News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1905-08-23
MANSFIELD MOUNTAIN

| uSiS Is IL lUOunldlu III uOl thN'
Vermont known to moderns as
Mount Mansfield, because it is IN
what was once the town of Mans
field, which town long ago was
divided between Underhill and Stowe
The old Indian name of mountain IS
said to have been lost word signify
ing nose and chin, on account OF
/ the fancied resemblance ofthe horizon
outline OF it to an upturned human
face, whether viewed from the east
or west. The resemblance is so
strong that it takes but a little
stretch of the imagination to traceit,
the nose being near the south end and
the chin at the north end. To be
sure, the nose appears like an ex-
aggerared pug, and the chin is pretty
massive, but if you consider that the
head is we'll turned back and thechin
proportionately elevated you have it
quite clearly.
The summit of this highest peak of
the Green Mountain range is within
easy reach OF any one who is strong
enough to climb into carriage Few
mountain peaks of any height can be
assembled without a vast expenditure
of physical force-so great an expend--
iture that many constitutions that
have been kept fairly strong with
proper care, have been wrecked byt,
the Esprit" having driven the flesh"
unduly. A Mount Mansfield sunrise
and the views from this matches
Vermont mountain cost not a cent
The scenes spread before the visitor
to the mountain top need not be de-
scribed-even if it were possible-how
on clear day one may see the White
mountains sixty miles to the east;
the Adirondacks, marking the west
ern horizon, with Lake Champlainin
the foreground, to the west; Montreal
to the north; the twin giant, Camel's
Hump, with tumbled sea ofsmaller
mountains, to the south; and a won
derful nearer landscape on all sides.
Perhaps you will be caught there in
the mist, and be unable to see more
than a few feet, and then you can
stand on the brink of some precipice,
OF which there is no lack, and listen
to the mysterious and solemn muir
muir that comes from the depths; pre-
haps you will see what the writer
saw recently, sea of clouds, white
as the underside Of a freshly sheared
fleece of wool, stretching away from
your feet to the west, covering Lake
Champlain and the whole world back
to the purple Adirondack line on the
horizon. q sea of clouds whose bill
lows were always changing with sol
emn stateliness. No one ever saw
exactly the same scene twice, for the
variety is as infinite as eternity, but
whatever one sees will be worth see
ing from daybreak, when the world
rises slowly from darkness, to night,
when it sinks back again, slowly and
solemnly, as if eternity had plenty Of
time.
Mansfield is a rich field for the ge-
ologist, for there are abundant marks
of the great glacier and the eternal
grinding OF the mills of the gods,
Huge stones are scattered over the
summit, some of them trigged up
with a big rock, as if some company
of giants had pried up one side and
chucked rock underneath for it to
rest on. There are great masses of
loose rocks that the glacier evidently
unloaded or got tired of pushing;
Titanic forces have been at work here.
tumbling rock masses as big as houses
about as if they were pebbles. There
is no end to this sort of thing, and if
the mist were at its thickest there is
plenty under foot to interest one who
has the gift of seeing sermons in
stones" Birds sing around the sum-
nit, too, the white hroated spar
row being much in evidence, as well
as the juncho, the myrtle warbler
and many others which bird expert
will find no difficulty in identifying.
The fora is interesting, too, many
varieties growing here, at an eleva-
ton of 4, 800 feet; perfect ferns, no
longer than your finger nail,
which, on the lowlands, grow rank
eand big, and many rare shrubs, plants
and trees, and the air is so ladsn
with the healing balsam that you
actually taste it.
If you have never been on a noun
tain and you have any desire to do
SO and if you are feeble and constitu-
tionally tired, then go to Mansfield.
Nobody can tell you anything about
it; you must see it for yourself to get
any idea oft.
BELVlDERE CENTER.
W E. Davis and wife visited in Morrisville
and Stowe recently.
The Ladies' Aid will meet with Mrs Fred