COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES much anxiety wa$ felt for Ihcir welfare. And then, when the w ar was over and the boys re* tunivd, many were the tales o f heroism and the stories o f camp and march that were re* latcd to eager listeners in the old bookstore. M r. Brown, often busy during the day in his dentist shop adjoining the store, never missed (he newspaper hour nor the conferences that w ere held over the nation's affairs, while aw aiting the arrival o f B illy Sm ith's 'bus, or other conveyance, bringing the ever wekomc new s .sheets. Most of the participants in those rathcrings have passed to the other side. The old building has been changed, counters and book shelves have been removed, and in (heir place electric lamps and modern devices for lighting and heating are displayed. The front has l)ccn cut down and changed, but around it still there clings the old memory that no mechanic's hand can ever efface; and the old faces that no lapse o f time can ever remove. Another place of special interest to a num b er o f what were once voung men w as the second floor of the building now removed, known latterly as the Vincent block, but fo r m erly the Elisha Reynolds building, com er o f M ill and Mahoning streets. Here, in the period from 1867 to (870, were located a Young Men's Reading Room and Library and Debating Society. '1 homas Bea%*er had con tributed a number o f 1>ooks and quite a library had been collected. Many of the young men of the town belonged to (his association, and here were laid the foundations o f many a young man's future. W eighty problcnw were discussed, many debatable questions, it was thought, were settled for all time by unanswer able ai^iinents. Futures o f eminence and dis tinction were dreamed of and a ir castles of rare size and wonderful beauty were built. But aside from the effervescence o f youthful fancy, there came from that room enlarged ideas, studv o f characters, knowledge o f one's se lf and sn.^ing o f views that can never be forgotten. 'There arc those living lo*day who still look back upon those days o f youthful energy and exuberance, and with Whitcomb R ilcy exclaim :
O b . the olden, gold en g lo rx
385 of
the days gone by.
There arc doubtless many other places of special interest in the town, around which center many pleasant and hallowed recollec tions; but all cannot be crowded into this chapter. It would, however, not be fa ir to close the chapter without a reference to the place where s ecp so many o f those who once, w ith busy hands and brains, toiled and builded that we might enjoy the result of their work. Perhaps too often wc neglect (he spots where rest (he [>opulation of the past. A trip through the ccnteteries o f Ihe town, reading on the gravestones the names o f many who were the bone and sinew o f our town, the brains and inspiration of the past, is alw'ays profltabtc. There arc those whose brawny muscle and sturdy character fo r so many years made pos sible (he smoking stacks and the busy hum of our works o f industry. Ilie re are (hose whose strength o f mind and busy brain and stalwart character were (he foundation and strength and defense o f our town. There are those whose <lcpth o f piety and devout consecration and earnest religious fcr'or have erected the church spires and made possible in our midst the religious life that has been the uplifting and saving power of this community. There are the sifent ranks of the departed soldiery: those who once, with patriotic step and flushed face and set lip, carried to glorious victory the flag, now their winding sheet. There is (he vast unnumbered host, the common people of the past, the nuin reliance and strcn^h and power o f all the years gone b y; names forgotten here, but recorded in the brok. some time to be opened before the great Judge of all the earth. 'Hiere they .all lie, not dead but sleeping, (he Danville of the past. They arc part o f us and thcir resting place is a spot o f special interest. They and the living o f to day have made the history which is here recorded. Much has been omitted, much im perfectly w ritten; but the actors, living and dead, in this history o f a century and a quar ter, have lived well thcir part and buildcd deep and strong for posterity.
