Rensselaer Republican, Volume 14, Number 52, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 September 1882 — The Drought of 1849. [ARTICLE]

The Drought of 1849.

“Stranger, .l, take it?” observed an elderly reeilenf .tne other day, as I stopped him and fiwked if there wete any blackberry trees arikind this way. “I jedged so. I was anger myself when I fust kim here. That was in the summer of '49. Hottest summer ever known in these parts. ”" ‘ , “Any w'afmer than this?** t asked him. 1 ■ • . ' 1 ’nl ,• “Summut, (sppamutj That summer of '49 the cedar trees melted and run right along the ground I You notice how red that 'ere dust is?” v “ Pretty warm,** I ventured. “ Why, sir, dilrin’ the stiihmer of *49 we kept meat right on the ice id keep it from cookin' too fast, and we had' to put the chickens in refrigerators to get raw eggs!” n “ Where did you get the. ice ?’’ * “We had it left dver and kept it in b’ilin’water! Yes, sir. The temperature, of b’ilin’ water was so much lower than the temperature of the atmosphere that it kept the ice so cold you couldn’t touch it with your finger !” “Anything else startling that season?” “That summer of '49? Well, guess I The Hackensack river began to b’ile airly in June and we didn’t see the sky until October, for the steam in the air. And fish I fish I They were droppin* all over town, cooked as you wanted ’em ! There wasn’t anything but fish until the river dried up I” “ What did you have then ?” “The finest oysters and clams you ever heard of. They walked right ashore for water, and they’d drink applejack right out of the demijohn I Yes, sir. Yon call this hot I I feel like an overcoat !*’ “What’s your business?” I asked him. “ I’m a preacher,” he replied. “By the way, you wanted blackberry trees. Just keep up the thumb hand side of this road, until you come to the pig pasture, and there you find the trees. Climb up on my goose roost, and you can knock down all the berries you want if you can find a pole long enough.”— Brooklyn Eagle. An English Judge held that a young man who walked home with a girl ana said he hoped his wife would have just such a lisp as she had was guilty of proposing marriage.