Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1901-08-29
An Entertaining Letter From Seth Jones.
EVERETT. MASS Auo TO-

Dear Aunt, Eva and Doc.-Itis now
Sunday evening and as it is after 700
p. m. and no chance of getting to
church will write you about good be-
havior and hours.
Well, this week has been a hard one
in different ways, in work and in seeing
different things. Thursday evening
Guy Miller and / went into Keith's
theatre to see the show and try and
keep cool. You ought to see that
theatre. it is claimed to be the finest
in the world. They have a grand
stair case and passage way that are all
finished in onyx and mirrors, plants
and the like. Heard the Symphony
orchestra play, they play for the
popular concerts here in Boston and
are supposed to be one of the best 10
the business.
Friday evening Guy, Geo. Hum
phreyS and | went down to Crescent
Beach and [ am now learning the art
of shutting my feet. Had a good time
nevertheless, as there is always fun
where there is a crowd. Crescent
Beach is something like Coney Island
only much tanner. The probable
| reason for that is that it is owned by
the state.
Last evening had an invitation from
very nice friend Of mine in Beverly
| to come down to see the HarbOr
Display. | went but they didn't have
the display as it looked like rain, of
course there are always a few lights
| in the harbOr and we made the best of
them. Stayed in Lynn with Frank
last night and arrived home in time
| for breakfast (11th).
The 18th today and not having any
thing to do Guy, Geo. and I made the
| trip to Lexington and Concord and it
was fine. We started at ten a. m. and
reached Lexington at eleven-tnirty
after very pleasant and beautiful
ride.
The Screen" at Lexington is the
most beautiful bit of grass that | ever
saw. 1t is firm and still like a piece
of velvet. At the head of the Green"
stands the Minute Man" on a pile of
bOulders, while fine cold spring runs
out at the base of the pile. Down
the left side Of the "Green" is a
monument to those who died in the
battle of Lexington, on the right is a
huge stone which marks the line of
the Minute Men when fired upon by
the British. Upon it was inscribed
the words 'Stand your ground, don't
fire unless fired upon but if they mean
war let it begin here" These words
were spoken by Captain Parker who
commanded the company. We then
went down to house on Hancock ST.,
which is now used as a museum. 1t
was built in 1893 and John Hancock
and Samuel Adams were sleeping in it
when aroused by Paul Revere.
The next place we did" was the
old burying ground. Some of the
stones date back to 1890. One stone
[ noticed was one erected to six
children who died on Aug. 10, %, "a,
2S, rs and Sept. 6, of the same year
Wasn't that awful?
From Lexington we went to Con-
cord; between the two places are great
fields of asparagus and it does look SO
pretty to see SO much at once.
At Concord we took dinner and
after the refreshments did the towns
and nearly everybody. Some of the
places we saw were the old Wright
Tavern built in 1747 and still serves
guests to fine New England dinners.
The meeting house where John Han
cock was elected president of the
First Congress, the homes of Ralph
Waldo Emerson and Louisa NJ. AlcOtt
are near together and are both ideal
spots for authors | should Judge. On
the same street is the home of the
man who grew or originated the first
Concord grape. An inscription is
there telling how he used all the
different seeds of wild grapes until he
found the right one and how that one
made a success of his untiring inveS-
tigatiOn. On another street is the
monument to the soldiers of the civil
war, the Old ManSe made famous by
Hawthorne in his chooses from the
Old Manse" Turning from this
street, Monument street [ believe it
was. we come to the Concord battle
ground. Here bridge crosses the
Concord river and over this stream
the Americans and English had the
first good fight. A monument marks
where the first enemy fell. On the
opposite side OF the stream stands the
monument of another Minute Man.
1t is fine piece of workmanship, that
is in my eyes, as every feature and
muscle shows the determination and
fight Of an ideal American soldier.
The words that are often quoted are
on this monument.
BY the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to Aprips breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard round the world.
The last place we visited was the
Sleepy Hollow cemetery where Emer-
son, Thoreau, Hawthorne and the
AlcOttS are buried.
Arrived home in time for supper
and felt that we had put in very
profitable and instructive day. Well,
| must close hoping this will find you
as well as it leaves me.
SETH W. JONES.