Last week was winter indeed! The ground hog to “the contrary notwithstanding.” There are times when winter is enjoyable, and enjoyed. Last week was one of these times. The little boys and girls amused themselves by coasting down the sidewalks of Federal Street, and the older ones, by sleigh on Federal Street and Union Street to the end of Milton Lane. There was lots of sport on the last four days of the week. All law in regard to fast driving was suspended! And on Friday afternoon the company was particularly noticeable, that were racing on the extreme north of Milton lane. There were John P. Wilson, Oscar Betts, Dr. Wilson, Anson Raught, Captain George E. Magee, the Rev. R. T. Coursey and many others, with fast horses, enjoyed in this wicked sport? The sinners consoled themselves, that they could be doing no harm, as part of the “holiness band” were with them, and the merely thoughtful were astonished that the priseltye (?) of the aesthetico – religious cultus should contaminate themselves by engaging in such worldly sport. On Wednesday Dr. Wilson and Robert Workman were turned out of their sleigh but not hurt. The horse ran through town and was captured on the eastern outskirts. On the same evening Harry Wilson, with a male friend and two ladies, while trying to go about, had a sleigh miss stay, and before he could bill away again the vehicle bursted open and the whole company were spilled out. Thursday morning the thermometer registered 10 degrees. On that day Constable Barsuglia put in a hand at sleigh riding. Sometime in the afternoon the body of his sleigh went off, and he with it. He now wears a black eye, whether from this incident or some other cause, “deponent sayeth not.” Saturday afternoon, while trying to get out of the way of the races, Alfred Carey [and] Chester Gray ran their sleigh into the gutter on Federal Street and capsized; both with thrown out, but the horse stopped, and no damage was done, or no one hurt. But alas! It is all over now! On Saturday the temperature began to rise and on Sunday the snow so far disappeared, as to render sleighing a thing of the past, for the present.

On Thursday night two men got into an altercation, when one got the other down. The man underneath put his arms around the other’s neck and hugged him close. The upper man exclaimed “pull him off, he’s a biting me!” How the man underneath was on top can only be explained by the fact that it was night, and we on this part of the earth were in the shade of the earth, or we were upside down; and the man who appeared to us to be on top, was really underneath. See?

Three of P. J. Hart’s (of the Hart House) 12 wild geese have died. An autopsy held by Mr. Hart and others revealed poison in their stomachs; supposedly Paris green[i]. The remaining nine were also affected, but escaped death. Why any person should be led to poison anything is a species of maliciousness too deep for the human mind to comprehend.

Captain James lank, of the American Dredging Company, Tug L. Y. Schermerhorn, is visiting relatives and friends. His wife accompanies him.

Captain Charles Darby, wife and child, are the guests of their parents.

The ice harvesters commenced on their work on Friday, and on that day and Saturday, nearly filled their houses with ice three inches thick.

Some timber is being hauled into the yard for the vessel that is to be built for Captain Potter, of Fall River, Mass., by J. Polk Davidson.

The Milton Town ordinance regarding snow appears to be inoperative. There are sidewalks in town, and on the principal streets, that have not, yes, been cleaned off; and the snow has been on the ground a week.

A little excitement was created in that part of that town near the railroad, on Saturday evening when something was discovered to be on fire. Some citizens went to investigate, and found the fire to be from Fred Brinkler’s chimney. Fred was sitting in the house apparently unconcerned, and when told, “Your chimney is on fire!” said “I guess it won’t amount to much!”

Clate Hastings is quite ill with pneumonia, at his home on Federal Street.

On Sunday night while John Robbins was attending church his horse that was hitched outside got loose and wandered away. It was subsequently found at Mount Ararat. The carriage was broken but the horse unharmed.

Mr. Alison Blizzard, of Wilmington, was the guest of Miss May Welch on Sunday.

A few weeks ago when a part of our tobacco dealers became convinced that the use of the stuff was so sinful that he resolved that when he sold his, then, present lot he would sell no more. We understand he ordered, or received another lot, last week. Be not deceived O, man, the eyes of the world are on you. “We may deceive part of the people all the time, but we can’t deceive all the people all the time.”

J. M. Lank, state councilor, Jr. O. U. A. M., is now engaged in making his annual visit to the different lodges of the state.

The extra meetings at the M. P. Church closed last week, after five weeks of successful revival work. About sixty persons have been admitted to the church on probation. On Tuesday the Rev. R. T. Coursey left town to visit the Rev. Dixon, and Honeybrook, Pa., and left the extra meetings in charge of the following lay members: on Tuesday evening, Miss Lillian Cade; Wednesday evening, Captain L. C. Magee; Thursday evening, J. L. Black; Friday evening, William Davidson. Presiding Elder Morgan will preach on Sunday evening. The fourth quarterly conference of this conference year will be held in the M. E. Church on Monday the 25^th inst.

Miss Clemmie Pepper, teacher of the primary department of the Milton public schools, desires us to contradict the statement we made last week regarding her interdiction of rubber boots being worn by the pupils in school. She says our information was incorrect and our statement false. We accept the lady’s statement and present it to the reader. Persons who are in public positions must expect to be criticized, else, the presumptive, as well as the prima facie evidence is they are not considered to be doing their duty.

Miss Carrie E. Donovan, daughter of Mrs. James H. Donovan, died at the home of her mother, at Harbeson, on Tuesday last of consumption, age 18 years, 7 months, and 17 days. The funeral will be held on Friday afternoon at Beaver Dam Church. Rev. W. A. Sites, officiating, and interment in the cemetery adjoining.

Thomas Hollis, living in lower Broadkiln, suffered another stroke of paralysis last week.

From the causes of breaking through the ice and slush along the margin of the lake on Sunday and other escapades in the snow, Master Le Roi H. Johnson[ii] has been confined to his home for a few days.

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[i] According to the Wikipedia, Paris green is the familiar name for copper(II) acetoarsenite. It is a highly toxic emerald-green crystalline powder that has been used as a rodenticide and insecticide, and also as a pigment, despite its toxicity.

[ii] LeRoi “Buzz” Johnson is David A. Conner’s grandson, of whom he has often written in his Milton News letter, and who would have been about 8 years old at the time. LeRoi and his mother Sara lived with Conner while his father Edwin worked on railroad construction out of state. His WWI draft registration describes him at age 19 as being tall, of medium build, with dark brown hair and blue eyes. He lost his father in 1912, but how much of a presence Edwin Johnson was in his son’s life is hard to determine. LeRoi finished high school, and worked as a laborer at the Draper Canning Company in town. By 1930, he was involved with the management of a drugstore, which he would continue through 1940.