The sun., 1905-09-10
RELIC HUNTERS AT CONCORD
CHIP OFF GRAVESTONES AND
CARRY Away PLANTS.
Boulder Over Emerson's Grsve-How q
Hedge on the Hawthorne Lot Was
sayed-HOmes OF Famous Men and
W0men-DeCay OF tho AIcott Place,

Women-Decay OF tho AIcott Place.
CONCORD, Mass, Sept. e.-"Times have
changed at Concord since the days OF En-
erson, Hawthorne, the Alcotts and the
Summer School Of Philosophy" said the
custodian OF the antiquarian society at
Concord. "The strangers that we used to
see on the streets were mostly wild eyed,
long haired men-what the people called
freaks from Mr.. EmeBon's menagene.
But they seem to have all disappeared. and
IN their places have come the sightseer and
the relic hunter.
Il have sometimes wondered what those
high minded disciples who took the Con-
cord philosophy 30 seriously would think
II they were to run against the mob Of in
sistent guides and drivers that nowadays
are around the railroad station and the
end OF the trolley line at the public square.
or what they would say about the relic
hunter, who Is here to carry away every
thing possible, or the sightseer, who is here
to do everything between trains. The
clamor and irreverence would certainly
be somewhat disconcerting to studiousness
and decidedly at variance with precon-
ceived ideas Of philosophical reflection
under old Concord elms."
The house where lived the men and wo-
men who brought fame to Concord quar-
ter OF century or more ago are still stand
ing and but slightly changed, while their
burial places are in Sleepy Hollow cemetery
only short distance from the town. The
homes and the graves appear to be the chief
attractions for the tourists.
Il don't know which it is that strangers
here want to see the most" said one of the
, guides. But guess that it's the graves, !,
for some of 'em that's in hurry do miss
going to the houses, but none of 'em miss
the cemetery"
The relic hunters have left every evidence
OF their visits to Sleepy Hollow in Clipped
gravestones and despoiled flower plots :.
The great boulder that was placed over the
grave Of Ralph Waldo Emerson becomes
each year noticeably smaller from the
stealthy clipping OF vandal visitors, and
already it is said that IL something cannot
be done to put stop to it another stone
must be found to replace the one now
there.
Flowers and shrubs ha We been ca rried away
from the Alcott lot almost as fast as they
have been pllnted there. while many diff
ferent hedges have disappeared from Haw-
thorne's grave, carried away leaf by leaf
Its curious the things that some people
will collect and prize" said the custodian
OF the antiquarian society," To-day there
was woman in one Of the rooms Of the
society sorting her finds. She showed
me a leaf from enc place, a fower from
another, and finally she held up stones
This ia my prize she said. I got it
from the grave Of Daniel Webster
AT Marshheld'' asked, There. You
know, Webster was buried
"'No. right cut here in TIE Concord
Cemetery
Then remembered that there was D.
Webster buried in Sleepy Hollow. but
not even a relative of the great statesman
and "a youth 10 fortune and to fame un-
known didn't rob her. though. Of the
eaisfaction that she found in her prize.
ut has always been considerable Of
problem to know he to protect the shrubs
that formed the hedge around Hawthorre's
, grave. The man who looked after the
matter once came to me in great distress
and said that for the third time in one
season he had found it necessary to renew
the plants. and asked il I could suggest
anything that could be done. told him to
have a basket CT acorns and pine cones
spread over the lot, and await results.
"A relic hunter a few days afterward
came into the society room here and showed
me pine cone that he had found on the
authors grave. II he had looked around
he would have discovered that there was
mt tree within quarter Of mile Of the
lot from which that cone might have fallen
"One man told me. too, OF fine tree. in
which he evidently took much pride. that
vas started from an acorn that had dropped
on Hawthorne's grave. I wondered what
he would have thought If he had been
around some morning when the hired man
was emptying his load Of acorns gathered
a mile or s. away from the cemetery.
y suppose that there are other priced
on ks that owe their existence to the same
source But the border around Haw-
thorne's grave remained undisturbed.
The Ian might be tried by other persons
who are in charge Of property that relic
hunters despoil.'
The large white frame house in which
Mr.. Emerson lived remains much as it was
in the days when he made it his home and
entertained there many distinguished
peorl,. Most Of the trees which he planted
have thrived and form an attractive setting
for the property.
1t is now occupied by his daughter, Miss
Emerson, and she has living with her three
kinswomen, none Of whom, 1t is said, is less
than 90 years OF age. Mr.. Emerson's son,
Dr. Emerson, is still resident Of Concord.
With the people Of Concord Mr.. Emer-
son seems to have been the most popular
Of all the distinguished members Of the
intellectual colony. They tell yet OF his in
terest in public. and especially in municipal,
affairs and say that he never missed an
important town meeting. His old neigh
bors retain the most gracious and happy
memories Of him.
Near by is The Wayside, the big ram
bling yellow house where Nathaniel Haw-
thorne lived and where some Of his later
work was DONE Mrs. Harriet Mulford
Lothrop, wife Of the Boston publisher and
who has written many children's stories
under the nom de plume OF Margaret
Sidney makes it her residence for at
least q part OF the year.
A bronze tablet on a boulder marks the
path which Hawthorne took to reach the
woods on the hillside where he walked