The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1905-08-08
by HIGHWAY
| AND BYWAY
Among the Hills and DaIeS Of
"Old PeQuannoc, !" a.
Pleasant Days Trip.
MUSINGS OVER BY-GONE DAYS

erson it was the good fortune of the
writer to take an extended drive over
in the sold Pequannoc section OF
the county last week. The day was
perfect, and the Sheriff's gamy little
roadster reeled off the miles at the
rate of ten or twelve an hour, SO that
considerable territory was covered be-
tween ten in the morning and eight in
the evening -aggregating some sixty
| miles Thanks to the general road
system of the county most of the ride
was over macadamized roads.
Despite the long drought, said to be
the most severe in recent years, and
the taking of water by the great water
companies, there seemed to be a fair
Quantity running in the various rivers
land streams the Whippany, Rocla-
way, Pequannoc, Wynokie, Ramapo
Passaic, with Troy brook, Black brook
and smaller streams crossed in the
| journey.
One thing that impresses a traveller
through our county is the number Of
abandoned mill sites and manufacture
ing establishments. Just at the out
skirts of the town is Speedwell, once a
busy hiye Of industry, now few di-
lapidated buildings and old founda-
tions; the lake, formerly scene Of
beauty, now low meadow and so in
many other cases. Through thrifty
Morris Plains; sleepy Littleton, with
out school, postotfice or store, a victim
of consolidation and rural delivery
Parsippany, the site of the excellent
county children's home, thence skirt
ing the beautiful lake of the Jersey City
water supply, we soon reach Boonton,
where still some industries thrive, but
where the natives look to the past and
sigh for the good old days of nail-mak-
ing.
The character Of Boonton, like most
towns in this section of the State, is
changing with the influx of city so
journers. To the east of Boonton is
the Lathrop mansion, now the State
firemens home, thus fulfilling the pre-
diction made when IL was erected that
in time it would be used as public
institution.
For number of miles our way lay
alongside the Morris canal, but we
missed the signs of activity, as only
one solitary boat was slipping along in
an apologetic manner, in sharp con-
trast to the time when the canal was
crowded with boats and the strident
notes of the boatman's merry horn
warning lock and plane tenders could
be heard at any hour of the day. The
Shrek of the locomotive whistle was
constantly in evidence and one might
imagine it was triumphing over its
slow-going neighbor now about to be
abandoned.
At Montville the immense dyeing
works Of the Capsticks were busy,
while at Lincoln Park the Comlys are
turning out rolls for printing wall
paper. All the towns and hamlets
show signs of prosperity meat houses
and outbuildings are the rule
We arrived at Pompton Plains in
time to take dinner at the hotel of our
old friend Gillen, and it was treat to
get in dining-room where the food
was homegrown and home-cooked.
Mr.. Gillen, however, although lame
from recent accident, was busy get
ting in his hay, and the Sheriff and
scribe went out to see how much inn
provement had been made since the
time we had engaged in like occupa-
tion. The gathering of hay with
moving machine, tedder, horse rake
and loader, with hay fork to NOV it
away was great improvement over
the old method scythe, rake and fork
without doubt, but we could not
agree that the rattle of the mower and
clatter of the tedder and rake were
any improvement over the ring Of the
rifle, the swish of the scythe and the
yell of the small boy who, while ted
ding hay with fork, stirred up bum
blebees' nest, and the inmates didn't
seem to care if they did work overtime
in puncturing the soft parts of his
anatomy. Those were halcyon days,
indeed, but somehow we were happy
to get away from them.
In travelling through the country it
was interesting to have pointed out
the ancestral homes Of the old families
-of men who in the early history of
the country were prominent in nation
al, state ard county affairs. Tillers OF
the soil many Of them were, but their
names are indissolubly connected with
our political history. The names Of
Vail, Howell, Cobb, Smith. Van Ness,
Kanouse, Doremus, RyerSon, DeBow,
Speer, Norwood, Hopper, Estler, Post
and score of others awakened mem
cries and "reminiscences of men who
served their country faithfully, and
many of whom were active in the form
alton Of the Republican party. Many
old homes had been abandoned for new
and sometimes gaudy residences, while
frequently the old homestead has been
tastefully transformed into more