The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer., 1890-09-14
ESTABLISHED 1900.

cats" of Salem "purr, purr" as the electric cars
spin along
From Salem we went by steam-cars to "Beverly
Farms,' where Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes has
his summer residence. 1t is almost perched in
a ledge of rocks, which seems to be the favorite
place for locating residence in that vicinity.
Beverly Farms is part of the famous "North
Shore'' neighborhood of Salem Harbor and is
dotted over with aristocratic homes looking out
to sea. Even to "Misery Island,n where the
witches congregated on dark nights to concoct
more mischief, and "Baker's Island" where
the "twin lights'' warn mariners off those rocky,
jagged shores from sun to sun. Beverly Farms
is succession of fine country seats, and DR..
Holmess cottage is one Of the prettiest, and is
Of two stories. The visitor enters from gravel
walk into corner porch opening into cross
wise hall, off of which a dinng-room opens,
with drawing-rooms to the right and the library
to the left, where we found him. Our cards
were hardly out of our hands before attend
ant showed us into the library, where this most
genial of all Americas writers rose up to meet
us. DR.. Holmes does not look his eighty-three
years. The small, well-knit figure so neatly
dressed, the laughing eyes, the frank face, are
the face and figure of man at least twenty
years younger. The Doctors reception was
very cordial and he begged us be seated. and
we dropped into conversation as easily as though
1t were common thing to make pilgrimages to
poets. The Doctor sat before the dying embers
of wood fire in an open Fireplace. A deep
bay-window was opposite to him, and book
cases and two or three writing desks with
round fronts were disposed against the walls,
dows were simply draped, the furniture plain
and unpretentious. 1t is not the makers of
many books who live in "kings houses" but
the publishers who reap the rewards of genius.
AS the pilgrims came along Pencil had been
informed by the Poetess and elect-lady of Salem
that she had ''got to do the talking this time"
She therefore introduced the subject Of trees,
for she knew from her reading of DR.. Holiness
= lo,
1t was happy thought. No one need do any
thing but listen now.
'Yes, have always been an admirer of trees"
said the Doctor. ~ know every tree that has a
history in this vicinity, and there are some noble
ones, not giants, but twelve or fourteen feet in
girth, with sweeping limbs. Elms are my favor
ties and oaks come next. l know of nothing
finer than a low-bowled oak-tree, with its layers
of outlying branches. There is one about four
miles from here. Now, if you ladies had time
for drive out there and back 1 would be de-
lighted to show it to you.h (Oh, how we re-
gretted that an evenings engagement would
prevent us accepting this chance-one of hun
dred y 'Have you seen the Washington elm on
Harvard Common green? ?' said he. We had.
Then the Poetess could not resist asking him
about how he came to write that latest brochure
of his, "The Witches of the Broomstck' -
'Oh,' he said, 81 always feel as though old
Mephisto had something to do with running
these electric cars, and, as / am saturated with
our local history. the black CATS and the local
hits all occurred to me as matter of course,
and just wove it in. 1t seemed just made on
purpose to express my thoughts" He went on
to say, "My library is in unusually good order
to-day. My secretary and myself have been
clearing up for my birthday, which is to-mor-
row, and could not have appeared to better
advantage" said he, with merry twinkle in his
eye. "We are not usually so trim and orderly"
Wishing him many happy returns of birthdays,
and that he might never lay down his pen, he
alluded to the ''Talks Over the Teacups" in the
atlantic as being ''near their end now, and |
scarcely know what shall do next" He went
then out into the porch with us as we took our
reluctant leave, for this happy day was almost
done. Such day for us
AS we rode back to Salem and from there to
Boston we wondered if any other American au-
thor would be allowed by publishers to enjoy
the privilege Of ambling along the sunny paths
of literature, browsing where he would, as
leisurely as DR.. Holmes had done, and we de-
cided, to our edifcation, if else's, that his
dscursive, pleasant, ,talkative style would become
classic art and serve inspiration to happy turns
OF thought, rather than general model, for the
world can have but one DR.. Oliver Wendell
Holmes. +. l.. S.