^J[c ^fhrmci's iilontl)li) Visitor. 



159 



Oui- (lesiie 10 sec iiuw iieigliboilioods led us 

 oil leaviiif,' M;iiicliest<;|- lo i-oiiie lioiiie by a vvu}' 

 of uliosu existence as direct we liadahvajs lieeii 

 i^'iioiaiit, litit « liici) we Ibiiiul deciWcdIy tiie easi- 

 est i-oad lo travel witli ;i light carriayj and llie 

 same distance of ei;;lileen miles lielueen I\Ian- 

 <-l)e-iei- and C'uneuid. li led us throti'di llie en- 



tire wi.iti, ,.r i\,il-,. -• I ■ ■", •, ■^" -"■-■■ 'V aiM. ino.e neasti^' alio irniious lineiii|jeiance 

 ^!k.\ '^-wt "".!!',?';?; ''':'?*"'''^^"^'; than ever existed w.,eu eacl, .tee in town sold 



ii)g in the daik rotteji eggs iuid odier missiles. 

 File, the |)iiiicl|iul olIeiKJer, keeps a cellar nnder 

 Biiuevlield's lanlding, one of those holes into 

 which inin-selliiig has been driven hy niglil teni- 

 |)eraiK-e lectines ami (H-osecttling "t/i.-inperance 

 coitiin(lK-es— inducing u lav worse stale ol' socie- 

 ty ami more heastl^ and rninous ii»teiii|jeraiice 



eriy (lurt of Dmiharton hy ""Montelone," and 

 thence diagonally throngh the tovMi of How by 

 the liirlh-|ilace of the great partisan otficer of the 

 anc-iem Ranger service in the I'leiirh war ol 

 ]7(iO and snhsequemly tlio Uritsli military Oov- 

 vercior of Mackinaw. Most of the way on the 

 logh and elevated swells an<l the interveding 

 valleys, tJitjre liad lieen highly valnahle (iniiis: 

 «he sod is as strong and snhslantiul as the l<)nn- 

 datioii on which it rests. Elegantly is situated 

 •Jiuny poj lions having gentle declivities towards 

 the south and south-east lor the lapid growth of 

 apple and other fruit orchards: i( is just such 

 land as niighl overflow with ahnndan'cc under 

 the skllfnl persevering culturisl's haniU Hop 

 ticUls were coiumon on this sinooth road, which 

 now and then bninche.s olf towards the east and 

 west, lint in all cases with t!i" Te(iuisite truide 

 lK)ard teaching whicii jiaih to take. From' Lib- 

 erty Pole bill, the higliest in the town of Bow, 

 we look (low n on Concord at the distance of live 

 miles with tsdijzenor tJi<H-o shining steeples and 

 upon the high grounds and inonntaiiis lar and 

 near li-om the south-east round westerly to the 

 iiorth east and east, embracing the range of Creen 

 Mountains with old Asciitiief in Veniioiil on the 

 westaiul the FraiK-onia and White Mountain 

 ranges surmoiinied by Alount Washiuutou on 

 Jhe north. Haltingupon this hill a lew n'lomonis, 

 we uotidered that this was our first visit upon it 

 although we had lived in sight of it almost thir- 

 ly-si.\- years : riding the j-emaining live miles we 

 came home with u better opinion of the capacity 

 <and value of our nearest neighbor towns than ne 

 had ever bfeore eiitertaiued." 



A Barbarous Deed. 



The editor of the Visitor was grieved, morti- 

 fied and ve.xetl, returning to his office lioni dinner 

 liy way of the railroad on Tburs<lay, Oct. 30, to 

 liud, on going to a crowd upon bis premises sur- 

 rounding one of the beautiful two-year-oM steers 

 iijr which he lately obtained tiic Agricidtin-al So- 

 ciety's [ireiniuui, the animal had iieen wantonly 

 shot from a mnsketpretended to be aimed at tor- 

 key.s, where, without his consent, a stand bad 

 been placed upon the field in vvbicli the steers 

 were quietly feeding. He found the bullet bad 

 pierced jusl below the back bone— a swelling had 

 arisen near the fore shoulder below, with which 

 tljc wound bad a probable connexion. The pa- 

 tient animal was standing as if pained to move. 

 Nobody presei.t had lired— none knew how it was 

 done. One of the company, more ntficioiis than 

 some others, directed us immediately to go for 

 tlie_ bntcber and have the animal slaugbtored, 

 which coimnand we were little inclnied to obey. 

 Provoked and impatient, we left the ground iiii- 

 mediaiely, Ibllowed by the bopeiiil group,lo make 

 further infJ^liry at the stand which was the source 

 of the mischiui: We asked who h;id placed the 

 stand upon our field where men and boys were 

 as liable to be shot as cattle, without oiwainin- 

 leave: a iium stood foilli whose name is said to 

 be Fife, snid said be had done it, and was willing 

 to pay us all the damtige that ha<l been done by 

 the stand. We aitswered that the damnae Irani 



rum by tin: liogsbead, gallon, .jiiart or glass, am 

 when branily, rum, gin and whiskey were fieelv 

 dealt •out at eai'b tavern. To these" .-secret liaunl"s 

 every i;i<lucement is held forth lor youth to enter; 

 and lu.'i e the child or the brother is aiaih: a drunk- 

 ard before the father, or mother, or Ijiotbcr, or 

 sister-, even suspect it. The turkey siiooiing pre- 

 pared by Fill! was only a decoy to draw men o( 

 all classes who ba<l motley, or could beg or steal 

 it, to jnucliase the poison which is iiil out nnder 

 ground. The ground (roni whicli thn dangerous 

 uiilioyaiice was thrown into other fieltis was sta- 

 ted lo belong to JJeiijaiijiii Grovcr, of whom I'ife 

 iilleged that lie lia<l hired it. Fnrliidding any 

 lurther trespass iinoii our own jjreiiiises,' we left 

 the group to take the position ar our desk in 

 which Ibr die fast two days we bad. been prepar- 

 ing ni.itter fm- t-lre Visitor, meetinj; otf our way 

 several geiitl<;uieu who coiigi;aubiU-d us that the 

 accident woidd have the effect lo put a stop to 

 further shooting un this ground ! AV'e were hard- 

 ly seated befoj-e tJie firing re-toimnenced, and 

 was continued from the same ground tbroni>h 

 the afternoon, so that neillier IVlr." Grovcr. nor Mr. 

 Fife, it seems, regard any consequence that mjiv 

 result frotJi shot or other niissiies thrown from 

 ilieir stand upon the premises of their neighbors. 

 The n)a(i who is said to have shot tiie u.\, but 

 who (l.llowed us tie.\t day in the street denying 

 that fact beflne we had cliarsied him, will not pav 

 a ce-nt: we promptly toM him we would not turn 

 about to ask him. It is said that Fife is noi much 

 better, Grover, having leased or consented to 

 the misuse of bis own grouiid, is accountable for 

 the damage from it. If there is any law for giv- 

 ing redress, so aggravated a case will cerlahdv 

 justiiy a resort lo it. We could not have a heart 

 W .go to the suireriiig animal a second time. 

 Somebody, however, soon took him oflto be des- 

 patched by the biitcE.or. The report in the .-street 

 the day of fbis writing is, that the young animal 

 was fat ami lietter beef than is son'ietiines sold 

 from the butcher's cart; but that he was probably 

 hooked by his mate, no bullet having lieeiiToimd 

 m the body ! A subsequent report has come to 

 us that the butcher who slaughtered and dealt 

 out the meat has at length discovered the bullet! 

 It IS matter truly of regret, in speakin^Mhe 

 whole truth, so to i)reient the morals and the 

 practices of this town as worse at this period and 

 growing worse than they had been in any iiirmer 

 tinie of the thirty-six years in which it has been 

 mainly our place of residence. 



by decent people in this countiy. The tiirkey- 

 shootiiig murdered our young ox. And as mis- 

 lortimes seldom come singly, we have to mention 

 the citastrophc which happened the day after 

 the death of the ox to our must cherished' white 

 turkey, who has escaped guns, stones and clubs 

 in our own compact neighborhood l()r the last 

 four years. This dame linkey bad iHri-|ic;d her 

 first nest for the season on a vacant si-affold of a 

 barn, and came forth with her brood in the nionlh 

 of June. 'J'lu! crate was fixed lor her in the 

 yard adjacent to the garden, around which the 

 young ones could range withoiil damage. Night 

 after night the young ones disappeared: a cat, a 

 skunk, a weasel, or perhaps a mink, came and 

 did the mischief without leaving the trace of a 



l<;atber. The brood became reduced to two 



another night wonhl bavi; token till. The mis- 

 in^ss concludeil it best to throw off all shackles 

 and let the contined go free. The old one took 

 to the adjoining orchard amidst tlu' grass: at all 

 times of day her head might be seen; and tit 

 early sundown she was at her place of brooding in 

 the grass. Soon she induced bei- charge to follow 

 her at night, as a place of greater saliJly, into the 

 limbs ol an aged afiple tree. At mowing time, 

 soon after, her .-jecond liest was found in a tuft of 

 thick glass by tin apple tree side ; and the mow- 

 ers laid all around naked. Piesently, upon a 

 nest of ten egg.s, the old one commenced brood- 

 ing them to be hatched. 'I'be two young ones, 

 all the time feeding themselves upon grasshop- 

 pers, insects and worms, spent their days in 

 rambling about near by, iiiid at night came" and 

 lodged one on either side of the sitting mother. 

 Within a stone's throw of the railroad and in 

 plain sight, it was a wonder thiit the old one and 

 its nest escaped so long; but the eggs finally dis- 

 appeared— and the conjecture was, that some one 

 of the reckless apple-slealers who carried thetn 

 away in bags and in baskets as well as in 

 pockets, took the eggs off also, [lerhaps to be 

 batched under some setting hen. Tlie object 

 of the mother turkey was this time defeated; 

 but the wily, persevering fowl, whose care to' 

 prepare for iind bring ' - - 



We have already dwelt longer upon ihe subject 

 of steer shooting than some would think the case 

 to re.juire. We have not vet done. In cases of 

 necessity from our cbildhood liaveAve often ago- 

 nized over the taking the life of a brute. Wo 

 always take ourselves out of the way, if we can, 

 when the swine, which have movvn up lu'der 

 our daily view, are killed. If b'ea.-ts agonize too 

 i!i losing theij- kind— and v.e bare evidence of 

 this in the melancholy looiiig of the motiier 

 cow— how tenderly sho'uld humanity regard the 

 taking of life in all oases. Since we'commenced 

 this article, the slanubteriug of the steer has pre- 

 sented new facts. Tbo.^e inleresled in sboolins 



the stand was the loss of the o,v ; and bo rejoined 



ihr'n d'uc.f^il"wirh:M "''^'" "■''?"''■ ^^1 "P°" °"'- '"^ "'-^'-'^ ""^'""« '" ^-^^ tbe'tna.e'sie^ 

 then .^,.id lb,.t nil w bo had been u[.on the ground to another flock of o.ven, cows and cosset sheeu 

 were trespassers, and were lable; that our apple near our residence; birt 'every effi^^^Vu^dive him 

 ":":1 ''^''.^"'^': '"'^'^'^'^ ^'y ''"^'l-'^^f '"'^'"-l^ i" " ^'way was ineffecnad. N.xt m<"niniz^.ne^' ,X 



men yoked the larger oxen, took them up to the 



week ; our nut trees beaten and bruised n ith our 

 own fence broken up; and that now our field 

 was cleared of them generally by loafers who 

 came into it on Sunday, b.ut more or less every 

 <lay before our eyes while the fruit was loogreeii 

 to be eaten, our cattle quietly ranging withiii our 

 own enclosure were shot dinvn apparently with- 

 out remor.se. The best res[ionse to this was, that 

 if we would not have people enter our grounds, 

 the law provided that Ihe iiict must be notified bj' 

 a standing guide board at the entrance. The col- 

 lection wa.s so much like that of tlio innb on the 

 night of the fourth of July two years ago, that 

 the heart sickened to look "upon those \vlio jeered 

 at iho murder of an ox as they did when discharg- 



lield, and theieby induced the inourning animal 

 to follow him home. Going- into'the lot occupied 

 by the oiber cattle, in gn-at apparetit agony be 

 ran first to on:;, tln.ii to' another— tlieii dropped 

 upon the ground— ro.se up and repeated the same 

 process lor a considerable time till he came to 

 be calm by degrees. 



We regard the setting up lurkies upon a stand 

 to l)e shot at for profit or amusemeiitj either 

 io the owner or marksman, w lio can make it at 

 best but a gambling transaiaion — ^.we regard this 

 as no better than the barbarous bull-fi:;hting of 

 Europe in the dark ages, or more modern clm-k- 

 en-ligbling which i: now every where iviiudiaied 



. . o "P her young in safety 



might be an example to humanity itseli; was 

 careful next time to secure herself i'n a position 

 where it required soine ingenuity and much per- 

 severame to detect her.'' Late in the liill, after 

 the time of frost, we (h-eaded the appearance of 

 a brood of tender infant lurkies. More liian 

 three weeks ago, we missed lady white from the 

 flock, and were quite sure she had advanced to the 

 sitting iiart of creating a new iiunily. The fields 

 had becotne more and more open, and on three 

 several occasions we htinted for her nest in a di- 

 rection whence we once or twice saw her com- 

 ing:, we directed the men galbering the harvest 

 to watch and hunt likewise. None of us could 

 find the turkey or the nest, until, on Friday, the 

 old one appeared coming for food in a direction 

 opposite to where the nest was found. A close 

 watch was set: madam white in her vagaries 

 yi.sited the turkey family in the garden— wallowed 

 m the dirt— .sought for' corn feed at the stable 



and yard, and finally slyed away to the orchard 



then flew upon the ridged railroad, taking a view 

 on eillier side. At last she walked down the 

 side of the ridge and dropped upon the ne^t 

 within tweiMy feet of- where the rattling railroad 

 cirs pass and re-pass more than ten times a dav, 

 and where men and women, boys and girls travel 

 on foot at all bour.s. The leu eggs were broken 

 and dcsjiite of tin; frost of the'season, seven of 

 .^ihe ten contained living turkeys h athered ready 

 to be hatched, as they |)rohabiy would have been 

 within three d.-iys. in a milder climate the brood 

 might have come out and done well ; but iere it 

 was an act of humanity to break the etrss so that' 

 the young might die before they were b'atched. '' ' 



VVe might go oti to exhibit another of the use- 

 fid fowl tribe, in the haichingand rearing fifteen 

 cliickens as a second brood by one of the indus- 

 trious hen kind, to which the mother induced six 

 others to join her, making the round nmnber of 

 tweniy-one, whose movements she now diiecis. 

 We thought these too late to live; but the moth-* 

 cr has thus fin- brought tip every one, now 

 grown almost to ibe size of commo'n fowls. 



There is a satisfaction in watching the ani- 

 mals of God's creation so gretit lo us that wo 

 have their lives taken with great reliiclnnce. A 

 pairof doves, brougin !o us by the younger child 

 now absent whose debght it was to keep ail kinds 



