On  a  notable  occasion  of  one  of  these  visits  to  Fleming's  Ra
vine,  Mr.  Franklin  Barker,  a  law  student,  wrote  for  one  of  the
local  papers  a  pleasing  description  of  the  scene  under  the  name
of  "The  Fairy's  Tale."  He  paraphrased  Byron  as  follows:

There  was  a  sound  of  revelry  by  day

And  Richland's  capital  gathered  then
Her  beauty  and  her  chivalry  and  fair  eyes

Looked  love  to  eyes  that  spoke  again."

Many  of  the  persons  present  were  named,  or  so  described  as
to  be  recognized.  There  was  a  good  deal  of  egotism  and


OF  JOHN  SHERMAN.  53

assumption  in  the  narrative  which  created  much  feeling
among  those  who  had  not  the  good  fortune  to  attend.  Though
I  was  present,  and  greatly  enjoyed  the  picnic,  I  thought  it  was
a  good  opportunity  to  prick  the  bubble  of  self  esteem  assumed
by  Barker,  and  wrote  for  the  rival  newspaper  a  counter  de
scription  signed  "A  Looker  On."  This  excited  a  good  deal  of
interest  at  the  time,  but  it  has  probably  faded,  after  half  a  cen
tury,  from  the  memory  of  the  few  who  survive;  it  then  created
a  rivalry  and  left  its  mark  upon  the  future.  The  destruction
of  the  mill  by  a  flood,  the  cutting  away  of  the  wood  and  other
causes,  have  changed  this,  so  that  the  gathering  place  of  the
young  of  my  day  is  a  thing  of  the  past.
