Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1899-04-14
ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS.

their gardens and the work of early
spring, the inhabitants of part of Yer
mont are wading around in snow banks,
growing higher with daily deposits but
old Sol is making "run" on the seven
foot drifts and we hope soon to see signs
of earth.
The people of this rugged town, al
though living higher heaven than we of
the valley, have time for mundane affairs,
as anyone half awake may see. Well
kept farmsteads, sleek cattle and proud
stepping Morgans are our witnesses,
while at Bread Loaf farm may be seen
three scores or more of these magnificent
animals.
In passing over the mountains into
Hancock it is impossible to observe the
usual courtesies of the road, as there is
but one track. When by chance we
meet another traveller our kind driver
stops his big span of grays and with
strong arm and hearty will makes a
space in the roadside for the stranger to
stand till we pass. Farther down we
meet drover with a herd of cattle
destined for Bread Loaf farm. The fat
creatures, their sleek sides steaming
with the effort of making a way over the
yielding sleigh track, are with difficulty
forced to breast the deep snow that
parts like a billOw over their backs, and
when they founder into the road they
toss the snow from their heads with a
gratified snort.
One hardly wearies looking deep down
into the gorge where half fallen spruces
/ oh 10;
straight towering brethren. When we
approached the top of the last mountain
the air grew keen, and while for several
days our East Middebury friends were
gathering buckets Of Vermont nectar
from their freshly tapped naples, our
old-fashioned winter forbade such pleas
ant prospects
We were now speeding down the
mountain, the gorges growing dim and
cold, the highest peaks catching the last
rays of the sun. Now we are gliding
along in the floor of the valley, the
"West Branch" winding in and out from
its icy prison or toling oyer the mill
wheel aud fretting and gurgling over its
stony bed till it mngles with the White
River. Soon the moon gided up the
clear sky
Like a celestial nun,
Telling her rosary of stars"
Another short mile and we were at our
destination. a hearty welcome and a
hot supper--well, what more could NOR
tai wish.
The first settler in the nearby town of
Granville was Eli Lewis, his descendants
being today active participants in the
affairs of Hancock Lewis was patriot
of the Revolution-one of that immortal
host who long since have pitched their
silent tents on flames eternal camping
ground About a third of the way
down Hancock mountain is a great
boulder, since severed by the action of
the element, which was known for gen.
erations as "Old Lewis's Hotel" Here
the old patriot was wont to rest on his
return from the mill at Middlebury,
where he had carried on his back a bag
of wheat or corn to be ground. No
path or road yet broke the outrageous
wilderness-only the blazed trees marked
the way of the pioneer.
On spur of Ripton mountain is a
cave in pile of debris from a landslide
This was the resort of bears, and from a
den here Eli Lewis, Jr., took out seven
of the "varmints." Zenas Robbins was
another valorous hunter of those days,
and few were the bear hunts without his
stalwart form looming where the battle
ragged flercest.
"The olden, golden glory of the days
gone by the ring of the hunters horn,
the stain of the smoking rifle in the
sweet air-are but a part of fancy's
vision of the past. Nature offers her
compensatons, however, and what we
lose in old-time realities we gain in new
found pleasures, artificial though they
may seem.
Extensive preparations are being made
for the maple sugar harvest, and just a
word before we close may interest the
readers of the REGISTER who are pos
SCISSORS of sweet tooth. The labor of
gathering the fruit of the sugar bush is
sweetened by one of Natures choicest
gifts. The details which must be care
fully attended to in maple sugar making,
from the moment the first drop of sap
tinkles in the sap bucket till the last pan
of syrup is "sugared off," are almost
numberess. Abundance of dry hard
wood must be provided to heat the
evaporator. The trees must be tapped,
on the south side, of course, a slanting
hole being made in the smooth bark for
the spout dark colored bark indicates
the most fruitful tree. If the tree is
large and vigorous it may be tapped
again on the north side toward the end
of the season. TO the big evaporator in
the edge of the "bush' the sap is con-
Quoted in covered troughs. An adept
will note the exact stage at which the
thick syrup will sugar off," a novice
will content himself with sugar on snow,
the fair sex managing this end of the
business. More anon. Il.
No RIGHT TO UGLlNESS
The woman who is lovely in face, form