New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-10-26
AFOOT IN NEW-ENGLAND.
III.
RAMBLING NOTES OF A WEEKS WALK Cf
THE CONNECTICUT RIVER VALLEY.

RAMBLING NOTES OF WEEKS WALh .i
THE CONNECTICUT RIVER VALLEY.
The EnRlsh complain that we have no ruins, anu
we. good, easy folk, have always hung our beads
and admitted that they were right. WHAT we
should do 10 to put on q bold front and say that
we do have ruins for we have. Who deoreeo
that ruin must be Of stoneP ruin may oe Oh
what YOU like English ruins orc OF stone-ours
are OF wood each kind has it's good points STONE
ruins are more picturesque, but they have their
dravhacks chief of which is the very long time IL
takes 70 develop them. To work up stone ruin
\ man must live alway-very nearly. III somn
distaut ancestor Of a mans great-great-grand-
father built q stone castle and the same leh "
ruin. till at last it couldn't even be rented 70
family with children, why, we'll and good he has
a ruin. aud we ell congratulate HIN. but the
troubje In that the distant ancestors OF oar great
rreatprandfathers lived In Europe, and spent thelr
Lsurr moments In scoffing ut the idea that the
world vas round, 20 consequently they were not
buiIdine stone castles in America We have not
IN fact been here long enough to have stone ruins
but we have had time to develop wooden ruins
and we have done it; and / suppose that there is
no better place to see them than IN New-Engand'
The oldest house is not always the most in
teresting indeed; it usually Is not, for the very
fact Of its great age will probably show that IL
has been constantly repaired, till 1t has become
like the mans barrel which was 200 years DID,
but which, Re was forced to admit had had new
hoops half dozen times. new slaves three umes
and new heads ct least once. leaving only the IN.
teresting bung- hole Of any historical Importance
Going up the Connecticut Valley / had houses
pointed out to me as dating back various numbers
of years before the Revolution, but they we're all
still occupied and in o good state of repair ana
nut them behind me and settled my affections on
one near Jacksonville, VT, only about a hunoreo
years old, but which had not been inhaDlted since
some time before the late war, when JOSIAH 'ross,
who married Nancy Wofden of Sadawga, moved
out and went Oh to Ohio or somewhere and got
into the Legislature and did we'll" generally, and
finally died about ten years ego from eating 100
many hot biscuits and honey at the wedding sup
per Of his daughter Ellen, who married a fellow
out there. None Of your modern improvements
door-knobs and such like frivolity-about inns
house Perhaps, however-I know not-the
bIacksmith-made iron latches on the doors which
/ admired so much, were modern compared WIN
the house after all 1t to me now that there
should have been latch MISUNDERSTANDING, than
which nothing ever furnished more inspiration to
the rural editor for were it not for latchstrings
how could he put forth this, his favorite para
graph: BRO Barry, OF The Grassland HoTer,'
called on We editor Wednesday, Come again.
John. Our latch-string is always ont"
But however 1t may be about the latches. the
bouse Of which 1 have spoken is old and inter
esting IL stands on the highest hill in the neigh
borhood, which gives a view in every direction
for several miles. / liked to think that it was
placed there SO that the occupants could see the
Indians coming long way of and pull in their
famous latch-srings and get down their muskets
and adjust new hints But suppose, in point Of
fact; that the Indians had left that part of Yer
mont before this house built still, hope
not, nor do know anything about it; know
nothing positively Of dates except that Columbus
discovered America in fourteen ninety-something.
At present, were there family in the house and
were the Indians to come, a tribe Of them might
hide among the high weeds in the front yard and
reach through the broken windows and scalp
the defenceess folks they ate their pumpkin
pic.
When had struggled through the weeds and
avoided falling into an old we'll found that it
was good-sized story and a-half house Of nearly
dozen rooms. One wing" had dropped off and
grounded at an intoxicated angle several feet from
the main building. / suspect that some enter
prising builder had stolen away the UNDERMINING
from the unfortunate wing. The first thing that
impressed me was the roof. On one side it was so
it were shingled, matched tiled. On the other
side there was little or no moss but the shingles
were almost worn away by the rain, and they were
no modern, f1imsy, machine made shingles.
either, but good, thick, oldLfashioned, hewn-
by-hand shingles with which you could
spank an unruly boy till he was twcnty-one.
They were narrow. and the edges were worn
away, making wide cracks and leaving almost as
much Of the roofboards exposed as covered. IT.
looked bald, and needed wig of moss like the
other side. Judiciously avoiding an old cistern
! pushed open the front door and walked in
There was little square hall, with room open
ing to the right and another to the left Straight
ahead was the chimney, big and solid as Bunker
Hill monument. The house soon began 10 in-
press me as mere Enclosure for that monstrous
chimney Like the hand that rounded Peters
dome the maker Of that chimney wrought in a
sad sincerity; but he had more stone than the
old Roman I am convinced that he builded
better than he needed 10. | went down in the
cellar. Ii was q large cellar, but the base OF
that chimney filed it-almOst. There was only
narrow passagcway around 4. The chimney
maker must have been an Egyptian with the
blood OF the old pyramid builders in his veins
The stones that formed the base were large and
Irregular, and must have taken numberless yokes
VI oxen to rove them. The chimney grew some
what smaller 1t approached the floor. but
where 1t passed through it was still as big as a
New-York fat bedroom. / clambered back up
the cellar stairs were missing; gone with the
wing UNDERMINING / suspect-and examined the
rest of the chimney. In one of the rooms into
which the little hall opened was an immense
fireplace. 1t was a fireplace which would swal
low up load Of wood and call for more before
breakfast; q fireplace into which you could roll
saw-logs: o fireplace that when the fire was out,
YOU could let to summer boarders for bedroom.
1t was nearly six feet high and across the top
and supporting that side Of the chimney above
was q single stone ten feet long, foot and