither land We noo hae made oor hame! III. The hame we had— the hame we hae! O, lang and far ye' 11 ca' Afore ye meet, if e'er ye may, Wi' sic anither twa! Auld Caledonia's first and best O' lands across the sea; And here's the glory o' the West, The country o' the free! God's blessings on the Mither Land, And a' within the same, And also on the ither land We noo hae made oor hame! —JAMES D. LAW. F 159 .L2 L4 Copy 2 Xancastet— ©16 anb Bew 3Bi? James S>» Xaw It's but a little local rhym© With no pretence at special skill; I singr not of a far-off clime, I write not with a classic quill. I never saw Parnassus Hill Nor drank from Helicon sublime: My rhyme's a little local rhyme With no pretence at special skill. And yet, for those who have the time To take the good and leave the 111 The music of its homely chime A plaasant hour may haply fill, Altho' it's but a local rhyme With no pretence at special skill. "TOKtb tbc Compliments of tbe autbor "Consider all that lies in that one word PAST! What a pathetic, sacred, in every sense POETIC, meaning is Implied in it; a meaning growing ever the clearer, the farther we recede in Time,— the MORiE of that same Past we have to look through!— On which ground indeed must Sauerteig have built, and not without plausibility, in that strange thesis of his: 'That History, after all, is the true Poetry; that Reality, if rightly inter- preted, is grander than Fiction; nay that even in the right Interpretation of Reality and History does genuine Poetry con- sist.' " — Carlyle. "An artist that works in marble or colors has them all to himself and his tribe, but the man who moulds his thoughts in verse has to employ the ma- terials vulgarized by everybody's use, and glorify them by his handling."— Holmes. Special Notice. in^ Mr. Law will consider himself under special obligation to any one who may point out errors, either of omission or commission, and any new material re- ceived will be incorporated In the next edition. LANCASTER-OLD AND NEW LAW |tt pijemoriattt |pam0tt gr0$ms "Native here and to the manner born." But yesterday we saw and hailed our friend As, full of life, he passed along the street: Ere dawn to-day his heart had ceased to beat, So swiftly did the fatal stroke descend, The knell that none could fail to comprehend, The certain summons that we all must meet; And now the glory of a higher seat Succeeds the term that here has reached its end ( A soldier-statesman: in his chosen field We honored him as our repeated choice Until his name was to the nation known ; And at the last, with all his worth revealed, While we lament we also can rejoice That brilliant Brosius was our very own. March 16, 1901. J. D. L. REVISED AND ENLARGED COPY LANCASTER- OLD AND NEW AN ADDRESS PKLIVERED BEFORE THE LANCASTER BOARD OF TRADE JANUARY 9 1902 BY JAMES D. LAW Author of " Dreams o' Hame," " The Sea-Shore of Bohemia," " Columbia- Caledonia," and other Scottish and American Foems. PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR AT LANCASTER, PA., U. S. A. January 25, 1902. .L /■ Dedicated TO My Fellow Members OF the Lancaster Board of Trade. i Lots of wit and lots of humor!— As we all were gather'd there Some to see us might have fancied we had never known a care! Just as well a man can bury Life's vexa- tions for a time, Only by a sour-faced bigot is a frolic deemed a crime. Smile, my brother, when you want to, whereso'er your lot be cast. Never mind the musty proverb, 'He laughs best who laughs the last.' 'Better late,' I know, 'than never,' but we also must allow None can glorify the future looking sad and gloomy Now! Leave To-morrow's cares and worries till To-morrow's clouds appear. Millions scenting distant trouble miss the blossoms soatter'd Here. Of the phantoms of the fancy Fear has been the poison asp. Sucking all the life and pleasure from the things within our grasp. Melancholia breeds but cobwebs in the chambers of the brain: Laughter like the bright Aurora scatters Sunshine in its train: — Light and Life and all the Graces smiling down from skies of blue. Thro' their rosy-tinted fingers dripping balm like healing dew: — Laughter! — Nature's best elixir for a thousand human ills With no after-tang to follow in the shape of doctor's bills! Copyright, 1902, BY J. D. LAW. "LANCASTER: OLD AND NEW." There is a common saying that everybody else linows more about our business than we do ourselves; and, while I confess I have sometimes felt that it surely must be so, I do not ask any of you, gentlemen, to subscribe to such a statement. It is. however, gen- erally admitted, I believe, that in com- ing to a new locality a stranger is apt to notice many things that are over- looked by native residents. As a com- parative newcomer I must at the out- start plead guilty to having been to some extent "a chiel amang ye takin' notes;" but when it is known that I only take them to give them back again I do not altogether fear your censure. Furthermore, when I succeed in securing for my "notes" the en- dorsement of the Lancaster Board of Trade I am satisfied if they may never reach general acceptance they will not locally, at least, be allowed to go to protest. In the brief time at my disposal I can only touch on a few items, and the exigencies of the occasion must serve as an excuse for the fragmentary char- acter of my address. No matter how or where we approach the subject, Lancas- ter is always interesting. John Wright, of Old England, began us right by giving us the classical name of his birthplace. When the Romans invaded Britain more than two thousand years ago, they established a castle or camp on the banks of the River Lone, or Lune, and from this "Lune-Ceaster" comes the name of Lancaster. Spenser men- tions it in his "Faerie Queene," it figures largely in Michael Dray- ton's "Barons' Wars," and through no less than seven of Shake- speare's immortal dramas it plays a prominent part. In the fourteenth century the Scots swooped down on the old town, almost wiping it out of existence; and it is interesting to note that in the twentieth century some of the same race are to be found doing r 6 their best not to r-a-z-e, but to r-a-i-s-e our modern Lancaster, which is cer- tainly a good way to expiate the sins of their ancestors. Having had occa- sion recently to invoke the Muse in favor of some local topics I jumped into the arena with no little misgiving, you may truly believe. Mlg-ht I the facts like Mombert scoop, had I the inspiration Of such as Harris, Ford or Rupp, or Evans' information! Could I but only for a while the lyre of Kieffer borrow The Art of StaufEer or the style of Mar- tin or of Morrow! Did I like Diffenderffer write, like Steinman or like Sener, How much in learning and in light my page would be the gainer! Had I but Dr. Dubbs's pen or Clare and Whitson's pencil,* Some finer strokes I surely then might undertake to stencil. But if they may be under par in spirit and in letter, Accept my verses as they are, till some one gives us better. One of the first things that struck me in regard to Lancaster county was its beautiful natural scenery. As a con- crete example, I recall a lovely April afternoon, in company with some friends. The City clocks were striking four as Grandview was receding And soon bv Pequea's lovely shore the Day Express was speeding— * Why wait until their final call and then in polished phrases Beside the coffin and the pall begin to sing their praises? Far rather would I hear, indeed, a puff in plain prosaics Than have my weeping widow read my name in elegaics! So bear in mind if any laud you ever think of giving. It's not unlawful to applaud a fellow while he's living. I have but small respect for those whose pride can ne'er be tickled. Could I arrange it, goodness knows they'd all be caught and pickled. While men can taste and see and hear and gauge and weigh and measure A little bit of wholesome cheer can give them no displeasure. Away with all the mawkish airs of him who makes pretension And says he neither knows nor cares how folks his name may mention! The ladies don't— the pretty dears^n their polite dominion, But happy is the man who hears an- other's good opinion. The Train that yet for all its pace was so accommodating It stopped to leave us at the place where teams were for us waiting. It took no little driving skill as well as concentration Unsqueezed to climb the Bleak House Hill from Kinzer's Railway Station, But when at last we reached the top and cast our eyes about us Soon did the beauties of the stop begm to thrill throughout us: A sense of joy we all agree and gratitude came o'er us That we were yet alive to see the scenes ^rf.r--, thait lay before us: / The mountains rising on the left where J observation ended. 1 By some manipulation deft seemed with I the azure blended. I The nearer ranges in their swell like \ waves upon the ocean, \ As shadows o'er them rose and fell, ap- » peared to be in motion. 1 And through the haze, as in a dream, \ with smoky pennons trailing, I We saw the whitewashed houses gleam i like stately vessels sailing. x)h, what a peaceful, happy land, where yachts are made from stables, And battleships are built and mann d from snowy-tinted gables! Where daring sailors plow the fields with heavy canvass'd clippers, And where the apple orchard yields as enterprising shippers! Upon our right as rare a scene our rov- ing eyes delighted, And not a speck of black or green was in the prospect slighted. The trains, the woods, the Nickel Mines, the homes and fields so pretty, To mention all would strain the lines of my impromptu ditty. As has been Better said than I can say it, Lancaster county has always been noted for its superiority in pro- viding for the inner man. Recently I had a good illustration of the ruling passion strong at ninety, and will quote the incident in its entirety, be- cause, in addition to an interesting bill of fare, I have attempted to fix with more or less fidelity a few of the idioms of speech that I thinlc are pecu- liar to this part of Pennsylvania: Believing with the greater bards of yore. Like Shakespeare, Milton. Byron, Moore and Burns, On all that may pertain to homely themes, Where inborn sense is joined to mother wit, The truest critics are the common folk, I sought a man, a native of the place, To him some samples of my verse I read, And far beyond my hope or my deserts 8 My farmer friend, of man's allotted age. Approved my sketches and pronounced them g-ood. But just as I, elated with the praise (To only say what some would fail to say, Or make pretenses that it mattered not), Had reached the passage touching off the sights So common once on Yearly Settling Day, My single hearer was, to his surprise And my instruction, by his father joined. Six feet and over in his stocking soles He must have measured ere he passed his prime. And bending now across his oaken staff. His back supporting more than ninety years. His ruddy cheek yet mantled fresh and clean Against the silver of his straggling hairs— A rose implanted in a wreath of snow- He heard me read, and when I reached the end "There's more," said he, "than what you say is all — Indeed and double— lots of things I've saw. Yes, ev'ry which way that you care to turn. That Time has outen'd since I was a boy. If you kin stay I'll let you know a while— Your stuff is just so middlin', so I sink— Eusebius Hershey is my pik for rhymes: Not heavy like a piece of silly bread. Nor strubly— no— and lasty as the sun. His 'Living Poem' I have got it onct. And read it in the after— ev'ry day— I've seen him yet already preaching still!" And so, not much unlike "The Inland Ship Of Commerce," once familiar in our vales With "gee" and "haw," the old man ram- bled on. His curious phrases, quite beyond my art In all their faithfulness to reproduce. I had forgotten— so he sadly said— To "make a mention" of the old-time school, When boys and girls would bar their teacher out Until he treated them to sweets and fruit. Then, at the thought of something good to eat, A brighter light came dancing in his eyes, And with a wealth of eulogistic words He smacked his lips as he recalled the list Of dainties common in his younger days: The Apple Butter and the Souss and Sass, The Apple Dumplings and the Schnitz and Knep, Sour-krout and butter-bread and "kauphy- soup" (I write the last as it was writ for me)! And kichlin cakes, kohl-slaw and liver- wurst And "chighans from the bott" and raisin Pie! ("My daddy had no breakfast if he lacked His smear-kase mixed with garlic — and his pipe!") And then he took a turn and spoke of Schpooks, 9 And Pow-wow doctors that would puff and blow And mumble words until a sickly child Was of its ailments and its aches re- lieved; And when he had got fairly started in On Huskings, Quiltings, and the Parties met For Singing— all such interesting themes— A passmg shadow and a puff of wind Upset his eloquence and changed his look; 'I fear," said he, "that it will give a gust— And like enough will soon make some- thing down. It has a crutch agin a pleasant time— I'll have to go and make the back-door shut!" So with my thanks I said a quick Good- bye To reach my home before the rain came on, Delighted greatly with the old man's talk. While some of the items of our old friend's list I have never seen, I can cheerfully testify that in modern ban- quets Lancaster can ably hold her ovni. An opportunity was given me not long ago to attend an informal gathering, which opened up a chance for some verses by way of dessert. There we found a groaning table in ap- pointments spick and span, Nothing lacking one could wish for to re- fresh the inner man. If some may think I have more nuts than candy in my confectionery they must blame the subject and not the writer: Ah, when will we together get again in such a party With such a feast before us set and ap- petites so hearty? From soup to shad, from shad to lamb^ we zigzagged on, erratic, Down all the line to cheese and ham and mocha aromatic; Forgetting not the sparkling wine with which the whole was savor'd The new strawberries, big and fine, so fresh and sweetly flavor'd; —^ And Cream! It was so rich and nice, if , one had kept the tally, I'll bet it came from Paradise— beneath us in the valley! Perhaps you think to suit my rhyme I ( have the place invented; \ That merely with a word to chime my / verse has been augmented; C But bless ye, no— we have it sure and lots / of others rarer, f From common Clay and Bareville pure to Bear's a little barer! We're not so great as Father Penn ta vaunt such names as Andy, 10 Pocopson, Paint and Robber's Den; w© have no Woodcock handy. We crave no Moon, Oil Creeic nor Peach, and neither are we Icicking' To know that Wolf's beyond our reach and N'ippenose and Licking. No Chest is ours, nor Loyal Sock, nor are we yet so crazy To own New Freedom, Slippery Rock, Scrubb Grass, Snow Shoe and Daisy. It's true we have not yet begun to give a place like Rush room, Or Warrior's Mark or Warrior's Run or Cberrytree or Mushroom. Fair Chance, Four Coons and Sugartown, Cornplanter, Muff and Minnie We have to pass with Eagle's Crown, Parnassus and Shickshinny. We're not so rich as we have been; we've lost John Harris' Ferry, Our Robinson no more is seen, nor Beam nor dear old Derry. Peshtank and Hallem, too.are gone, Man- chester and Montgomery Are now to us as much unknown aa Heidelberg and Cumry. The Signboards may be taken down and in our local babble No more we mention Pinchguttown or once far famed Hardscrabble. No longer may we proudly know such morsels fat and juicy As Fiddlers' Green and Beggars' Row, Seyschwamp and Noodledoosey; But we can surely not complain of what time has bereft us While on our map we still retain a list like what is left us. What other county in the land within such compass narrow Can boast of names like Bird-in-Hand, Letort and Octoraro! Salunga, Chickies, Kissel Hill, Cocalico, Vinola, Fertility and Puseyville, Lobata and Leo la- Are but a few I can recall in quite a careless gleaning. With music in them one and all regard- less of the meaning. To get a sound to fitly go with little Cone- wago You cannot show us less than show the city of Chicago! We have a Greenland, also Lapps for those who love the Arctic, But home explorers may perhaps be satis- fied with Martic. If one should find Sadsbury sad or Provi- dence unpleasant A smiling Eden may be had where May is always present! We've Windom "to the Manor born" (as oft it's wrongly written) And Donegals that look with scorn on Bart and Little Britain! Colerain and Lyles we can produce as worthy of attention. And Schoeneck, Iva, Pool and Truce we should not fail to mention. Tho' I believe in Irish O's we may be somewhat barren. 11 There's not a Mac. nor Mc. but knows the comforts of McSparran. We've Lincoln. Newton. Andrew's Bridge. New Holland and New Texas yike s Peak and Ronk's and Black Oak ■nrr ^^^Se and Vici to perplex us. we have no Monk, but in Mt. Joy we never lack a Florin, While names like Narvon and Conoy to us are nowise foreign! Why need our wooers waste their breath when those who chance to get a Kefusal from Elizabeth can go to Mari- etta ! If no Rebecca we can claim, we have a sweet Rowenna, But those who think Acadia tame in vain will seek Gehenna. Our Unicorn's no fabled horse, our Buck's domesticated. And long for pleasant Intercourse we have been celebrated. In Kinderhook or Amsterdam the Dutch can hold communion; Grand Army "Vets can drink a dram at Junction or at Union; We ve Silver Springs and Muddy Creek for Sober Water Drinkers; Churchto'wn and Kirkwood both bespeak no lack of pious thinkers; For Scots we have got Aberdeen,— a something of a station. Safe Harbor always is serene for rural navigation; If Pittsburg fails to satisfy, a Smoke- town we can offer, And though we have no Drexel nigh a Ledger we can proffer. What need to seek the Holy Land so far across the ocean? We have Bethesda near at hand, a Bethel and a Goshen. For Cockneys we have London Grove for buyers always Sellers; Long since our Goodville angels drove the imps away from Hellers. Pedantic Boston drummer chaps who call potatoes "tubers" Oan drum more business up perhaps at Hubley's than at Ruber's. Our Sorrel Horse might well be stuck be- side the best of Ascot, And we need never lack for luck as long's we have a Mascot. Blue Ball, White Rock, Red Run and Rhecm's we show amongst our lingxD And Pleasant Grove in quiet dreams not far from Conowlngo. We have a Talmage in our bounds, yet Sports unchecked may revel At Sporting Hill or on the grounds sur- rounding Chestnut Level; Or break their necks in Brecknock's plains, or simply dump their cargo At Hains or Cains or Hell's Gate Lanes, Eldora or Camargo! Within our borders may be found both Leacock and Lampeter And many other names that sound too rugged for my meter. Like Vera Cruz, and Monterey, Tayloria. Gap and Dissler; 12 But "one by one" the rest to say I leave to— Simon Shissler! Sufficiently I think I've shown with all our gifts from Nature We pretty well can hold our own in local nomenclature. This long digression please excuse, we still were at the table Enliven'd with the latest news and anec- dotes so able. And then the witty joke and jest, the laughter ever present, The repartee and all the rest that flow'd and flash'd incessant,— O. reader, could my lines but be so bright- ly interlarded. For all the time you give to me you would be well rewarded! What tho! some stories were not new it made but little matter, Were chestnuts barr'd but precious few Bon mots we'd have to scatter; When what is told is fresh to me in but the slightest feature Why, what care I how old it be to any other creature. There's not a verse in modern lore how- ever bards have striven But what its twin from days of yore I doubt not could be given. Should living Poets therefore cease their Sonnets to be stringing?— The birds as soon might hold their peace nor plague us with their singing. There's room for all— for all a chance; if they should not approve you Let Criticasters go to France, but never let them move you! A proof of how well Lancastf^r cared for the public in her early his- tory may be found in the splendid list of Inns, Hotels, Taverns and Road- houses scattered throughout our city and county. The old names also natu- rally suggest old people, times and manners, so I make no apology for ap- pending a few reflections by way of footnotes to the catalogue: Ye Anciente Innes— our old Hotels!— to name them thro' and thro' Would conjure up ((whatever else) a pretty fair-sized Zoo. We had "The Lion" and "The Lamb," "The Unicorn," "The Bear," "The Leopard," "Turtle," "Bull" and Buck" and "Horses" by the pair; "The Flying Angel," "Golden Fleece," "The Eagle" and "The Cat;" "The Rainbow" and "The Thirteen Stripes," "The Compass" and "The Hat;" "The Cross Keys" and "The Globe" dis- played their hospitable charms In friendly competition with "The Penn- sylvania Arms;" 13 '"^^^..r^'^^T^.^^ Prussia" Siernboard near ..T^ ^"^ Washingrton" was seen, The Franklin" and "The William Pitt" beside "The Indian Queen." For those who did not like "The Ship " <.rr.u ??® Fountain" could be found, ' The Harp," "The Wheat Sheaf," "Wa- terloo ' or "Grape," no less re- nowned; *"^*^®..r?,i^*^:;i"-Hand," "The Rising- Sun," The Wag-on" and "The Wayne,"— And many more whose g-lory ne'er can be revived again! The other day I stood before the old colonial "Plow," And thought how very great the change between the Past and Now! If Lyman Gage thro' Lancaster his course should chance to steer It's hardly likely he would look for "food and lodging" here. And yet this very place and house we positively know Was g-ood enough for Gallatin a hundred years ago. Last Sunday night, in musing mood, when all was hushed and still Prom German street with easy pace I climbed the Queen street Hill And took a stroll around the site where once had stood "The Swan," A hostelry of great repute in ages past and gone. As Fancy waved her magic wand, erasing what was new, How many g-limpses of the Past were brought before my view! I saw the Bartons— big- and small— old Thomas of St. James, Who loved his king- so well he shirked _, the Young Republic's claims; The famous Botanizing- Ben whom Andre taught to draw; The Doctor with the best advice to bind a broken jaw; Matthias with his Ores and Clays, hia Honor Will, the Judge, And Lawyer Wash., the silver-tongued whose merits none could grudge; I saw old Father Beates pass, and roving Henry Boehm, Who lived to realize in part his Methodis- tic dream; I saw the noted Eberman, who made our first Town Clock; Saw Bishop Seybert stop to greet a mem- ber of his flock; I saw Lord Altham, as a hind, for Bar- ber's prison bound; And Temperance Black and Eberle In medicine renowned; I heard the hated Hankes harangue against Masonic Arts; Saw Draughtsman Scott expose for sale his Lancasterian charts; Caught Bishop Peter Eby's voice as in his well-known vein He told the story of the Cross in Men- nonlstic strain; I siaw the Martyr'd Dickson led to edit in the jail The sheet that never could be gagged nor forced to trim its sail; 14 I saw the Graver Peter Getz, whose work was deemed so fine The Washingtonian first cent piece was made from his design; I heard the Post boy blow his horn and shortly with Its load "The Good Intent," in all Its pride, came rumbling down the road; I saw Judge Grosh, as big as life, re- turning from a drive And bravely seated by his side his Mrs. Number Five; I heard Miss Slough's piano fill the Square with sweet perfume As once again she play'd for me "The Rose Tree in full bloom;" Saw Baron Humboldt when he came with laurel in-Jiis hand To greet our Clergyman, the famed Lin- naeus of our land; And heard his brother hum the lines by which he's known the best. Adopted as a Standard Hymn despite his warm protest; "He would not aiway" live, he said — "he did not ask to stay" And soon to old St. Luke's, New York, the Poet went away; Saw Dr. Priestley come to town from Strasburg where he stayed Before the Susquehanna's banks he ven- tured to invade; Saw Champneys on a champing steed, Herr Smith and Dickey, too, And here and there a color'd m'an and here and there a Jew; Saw Steinmans, Heinitsches, Demuths, whose business signs they say Six score of years ago were here as they are here to-day; —«/ Saw Caldwells, Cassels, Cochranes, Erbs and Kauffmans by the score, Perees and Graffs and Fahnestocks and many others more. Upon a barrow standing near some local books were shown Whose tempting titles made me wish that they might be my own; "The Chronicon," "The Martyr's Book," and others in the dress That first they wore when they were launched from our first printing press; A pamphlet set from Coulter's type, a most inviting pile, Of Broadsides, Ballads. Bills and Tracts in Chattan's finest style; The pious "Vision" seen and penn'd by Herr with such effect It made our first New Mennonite the Bunyan of his sect. "The Prayer of Love" by Geist, who still is spared to use his pen; Some "Twisted Threads" by some one else, but now beyond my ken; "Colloquial Phrases— Bhrenfried;" and, what is still more rare, A German Folio Bible made by "Alman- acker" Baer, A bunch of modest bits of Verse, some Sermons bound in calf, With Lawyer's Books and "Oriflammes —I could not name the half; 15 But all I know were worth my time, re- stricted tho' it be, Had I been granted but the chance to 'talie them home with me. Beside the heap a little box I noticed loaded full With "Tickets for a Drawing" held "to build a Publick School," Recalling in their vividness the free and easy Age When all such schemes were legalized and very much the rage. They helped to build our Streets and Roads, and Churches much revered We still have standing in our midst that thus were financiered. Indeed, some towns were started so, and started fairly right, Tho' some" again, like Bridgeton, boomed, and disappeared from sight: — Not thine, O breezy Brownington, be such a fate to share. Thy castles ail too lovely are to leave them in the air! It would be quite impossible to exhaust my topic if I talker^ for a week. After I thought I had handled the subject fairly well, I had an experience last summer that ena- bled me greatly to enrich my pages. I ask your indulgence while 1 relate the circumstances, as my adventure per- tains to one of the most illustrious characters associated with the name of Lancaster: It was the hour when light begins to wane And underneath the garlands and the flags Columbia's heroes in their honor'd graves Had heard the echoes of the last salutes, The bands of music and the silver tongues That told the story of Memorial Day. Through Rossmere Tract companion'd by my dog With pensive step I made my easy way Until I paused before the modest shaft That marks the site where stood the house where lived The Statesman, Lawyer and the patriot Chief, Of all our Citizens the only one That left his name upon the Roll of Fame Whose lustre Time can never blot or dim. While speculating on the sacred spot As darkness thickened there appeared to me A man I took to be of middle age. His wig, his breeches and his coat and vest His hat and shoes, colonial one and all, But yet so well they graced the hallow'd ground So smoothly joined the current of my thoughts And he so plainly was so much at home I was not startled as I might have been, 16 And unabashed, "Good Evening, Friend," I said. He nodded kindly as if not displeased. And thus encourag-ed I resumed my talk: "How comes it. Judge, that I behold you here? You cannot tell me you were overlooked And were not asked to join the "Yellow Cats," For once disparted from their bags of green To meet at Ephrata to feast to-night?"— He sweetly smiled and answer'd, "I sup- pose The limit line had somewhere to be drawn And since the Host took all the living bar 'Twas wise I think to let the dead ones rest. I knew, besides, that I should meet with you And having watched you in your recent work (If task so pleasant could be counted such!) I thought my time with profit might be spent ! In speaking to you on your chosen • theme!" With keen delight my thanks I stammer'd out And sitting down upon the grassy bank The very spot where once perhaps he sat When he decided in his heart, to write The autograph that now so much is prized ; And risk his fame, his fortune and his life \ For Independence and the end of Kings, He cleared his throat and speaking slow- ly said: Too much entirely you have overlooked That should be surely mentioned in your verse: As one who sits before a living screen That seems to move in panoramic style I see before me in its ceaseless flow The Stream of Time unfolding like a scroll. And as the pictures that appear to lead Go flitting by now more or less distinct, In briefest phrases I will note the scenes That most impress me as they glide along. / GEORGE ROSS SPEAKS: / The prospect opens with the distant Past f When James the First was wearing Britain's Crown And all our country was a forest vast Of little value and of less renown. The Susquehannocks and the Shawanese Delighted then upon our hills to roam Or by the Creeks amongst the mighty trees Erect the Wigwams that they called a Home. Of Shakespeare's era, of his kin and kith. No stranger doubtless to our mighty bard The great Explorer Pocahontas Smith Presents a sketch that claims our brief regard : ^ 17 A g'iant Indian in his hunting dress Prepared alike for either friend or foe, The native ruler of the Wilderness His sceptre symbol'd in his bended bow. Then came the Age of Quaker William Penn, The French-Canadians and their trading schemes When Chief Opessah and his leading men So oft broke in upon the White Man's Dreams. Here moved the Chartieres and made their abode, Pierre Bizaillon also settled here. And left his Epitaph in "Peter's Road" Our one reminder of his long career. Scotch-Irish, Welsh, and English settlers next With Swiss and Germans came upon the scene. And through a "purchase" or a worse pretext Commenced locating in our rich de- mesne. The Smiths their trials with the Lowrys share. Each man equipp'd with Bible and with gun— Ah, who can tell how much they had to bear From "Cresap's War" until the "Bloody Run!" Now far transplanted from his native land The Douglas in the Piersol found a friend; "A kindly Scot lies here"— of all he plann'd The only record of his final end. Here also lived the Semples and G-al- braiths, Tbe Wilkins, Harrises and many more, And here occurr'd the first of all the deaths That later on such awful fruitage bore: When Tbomas Wright was by an Indian killed With perfect truth it may be briefly said: Each drop of blood that day at Snake- town spilled Before the end was by a life repaid. Such names as Mylin, Kendig. Hess and Bare, The Frantzes, Landises, the Herrs, the Gales, Hostetter, Brenneman and Shirk and Hare Were common now amongst our Glens and Dales. Inl Donegal but here and there to quote, We had the Andersons, the Scotts, the Speers; ^ 18 Sterrits and Porters we might also note And Fords and Pattersons of later years. Amongst our Welsh came Davis Foulke and Jones. Ellis and Eivans and a score beside VV hose patronymics still our country owns And still can mention with no little pride. The Swiss, the Germans and the English stuck. But with a few exceptions by the way Still further West the bold Scotch-Irish struck Till they are over all the West to-day. More peaceful times now came upon the land And white and red men might be seen to meet At "Gibson's Pastures," as we under- stand, The site where now we have our County Seat. From Oberbach the saintly Beissel came To whose opinionative zeal we owe The sect that brought to Eiphrata the fame That yet surrounds it with a dying glow. In cloister'd cells that still are shown us there, Like monks and sisters of the Church of Rome Austere in lodging and in garb and fare The pious Baptists made their hermit home.* A strange community, we must confess. To judge them only from their outward guise, But in their Schools and in their Printing Press, They proved their culture and their en- terprise. Their Books of Music and their Painted Charts That still the studies of the learned en- gage Attest a leaning to the finer Arts Within our borders in a bygone Age. They came as softly as the falling deiw. They lived in peace and when they came to die They disappeared as gently from the view As misty vapors in the morning sky. How great the contrast from the constant strife Of other settlers in our broad domains, * Not thine, O Raikes, the Sabbatarian fame That undisputed for so long ye bore. Thy torch was but rekindled at the flame Here lit by Hacker forty years before! 19 This green oasis in the arid life Of early days amongst our hills and plains ! But while we pause to make our mental notes Our panorama has been moving on, We look and waken from our musing thoughts To find the era of the Red Man gone. Alas! alack! that we should have to se« With all the horrors we could well de- scribe . ,. . The Paxton Rangers in their ghoulish glee Wipe out the remnants of our native tribe. No longer now amongst our valleys seen.: The Aborigine pursues the chase Along the Creeks where trees are ever green, All unmolested by an alien race. And what remains of what was once so great , . To link the present with the days or yore?— ^ , . A dozen names that no one can translate, Some pictured hieroglyphs and— nothmg more! Now guided by the Cannon smoke be- hold ^ , ^.. Our fearless Farmers as they leave their farms •■ ,. ,j TO' join our Citizens as brave and bold In opposition to the British Arms. The certain War coufld be no more post- poned ^ , J. , And who more quickly rushed to vol- unteer . ^j. 1^ j_ That Transatlantic Rule might be de- throned ^ . Than those enlisted from our County here? Our fighting Hubleys we may take as types ^, , ,„ Of all who joined them in the noble And marched away beneath the Stars and To he?p to clip the mighty Lion's claws. Horw well their mission was in time ful- We need not in a hurried sketch recall; Knough to say that as it had been willed They did their share to break the Tyrant's thrall. Our Inland City figured largely then: Here Congress met if only for a day. And here King George's scarlet-coated For stronger reasons made a longer stay. put th I worli hired, We put the Hessians to repairing shoes, -To work the mines the Fusiliers were 20 ^^^ "°L? ^?^' ^^ ^e <^an trust the news, J.0 settle down amongst us were in- spired. We hear to-day of peaceful bands of men Upon the tramp because of Rights de- layed. This City muster'd such an army then— Our Soldiers who avowed they would be paid. In recent years the Paxton Boys had scared The Quaker City when they marched to town, And now our "Flying Camp Reserves" declared The time had come again to travel down. They made the journey as they said they would Received the promise they had come to seek Discussed its tenor and pronounced it good —And all were home again within a week. "Thorough" or "Through" our Founder's motto stands And thus whatever we may undertake When we "turn to" and "spit upon our hands" All opposition has to yield or break! If treated rightly we will do our share In any business that may be to do: Abuse us and you soon will be aware Our people can be good Insurgents too! The famous Franklin, weighing this and that, Perhaps our Country's most reputed Sage, Statesman, Philanthropist and Diplomat With splendor shines upon our local page. Our Seat of Learning he endow'd, and when We first grew rich enough a Hall to own, It was the frugal Democratic Ben Who came himself and laid the Corner- stone. On College Hill now stands his Monu- ment, His glory joined to Justice Marshall's fame, — Minerva's Light with Law's effulgence blent Irradiating from the double name! 'Twas in our City that the well-known phrase '•The Father of his Country" first ap- peared. And here we gather'd to accord our praise To him in person whom we all revered. 21 We met him in his famous Coach of State At Wrightsville Bridge and brought him thence to town. And here our President was pleased to wait To add to our already great renown. We dined and wined him in our City Hall One glorious Fourth, and while his name survives We can with gratitude and pride recall The signal honor as each Fourth ar- rives. The Mother of the Revolution, toe- Sweet Lady Washington— has seen our town, And many houses that we yet may view Have heard the frou-frou of her silken gown. Along our streets old Chester's soldier Wayne Has often gallop'd on his mad career. And it's a certainty that Thomas Paine Prepared some numbers of his "Crisis" here. The Ornithologist and Scottish Bard, Rare Sandy Wilson (once the friend of Burns!) Canvass' d our city, and in his reward Of one subscriber figured big returns. Count ZinzendorfC and Botanist Michaux Both took our measurement in ages gone;— One preaching from our Court House Portico, The other viewing us and passing on. From Centre Square the Quaker Artist West Commenced his struggle up Fame's rugged steep To reach the Laurel that was Britain's best, And with her greatest at the last to sleep. Ah, surely then it was a gala day— We read it now as if it were romance! — When here our people in their best array Received the Hero from the land of France. Our ladies met him with their posies sweet Tied up in ribbons, red and white and blue. And on the platform or upon the street Were duly kissed, if all reports are true. Our Scholars sang for him their sweetest notes. Our soldiers hailed him with their loudest cheers. Our finest speakers with their choicest thoughts Retold the story of his younger years. And with us still, not quite unknown to fame. Lives Casper Weitzel, whom we all have met, 22 That as a babe received his Christian name Reposing- in the arms of Lafayette. Good Father Keenan we can also see, St. Mary's Pastor and our City's pride Beloved by all and always known to be A safe adviser and an able guide. "^u" S;e"erations did he preach and teach His life and labors only g-iving o'er When lacking less than three short years to reach The splendid record of the full five score! Much more did my interesting com- panion tell me, but I must hasten on. As you will soon perceive, "all is grist to my mill." In my ardor to collect new data I do not hesitate to confer with the dead or to take a tip from the living, but, so far as it can be done, always with due acknowledgment, I trust: Speaking of the old-time Manners, Cus- toms, Fashions,— what you like, Robert Risk's "Observed and Noted" re- cently I chanced to strike, Reading there a Lamentation couched in prose as pure as terse. For a whim I paraphrased it into Alexandrine verse. 'Rather risky to enlarge it!'— do I hear a critic say?— Well, Bxpansion is in order over all the land to-day. If I've err'd assimilating raw materials duty free; If I've looted facts and figures clearly ready-made for me; Bob, I know, my Muse will pardon even where he finds she strays. And to him be all the glory, and the honor and the praise. LAMENT FOR APRIL 1. The First of April has been dead for years ! It lives no longer as our greaitest day: No more within our bailiwick appears Its hum of business and its mixed dis- play Of solemn faces land of pleasure gay. Ah, where is he who in his youth has seen The rustics gather in their best array. And views the stragglers that may now convene On this once noted date, but sighs for what has been! Not long ago it was the only chance That many farmers would consent to take To see the City and to give a glance 23 At current fashions— for the women's sake; The one occasion when they made a brea.k In fifty weeks of drudging on the soil. At plow or harrow, at the scythe or rake, Or dropped the burden of their Indoor toil To pay their yearly bills and count their twelvemonths' spoil. Then might the Countryman be spied In town In all the bea.uty of his unkempt hair, His suit of black or drab or khaki brown As quaintly cut as 'twas of buttons bare. He moved among us with a gawky stare. Or from a doorstep or a window sill Survey'd the passers with a wistful air To capture which might well have tried the skill Of our Von Ossko's brush or Phoeb© Gibbons' quill.* He summed accounts upon a water plug. His money roll brought often into view. And thought it nothing out of place to lug His dinner with him and his horse's, too. No peanut stand nor eating house he knew. Unless perhaps a doughnut he might buy. Or spend a nickel on an oyster stew; But yet at times he has been known to try Both Sprenger's brand of beer and Rei- gart's brand of Rye. He was a ringer for the small boys' joke*, Who "April-fooled" him to their hearts' content, A ready victim to the crudest strokes The older fellows would for him invent; The empty parcel and the heated cent That lay unnoticed by the city jays; And rarely to his country home he went Without neglecting from the curb to raise The neatly-bound brick-bat that always met his gaze. Yes, he is gone and with him, too, has gone The backwoods beauty and her country swain, ♦ When I reflect upon the varied sects That more or less around us masque- And think how triflingly the garb affects Some pious wearers when it comes to trade: When I believe, however long delay'd. We grow like what we worship-^if we can. I sometimes think with one who well has said: 'An honest god's the noblest work of Man!' And wish some freaks I know subscribed to such a plan. 24 Who loved on this red-letter day to don Their finest clothing and to g-ive the rein To all the fancies of the rural brain; To haunt the station and take in the shows, And see the sights thajt follow'd in their train From early morning to the final close, With that profound delight which but the rustic knows. They made a picture that was worth a frame, This happy couple as they walked the street In broadest day not shrinking to proclaim How love at last had made their lives complete; Their little fingers linked in converse sweet. Perchance they nibbled at a ginger cake, Or for variety preferred to eat The pretzel which the Litita bakers make- One bag between them both for pure af- / fection's sake. Unvexed by tailors and their changing style. His father's coat the guileless Brummel wore, A little smooth it might be in its pile But sound as ever to its inmost core, A broad-brimmed hat upon his head he bore, An ancient collar and a stock encased And chafed his neck until they made it sore; His front was by a brassy watch chain graced And greasy boots his tight, high-water pants embraced. His girl was also "fitted out to kill," With ample freedom in her homespun dress, Her hat a triumph of her artless skill In robbing color of its loveliness; No patent leathers did her feet com- press. Her calfskin shoes were easy and were dry. And for her crook our rustic shep- herdess Display'd a parasol that one might try In vain thro' Rose's stock or Follmer, Clogg's to buy. Thro' netted mitts her fingers could be seen And red they were, as were her cheeks and fat. But they would err who thought she must be green Or who would try to take her for a flat. She knew her business and her Bible pat. And those who might attempt to put her out Would for their tit receive a fitting tat, And wish beyond the shadow of a doubt They had not been so rash as bring the tilt about. 25 What else she might be she was not a prude, And all regardless of the dude or fop, She did not scruple wheresoe'er she stood To make her pocket-book her stocking top; And on the street or in the druggist's shop She did not hesitate in sharing bliss By drinking from her sweetheart's glass of pop, Or, deaf tO' laughter and the fountain's j "siss." / Imprint upon his lips a smacking country- kiss. When night came on the farmer home- ward hied His wagon loaded with enough for three: Our youthful Romeo by his Juliet's side Not far to rearward we might also see; That night she did the driving so that he. With her to hold the reins along the way, Might have his hands anu all about him free To do the courting that I doubt not they Believed to be for them the best part of the day. And gone as well the old-time Bully is Whose one ambition was to start a row. Who wa:lked around chuck full of "whiskey-fiz" To smite his enemies his open vow: They one and all have made their final bow. Such scenes and actors are forever o'er. The Press, the Postman and the Trolley now So much have added to advancement's store That old-time April First can come again no more! Let us pause now, to take a brief glance at things as they are: Here flows the tide of human life in vol- ume full and strong. By changing scenes of peace and strife, thro' types of Right and Wrong. We have the country and the town and in them may be seen The city gent, the rustic clown, and all the grades between. The men who dress with hooks and eyes commingle with the beaus Togg'd out in fashion's latest guise from shdits to patent toes. The dames and damsels mix and mell from Dunker matron staid To that rare sample of the belle— an Iris- tinted maid! The farmer gossips in the store or tests the drinks on tap In dens along Bohemia's shore not men- tioned on the map. The gaudy wenches of the street their trade in daylight ply 26 While Amish lasses pure as sweet in yel- low teams drive by. For leading- Recreations now the Park, the Boulevard, The Country Club and Boating Trips are held in high regard. AVhen Golf refuses to engulf the cares of business strife A Conestoga River row can add new zest to life; And even those who do not wish to steer or pull the oar Need not unsatisfied remain upon the verdant shore When steamers like "The Lady Gay" for for half a dime or so Defying winds or tides traverse the waters to and fro. Athletic Clubs and Reading Rooms con- tent the more sedate And Baseball Games and Football Games with others have their weig^ht. The devotees of Cards and Chips can al- ways find a game From mild Progressive Euchre up to Poker not so tame. Roof Gardens, too, have just come in where Vaudeville displays Her choicest shows for from a dime to twenty cents a gaze. And then we always with us have Mc- Grann's far-noted course For lovers of the Turf to test the merits of a horse, While Lime Street Track from Grubb's to Clay no small attention wins For Sleighing Heats in Winter Time or Summer Sunday spins. Indeed, for Locomotion we are now so well supplied Who cannot fit his fancy here can not be satisfied. From bicycles to Four-in-Hands and up to Tally Hos With Auto Cars of all desig^ns our county overflows. I'll not endeavor to compute nor venture to declare The miles I've passed with Mr. Shand be- hind his spanking pair; North, East and West and South I've seen his trotters test his skill By shining creek or dark ravine or thickly wooded hill. And not a few romantic spots were first brought to my view By "Douglas's" and "Dan'l's" help, to give them but their due! With all so fine it's pretty hard however one might strive To single out for special praise a single special drive. A half a score of routes pop up for choice of foremost claim Succeeded by a dozen more with merits no less lame, And in the end if one is fair it might be frankly said Seek where we like and when we may we'll always be repaid! 27 But pleasant as such driving is it must be noted slow To riding on the Trolley Cars,— wherever they may go. And now the rails or plans for rails the county maps reveal Like spokes converging from the hub of some gigantic wheel. A man can have a choice of lines for miles and miles to glide Across a country justly known as "Penn- sylvania's Pride," The Garden Spot of all the State un- equall'd for its farms Its handsome Buildings, splendid stock and other rural charms; In Agriculture's widest range without a par or peer, The very first upon the list where'er you care to steer; — So brilliant, and so big a gem that it was doubtless planned To be the flawless Koh-i'-noor to place on Nature's hand. Outsiders might not be blamed if they were to consider we had now reached the end of our string of celeb- rities and important happenings; yet, it seems to me, we have only scratched the surface, and have failed to mention one of the most famous incidents con- nected with our district, and the most brilliant galaxy of our local stars: Who has been so dead as never to- have read about the claim Which entitles Christiana to the highest local fame? There was fired the shot that tyrants trembled in their hearts to hear. Marking Fifty-One forever as an Epoeh- Making year! In the streets of Christiana (fitting place indeed to tell) Once again we heard the story told by one who knew it well: One who in his youth had heard it from the very lips of those Who were actors in the drama from its outset to its close: Who in graphic language pictured Ed- ward Gorsuch bold and fierce As, supported by his kindred, and by Dr. Thomas Pearce, He invaded Parker's dwelling on a dark September morn. Leaving Kline, the timid Marshal, in a nearby field of corn; — How the clamor soon collected all the people near at hand As the wealthy Marylander for his slaves made loud demand;— How that Hanway, Lewis, Scarlett and the other men of peace By their presence and their manner hoped to have the tumult cease:— How the outcasts massed together armed with clubs and scythes and guns Ready to repel the onset threatened by the Southland's sons;— 28 How the reckless, daring Gorsuch cursed the darkies as he said If he could not get them living he would surely take them dead;— How the no less fearless negroes bravely met their bitter foe And with their Initial volley laid the fiery Gorsuch low; How the white unharmed Aggressors now less valiant than discreet When they saw their Leader dying in his gore amongst their feet Left the spot for further succor, led by Marshal Henry Kline, As the Hero of the Cornfield doomed for- evermore to shine! Yes, 'twas here, in Christiana, our pre- cursors did prefer Helping slaves to fight if need be, quiet Quakers though they were. And