Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1895-10-12
BERKSHIRE PEOPLE.
The Spiritual and intellectual Forces Ar,
Strong Among Them.

The Spiritual and intellectual Forces Are
Strong Among Them.
And this region, so favored by ma
ture, owes much If its character and in
terest to its history us we'll Settled lat
or than the scacoasf. the western part
of the state WAS III lis beginnings made
up of more varied elements than the
eastern. From the valley If tho Connect
icut colonists pushed through in,. noun
tain gaps into that If the HJnsatunic;
the hills attracted settlers from the fiat
and sandy lands Of Cape Cod. while tho
Dutch from New York have left in
name and character their impress uptn
the Berkshire people Of today. Spiritual
and intellectual forces were largely
prominent i'll the laying of its founda-
tions. and such forces have contributed
since
Missionary zeal. represented by such
hames rs Eliot and Sergeant, founded
StockbridGe. Jonathan Edwards here
spent the years which represented the
prime and fullness of his powers.
Ephraim Williams. the fighter in the
French and Ind war, dying ON tho
battlefield, left his fortune To plant and
endow the college which bears his name.
Mark Hopkins. Berkshire born and
bred. another Arnold Of Rugby. set his
stamp upon whole general ;on ;
throughout its history soldiers. saints
and scholars have both represented and
ttx.tnrnecn1 fta 1iFo rrtA -
Jonathan Edwards. which for <, cd and
evil have had so g;cat an influence up
on theological Thought. found their most
powerful expression in his treatise on
the will, which was written while he
lived in Sto.khridge Lenox heard the
last public uttcrmccs Of Claiming; his
successor. Orvillc Dewey. horn 100 years
ago U79i) ut Sheffield. long made that
place his home. and there, too, were
born the two Barnards. one the presi-
dent Of Columbia college. the other the
soldier scholar Of our civil war Oliver
Wendell Holmes lived for years ut
Pittsfield. Caiharine Maria Sedgwick
drew around her ut Stockhridgc ind
Lenox distinguished circle Of the best
literary society Of orr own country and
many cultivated wanderers from the old
world. Fanny kemblc here made for
years her home. Longfcllow, Lowell,
Hawthorne. Herman Melville. Beccher,
q. p. r. James, George William Cur
tbs. Matthew Arnold and others fingered
among and loved the beauty Of these
hills. where plain living and high think
ing have found noble expression in the
past and where here and there they
still survive. spite Of the infiowing tide
Of wealth and luxury that floods the
Berkshire Of today-Arthur Lawrence
in Century.
Trees That Die When Men Live Near rhem
The dc:.,hs # nearly all the pine
trees in Asbury Park give rise to an in
tercst .ng {; c'iinn rs to whether or not
il il true that this trca is So wild by ma
:ure that it will not endure domestica-
ton. II is the breed Of pine that grows
in the sand close to the scashore Of
which this seems TO he true. Asbury
Park is built rpen Il former sea beach
extcnd;n" 1 e" miles INLAND to the edge
of tie get io.cSt that reaches from Ea-
tontown. back If Long Branch. 10 Cape
May. Thi' f rest is called The Pines, ="
because of the prcpondcrancc Of pine
trees i'll il, the other trees that are plen-
tiful there being mainly oaks Of four
varieties, with a-fcw magnoliaS. tulips,
sassafr's and hickory trees and hollies
and laurclS.
The pines still flourish in the woods
behind ASbury Park. but i'll the town a
large fraction Of the few that remain
are s;ekly and dying. Thousands have
died and been cut down since the tree
EMPOWERED town was built i'll the woods
n quarter Of a century ago. The vii
layers say they die because it kills them
to have human beings walk beside them.
They say that even i'll the forest tho
pines that stand beside the footpaths are
the first to die. Others credit their de-
struction III the v llaSe To the shaking
of the earth by the Heavy trolley cars
and steam railway trains. and still 9TH
ers declare that manuring, watering
and topsoiling the sandy ground is what
has done the damage. The truth is yet
TO be determined. but certain il is that
they are dy ing fast. and that already
Asbury Park has lost most of its noblest
ornaments New York Sun.
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