Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1893-09-30
A PICTURESQUE RUIN.
An old Nov. Jersey village That 10 Com
Vpletely Deserted.

handsome state camp ground, That Is Q
counterpart of Goldsmith's deserted
village II is pretty spot in the town.
ship of Allaire, In Monmouth county,
and oddly enough its existence Is
known to few outside of the residents
of southern New Jersey. A pictur-
esque country road winding past large
farms leads the traveller into tract OF
cultivated land, over one thousand
acres in extent. owned by one man, &C.
counted to be the wealthiest In the
county, and right in the middle OF this
tract stand the ruins of the deserted
village 1t is o collection of score or
more of dwellings and large buildings
whose colonial type of architecture
makes it plain that they must have
been built over one hundred years ago
Some are in good state of preservation,
and IRE inhabited by employees of the
owner of the estate. Others have
tumbled into hopeless ruin.
The walls Of what was once large
and busy iron foundry stand ut one end
Of the village. The roof tumbled in
many years ago and buried In ruin the
outfit OF the foundry. TO the right are
row Of two-story brick houses with
gabled roofs, where the foundry hands
used to live half century ago. Only
one of this row Is now habitable. Last
year the front walls of the others were
tumbled In a heap in a heavy storm.
The roofs have fallen In, and carried
with them the rotten floors. Near by
Is tho stone building which was tho
village post Office, and two hundred
feet away still stands four-story
building in good preservation that was
the village general store. with q school.
house overhead This Is now furnished
just as 1t was when the industry that
gave employment to several hundred
workmen and their families suddenly
ceased at least fifty years ago, as the
present dwellers there say, through the
failure of the Arm Of iron men who ran
the village. 1t is thrown open to Wis
itors nowadays at certain times, when
guide takes sightseers around the de.
serted village. All the old tools and
the unperishable things that were sold
at the village store are still to be seen,
rusted by age and disuse.
What was once q spacious and hand
some dwelling in the colonial days
when the village was founded stands.
amid trees, near the old store. II Is
crowned with an old-fashioned cupola
OF wood, with a balcony, overgrown
with vines in the summer time, and
great entrance doors with glass panels
ON either side the threshold, set with
tiny panes of glass Standing back Of
what was tho main street of the village
Is the little church where the villagers
worshiped. which is still kept in good
repair to accommodate churchgoers in
the immediate vicinity. A country par
son drives up in his buggy every Sun
day and breaches from the ancient
pulpit to the country folk. This church
is crowned with fat wooden steeple,
with great clock set. in it that has
faced many storm and was long since
disabled for further service in keeping
track of the march of time A grass
plateau spreads out in front Of the old
church, and is now one of the most
popular picnic grounds in New Jersey.
Picnickers gather there in the summer
time from Asbury Park, Long Branch,
Belmar, and other neighboring towns
The opportunity afforded to get good
view of the deserted village is big in
centive in drawing the crowds thither.
There are other odd things besides
the decaying and deserted buildings to
reward the visit One of the strangest
to those unfamiliar with the region is
the spectacle of sparkling brook flow
ing up hill to the left of the ascending
road to the village Down a declivity
about twenty feet from the road level
Is another brook flowing down hill To
watch the one 60 up hill and the other
down puzzles most of the sightseers
who view it for the first time The
.yuide smiles OF the questions of the Wis
itors about the phenomenon Of the as
cending stream. He explains that 1t is
an excellent illustration of the wonders
OF the system OF steam force pumping.
To save his fine cattle long journey
down the road to the NATURAL brook
level the owner of the extensive tract
of land built great force pump at the
foot OF the hill, dug new bed along
side the road and forced the cool water
up hill so that the cows could readily
get drink. At one point near the
bank of the up.flowing brook are the
ruins of an ancient we'll that was In use
when the foundry was going. 1t dried
up long ago, and now gnarled and
twisted apple tree grows mp out of the
side of the we'll Itevidently grew from
seed dropped into the well when it first
fell into disusc. Another object Of in
terest TO the visitor is the spot where a
canal ran while the foundry echoed
with the hum of its noisy industry. It's
walls tumbled in and buried the greater
part of its course. All that is now left
of 1t is little well-iike body of water
chat 10 nlaar and sweat and oOOl