August 14, 1903

Fells a singing all the day,
Money spent, and thrown away;
O, there is the — to pay
When a man moves in from camp meeting.

The camp meeting at Lavina’s “busted” on Monday morning and blew in every direction. Some went to Philadelphia, some to New Jersey, but by far the greater part settled in Milton and the suburban districts. The camp is over, and on Monday morning there was a sick mess. Their pleasures all over and they compelled to remove back to town and meditate over pleasures past and glories departed. Yet the breaking up of this camp meeting was far different from that I have witnessed in other days. Then, there was a religious service, marching around the circle, a general hand shaking and an affectionate adieu the associations thus formed were rudely broken and many of them never forgotten. The breaking up of Lavinia camp was characterized by a spirit of levity, a shooting of guns, and other behavior not at all in consonance with the spirit of a so-called Christian gathering. The former meetings were those of spiritual success, the one just closed of a social nature. Everyone appeared mad, this morning, both on the grounds and in town; this, we suppose, was because they—the mad ones—had had no breakfast. We infer this, because on returning to town, about 9 o’clock, the fumes of frying bacon were strongly emitted from the residences of some of the late tenters, and their personal aspect was anything but joyful. There was a notable lack of visiting ministers, compared with former years; and a superabundance of “red headed” girls[i]. On Sunday morning, the Rev. J. W. Parrs preached; on Sunday afternoon the Rev. C. E. Redeker and in the evening the Rev. W. J. Litsinger. The last Sunday of the camp dawned unpropitious; and at noon there were but few people on the ground. In the afternoon it rained tremendously hard, after which the weather became clear, and the evening brought a large concourse of people. The gate money approximated $57. The receipts from gate money and the sale of season tickets is about $220.00. This, however, is unofficial. The hacks for the early train were loaded with departing visitors, but not until nearly noon was the ground depleted; many of the fair ones being loath to leave a place associated with so many pleasing memories, and with the almost certainty of never meeting again under similar circumstances. So endeth the camp meeting at Lavinia’s Woods for 1903.

The power of imitation is great; more so, perhaps in Milton lads and young men than those of other towns. A minister from Baltimore, or somewhere else, made his appearance on the camp ground on Sunday with a bush which had been cut and its branches denuded of the bark and twisted in serpentine coils around the main stalk. This he was using for a cane. Before night many of the young people of both sexes were armed with the same kind of a weapon.

Lavinia Street leading to the camp ground was a perfect slush on Sunday afternoon. A mute witness to the wisdom of the Town Board.

Dr. W. J. Hearn and family are occupying their cottage at Broadkiln Beach.

Milton furnishes its quota of cases to keep the detectives busy. There were two calls made by this gentry last week. The cases were unimportant, but served to keep the men busy.

103 Poles arrived at Harbeson last week to work in the Broadkiln cannery–66 male and female adults, and 47 children. The factory began work on corn the first of the week.

Seeing some young ladies walking along the street, a man said to me: “Where did the Milton girls get that walk of theirs: the forward lunge, the backward kick with the left foot, and the swing of the right arm?” “Oh, some of our ladies went over to Jersey and brought home the style; and now it has become epidemic. Pretty, isn’t it?” “I think not.” “Well, I do; anything the girls do in walking or talking I admire.” “Do you? Well, I have traveled in most of the towns of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and never saw such a walk as your Milton girls have. They didn’t get it from those places.” “Well, if you have never seen it anywhere else, give the credit of the innovation to the Milton girls, and call it the ‘Milton Filing’.”

At the intersection of Front and Federal Streets, and also at the intersection of Broad and Union Streets, the gutter are a disadvantage to passers with teams, and more particularly to those who are riding. A man or woman coming into town, will, without thought, continue their team at a respectable gait, and in crossing these gutters, the occupant of the vehicle is thrown bobbing up and down, and often nearly out of the carriage. There should be culverts out where these gutter are and if they are properly put down by someone who knows how, and nicely covered, there will be no rise nor sink in the earth, and the crossings at these places, that are now such a bugbear to travelers, will be as smooth and even as any other part of the street. There is money enough spent uselessly, on unused parts of the town, to do this work in a right and becoming manner. When a person is seen coming down these streets driving at a good gait, all eyes nearly are turned towards these gutters, provided the occupant is a woman, to see the carriage jump, and she bob up and down. Town Council can stop this fun, if it will. Put in culverts and let us have decent thoroughfares.

The Milton and Nassau baseball teams played a game on Saturday afternoon on shirt factory lot, Score, Milton 14, Nassau 8.

There is talk of a creamery in town; but as “large bodies move slowly” and new enterprises are often a long while materializing, we will curb our enthusiasm for the present and await further developments, hoping they will come spoon.

Mrs. Sarah Warren of Milford was last week a visitor at the home of her brother J. B. Welch, the druggist.

Mrs. Emma Hazzard has had the sidewalk of her property, near the bridge, repaired, and the part fronting the river capped with a hard rail.

Mr. Edward Atkins and wife, of Philadelphia, are visiting their many friends in Milton. Mr. Atkins years ago was extensively engaged in drying peaches in the locality, and put up an excellent quality of fruit. He is at present engaged in the refrigerator business.

Arthur Conwell and wife of Philadelphia returned to their city home on Monday, after having spent a week of enjoyment among their many friends in town and on Lavinia’s camp ground.

The excavation has been completed and the foundation laid for Frank Stockley’s new building on Federal Street. Mr. Isaac W. Nailor is the contractor, and will commence the building as soon as the lumber can be gotten on the ground.

The Broadkiln Canning Company at Harbeson will transact its financial business this season through the Milton National Bank.

Dr. Joseph Conwell, a native of Broadkiln and a former practitioner of this town, now mayor of Vineland, N. J., is visiting his brother D. M. Conwell, and many other friends.

“I guess we’re not going to get to have any excursion to the beach!” said a young miss of the M. E. Sunday School, in our hearing. “All other towns take their Sunday Schools on an excursion, but Milton.” She continued with flashing eye: “All our Sunday School wants is our money for the missionary cause as they call it; and I reckon we’ll get no excursion, unless we pay for it ourselves.” The above is as near the verbatim language of a young miss, used in our presence, as we can write it.

John S. Ward died at Havre de Grace, Md., on Monday evening after a short illness, of typhoid fever. Mr. Ward was the senior partner of the firm of Ward & Merritt, who operated the cannery at the railroad station last year, and was highly respected by the people of Milton.

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[i] In the Middle Ages, red hair and green eyes came to be associated with the Devil; even today, red-headed women are thought by some to be more libidinous. In 1903, flirtatious or somewhat bolder women in the camp meeting would have qualified as “red-headed,” the actual hair color notwithstanding