Page 195 - La Société canadienne d'histoire de l'Église catholique - Rapport 1961

CHILDS' RECOLLECTIONS.
191
of Government. \Ve adjourned from day to day, until we
could get into the new capitol building. At length we took
possession of the new Assembly Hall. The floors were laid
with green oak boards, full of ice; the walls of the room were
iced over; green oak seats, and desks made of rough boards;
one fire-place and one small stove. In a few days the flooring
near the stove and fire-place so shrunk on account of the heat,
that a person could run his hands between the boards. The
basement story was all open, and JAMES MORRISON'S large
drove of hogs had taken possession; they were awfully poor,
and it would have takcn two of them, standing side by side, to
have made a decent shadow on a bright clay. \lie had a great
many smart members in the IIouse, and sometimes they spoke
for Buncombe. When members of this ilk would become too
tedious, I would take a long pole, go at the hogs, and stir them
up ; when they would raise a young pandemonium for noise and
confusion. The speaker's voice would become completely
drowned, and he would be compelled to stop, not, however,
without givinghis squealing disturbers a sample of his swearing
ability.
The weather was cold; the halls were cold, our ink would
freeze, everything froze-so when we could stand it no longer,
we passed a joint resolution to adjourn for twenty days. I wa6
appointed by the two houses to procure carpeting for both
halls during the recess; I bought all I could find in thc Terri-
tory, and brought it to Madison, and put it down after covering
the floor with a thick coating of hay. After this, we were more
comfortable. The American ITotel was the only public house
in Madison, except that Mr. PECK kept a few boarders in his
old log-house, which was still standing not long since. We
used to have tall times in those days-times long to be remem-
bered. The Forty Thieves were then in their infancy; steal-
ing was carried on in a small way. Occasionally a bill would
be fairly stolen through the Legislature; and the Territory
would get gouged a little now and then.
About this period, Hon. MORGAN L. MARTIN and' Hon.