The Days of a Man 1859 



N O Corporal punishment, by the way, was not a 



whipping factor in my development. So far as my memory 

 goes, I was never whipped by either of my parents 

 or by any one else. Punishment, threats, and 

 rewards played no part in my upbringing. 

 TO In my eighth or ninth year I had another wonderful 



Rochester journey, this time with both Father and Mother. 

 Taking a horse and buggy, with a little stool for 

 me, we drove fifty miles to Irondequoit, near Roch- 

 ester on Lake Ontario. This was a long outing, but 

 full of interest. We stayed at the home of a rela- 

 tive who owned a fine peach orchard, and there 

 I made acquaintance with the luscious fruit which 

 would not grow on our colder hills. We then went 

 twenty-five miles westward to the town of Albion 

 (Orleans County) by way of the 'Ridge Road," 

 which marks an ancient shore some thirty feet 

 higher than the present lake level and running 

 parallel with it from the Niagara River eastward 

 to the St. Lawrence. This highway was a "plank 

 road" -that is, one covered with thick planks of 

 pine or hemlock, the highest type of road-making 

 of its day. The current phrase of the period, "two- 

 forty on a plank," meaning a mile in two minutes 

 and forty seconds, indicated the greatest speed then 

 attained by a trotting horse. That trip to Rochester 

 stands out in my memory as a sudden disclosure of 

 the great world which I have ever since tried to 

 explore and understand. An automobile would now 

 cover the entire round trip in five hours. 



Even as a boy in school, though large and strong, 

 I hated all quarreling. But I remember having at 

 about the age of nine a very bitter fight over some 



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