OLD MURRAY BAY 



same with the rest of us, I stoutly main- 

 tain that the swimming at Murray Bay was, 

 and again might be utterly health-giving, 

 but alas the ancient spots are public and 

 defiled. 



Everyone lived upon the country, — far- 

 ing well on fish, mutton, fowls, eggs, the 

 homelier vegetables, wild fruits, cream sev- 

 ered in nature's leisurely way beyond risk 

 of confusion with the parent milk. Part- 

 ridges were thirty cents the brace. It may 

 be kinder to the modern housewife to cease 

 from comparisons. Le petit jardinage did 

 not engage the habitant, who gave intensive 

 culture alone to his tobacco; a taste of the 

 exotic fruits of the earth depended upon 

 the occasional barrel by steamer. Very 

 large bullseyes, unmanageable whether one 

 strove to bite them, or suck them in their 

 integrity, were to be had; also la tire — from 

 a pedlar whose hands thrust upon all but 

 famished youth uncomfortable thoughts of 

 how and where the maple sugar had been 

 pulled. 



Sucre d' erable was then the staple, but 

 when it rose in price to ten cents a pound, 

 coarse brown sugar slowly replaced it with 

 the country folk. An odd economic pro- 

 gress, — that an indispensable for the poor 

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