Nelson Family Juvenilia
Box 1 Folder 32
The Mountain News, March 11 - n.d.

THE MOUNTAIN NEWS
Published By WR Nelson Greenville Willows March 11th

AN ADVENTURE ON NEW POPLINGTON
In 5 Chap Chap 5
The guns were hurling broadsides into the fleet of boats till the Sunbeam got within 50 yards of the leading [junk?] when all of a sudden the guns were stopped on the launch and nothing but the infuriated cries and the crack crack crack of the old muskets of the Indians and an occasinal sullen boom of the cannons on board the row boats was heard till the Sunbem getting up steam started slowly back inards down the river after backing about 75 yards the Sunbeam suddenly gathering headway with a rush started up stream straight towards the canoes going with the speed of fifty miles an hour rushing straight onto the mass of canoes sinking overturning [cotting?] in two all the canoes and boats that came in contact with the Sunbeams sharp bow and adding further destruction by sending broadside after broadside into the natives fleet of boats after it had got clear through the line it swung arround and came back with fresh speed in a line a little higher up then it had first come through on as it started back the natives flagship an old [junk? lunk?] was rowed slowley across the path in which the Sunbeam was coming it was going to try to cut of[f] the Sunbeams route but the Sunbeam came on never checking its speed and hurled itsel like a madman onto the [junk?] striking it amid ships there was a creaking and crashing of timbers and when the smoke and dust cleared away the Sunbeam was steaming along at a good fast gait uninjured and behind it was the junk all one no longer but two parts too it had rapidly sinking at the loss of their flagship the natives spoke and paddled to land as fast as they could and dissapeared in the forest then the hunt for Harry begun in ernest but nothing was seen of Harry any where they hunted and hunted but nothing seen of Harry just as they were going to give him up somebody hollared down beside of the launch Joe instintly recognized the voice as Harrys he rushed to the rail of the launch and looked down and saw Harry clinging to a rope that dangled over the side Harry was soon on the deck and told his story the canoe he was in was tipped over and he was thrown into the water his ropes slipped off of his hands and feet and being a good swimmer he struck out for the steam launch and that soon he got there and you know the rest
Finace
WR Nelson
[page break]

PLACES OF NOTE
OVAL ISLAND
Oval Island is situated east of Cape Colony in the Black Ocean about five miles in the nearest place from the main land Oval Island is three hundred miles long and 150 miles wide in the widest place it has three quite large lakes in the interior of the island. Highland Lake. Crystal Lake. And Rocky Bog Lake Crystal Lake is the largest then Rocky Bog and then Highland there are small villages scattered all over Oval Island only on the eastern end where the island being on the level of the sea the high tide towers the eastern end under about four feet of water when the tide comes in. There is a large body of water about twenty miles across between the island and the mainland called the little dot inland sea. There is quite a lot of traffic carried on between different countries that stop and coal up at Harborville then steam on through ship channel then go through Little Dot Inland Sea and pass on through the natural channel into the Black Ocean it is good fishing at the foot of the Great [lake?] and in the fishing season white sails of the fishing smacks flitting around at the foot [of riff?] is a common sight here is a map of Oval Island it is a very picturesque island indeed the gulls are yearly inhabitants of the great cliffs which furnishes the people with very nice [ells?]
The end
Jim Slumpsy
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TERMS
This paper is a weekly paper the best paper in the world for stories and news combined only ONE DOLLAR a year we believe our paper is the best paper in the union for its price and size our paper is better than any other paper in its news
Yours truly WR Nelson

[page break]

THE BATTLES OF POPLINGTON
The Second Battle of Poplington
Our Defeat
But there was no time to explain they were there and that was enough five minutes after the alarm was given every one was ready for the fight which now promised to be a bloody one at twenty seven of six every thing was in readiness. Soon after, the long line of the enemy was seen advancing on they came: soon our line opened fire the enemie lines answered then both lines became lines of fire and smoke again and again the enemy came down on us but went back again the battle had raged about an hour when I discovered three large gunboats of[f] the Big Continent [wake?] but on the ocean and then I began to see their plan it as evident that they expected to surround us and capture us when we tried to escape I set my teeth and tuned to the enemy ahead at eight minutes of eleven a man came up the trench with a dispatch from WM Little which read ["]Gen Gates has been driven from his trench and his company partly annilhilated I shall hold my place tot he last man if possible WM Little" I drew out my notebook & sent back this answer "I am with you but am afraid that we can not hold out" fourteen minutes passed slowly by and no one seemed to gain any advantage it was nip and tuck I still hoped that we might yet win the day
To be continued
Burt Green

CONDENSED NEWS OF THE WEEK
NEW POPLINGTON
There has been a lot of maple wood cut for selling purpose on New Poplington
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There has been a lot of distinguished persons visiting New Poplington (senators and governers wives)
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The apple trees are being trimmed up and crafted this week
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The New Poplingtoners have kept on their felt boots and winter caps prophisising [prophesizing] colder weather
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The boundry line is being fixed up between United Division and New Poplington this week
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WILLOWS
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Fred Warrington has been visiting the great solar refinery at Greenville Friday
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There has been a lot of wood drawn and sold at Greenville
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COAST COLONY
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The great mercantile iron steamer Querdry was launched at Point Town on Lily Lake last Friday the 16th of March it made a grand dip into the water but it righted all right and made an excursion trip around the lake
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There is a great forest of basswood trees discovered at about the center of Coast Colony it is a monster of a forest
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The app[l]e trees are being trimmed up and grafted this week
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There has been a lot of dry beech wood cut on Coast Colony
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The buckets of sap are running over this week
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There has been a lot of wood exported from Coast Colony
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CAPE COLONY
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There are a good many leaky buckets comeing over from last season so ther is a [page break] lot of soldering going on
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There has been a sketch written of Oval Island and its surroundings this week which now hangs in the capitol of Forest Dell
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The [tron] steam frigate. Gull. Dropped anchor in Birdnest Bay on the Cape Colony coast it is a beauty of a steamer
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WILLOWS
continued
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Bessie Sherman the prime ministers wife and Lord de Gamas wife all of Fernland visited the great sugar refinery at Greenville
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The great sugar refinery at Greenville is going full blast it boils down into thick syrup 5,000 barrels a day right along every day
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There is a lot of bird nesting going on this spring
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Fred Warrington has introduced a patent on the [dampers?] in the great [flues?] of the sugar refinery at Greenville it does not work very well
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There has been a new railroad built from Greenville to Proposed City it was completed Thursday the 15th of March the first train that run over it was the Greenville Central
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The rivers are overrunning their banks this spring
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COAST COLONY
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There are a lot [alder?] covered pastures being cut down and burned over this week
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The rivers are very high but there has been no flood so far this week
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There is a lot of maple wood being cut for selling purposes this week
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NEW POPLINGTON
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Fred Warrington has visited the Great Allenstown tore this week he thinks it is a beauty
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The strawberry patches are growing green this week
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The grass is growing green on the common. This warm weather is starting the grass awfully
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The roads are being fixed up so that they look a lot better
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There has been a big picnic in the evergreen park there were a lot of disuingshed [distinguished] persons visiting there
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There has been a lot of syrup sold ot [to] the Great Allenstown store this spring
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UNITED DIVISION
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Clover is getting pretty green around Farmington so that the cows are going out to pasture very soon
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Grass is starting up quite big on some of he most fertile fields and pastures
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The sap is running good this week so that the buckets are running over most of the time
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There is a lot of gathering sap going on this week all over United Division
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Bessie Sherman and some very distiunguished persons have been visiting the grand scenery of United Division for the past week and they returned to Fernland fully satisfied with their trip
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The sap is running so fast that the people cannot keep it all gathered so that there will be a lot of sap wasted
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There has been a new railroad built from Proposed City to Greenville right across the mountain all the men hired were New Poplington hired for the occasion. It was completed March 1894
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BIG CONTINENT
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The great sawmill at Nelsons City had shut down for lack of lumber to saw on as there are not many trees being cut down this year on Big Continent
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There has been an exploring party up to the North Pole for quite a while now but the last message said that they were all well and were feeling good
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LONG CONTINENT
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There has been a party of [20?] tourist making a long trip of from one end of Long Continent to the other taking pictures and writing sketches of the beautiful scenery which they saw there
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ROUND CONTINENT
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The capitol building at Colony City is going into decay a little
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Snow is going fast this week
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CHIPEWA
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President George Washington is almost well and is feeling first rate
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Things are getting green on Chipewa