The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1906-01-23


pirate here:
Gould you but view the scenery fair
That now beneath my window lies,
You'd think that nature lavished there
Her purest wave, her softest Skies
To make place for love to sight in,
For bards to live and saints TO die in I
There are many caves around here
but as they are all very much alike
we did not visit any more Of them.
We next come to the causeway. I'm.
til 1871 the only way Of reaching st.
George from the main island was BY
boat into Castle harbor, through a chan
mel called "The Reach; during heavy
gales the passage was dangerous both at
the height Of the gale and for hours af-
ter it had ceased. Owing to the heavy
swell rushing in here, all communiea-
ton was stopped, greatly to the incon-
4 veience of the inhabitants, civil and
military. This causeway was commene-
ed III 1867 and forms number of open
ings The piers are OF the coral rocks.
Parts of it are filed in and covered
with macadam, balance is covered with
wooden planking of pitch pine laid cross
wise, making it rought 10 ride over;
if planks had been laid lengthwise, it
would have been much better and listed
as long. This causeway is about two
miles long. AT one end there is a swing
iron bridge 1913 feet long; il was con.
structed in England and sent out in
! pieces. II revoltes on circular pier,
leaving two water passages fifty feet
wide for boats. This was commenced in
1867 and opened, free of tolls, with pub.
lie rejoicing in 1871. Its cost was $780,
000 Of which the imperial government
contributed one-fourth.
We have now reachd st. George-tem-
perature at "a. This is very interest
ing old place, some Of the streets only
ten feet wide and with its gardens
crowded with selni.tropical vegetation,
it is like an Oriental picture Could
not blame the people of the island for
selecting Hamilton as its capital Much
more room there for a large city and
more central. st. George has finer
harbor-moTc easy of access. 1t is said
that the whole British navy might cas-.
lily ride upon its waters.
There is very little doing here; saw
one schooner unloading coal, two con-
demred gnnboats lying in the harbor
and some old hulks There arc four
forts here Fort Albert, Fort Victoria,
Fort Catherine and Fort George. The
place seems 10 bristle with forts every
where. Straugers are not allowed inside
the forts. There are large quantities Of
military supplies stored here also sew.
eral companies Of soldiers. We vent
around the military barracks, saw the
soldiers at work making new roads /;
they had their stone ergsher. steam roll,
or and every equipment-lots of horses
and carts. They carry the mails 10 the
different barracks and have nice mail
rigs for the purpose. Theg seem TO be
all busy, but have their hours for rec.
( reation, as we saw Two foot bali ynatches
going on at one time. No double teams
herr, all single. same ~ our one horsc
team in street department, nut better
rugged; haul large loads. Yes, VIC did
see two double teams working out on
the roads in the country; their wagons
operate same as a coal car, open up in
bottom, stone falls right out. But to
come back to the old city. We went all
around II, and what a crowded old place
il is We went through the old parish
church and read the inscriptions on the
marble tablets, OF which there are a
good many; some very old ones were
hard to read, The are still holding
service in the church; its old fashioned
pews made me think Of the church l
went TO when boy Best Of an. We
saw the communion plate Of massive sill
yer, presented by King William III in
1868, and the silver christening basin
was the gift Of Governor William
Browne, a loyalist from Salem, Mass,
who was appointed governor in 1889.
They are still used in the church at
/ every communion and christening. As
VIC stood and gazed on those ancient
I pieces, what thoughts ran through our
/ minds generations have come and gone
since they were brought here; whole
congregations who have partaken Of com
mnnion from those ancient vessels have
gone over TO the great majority. We
4 signed our names in the register book !;
saw peoples names there from all over
the world; pleased to have our names
4 inscribed in the book OF this ancient
cdiiiee. We went through the church
/ yard in connection with tho church.
4 Their were some very ancient tomb
stones, hard to read We saw where
one United States consul was buried.
1 He was born ia Bristol, VT Close by
is the public garden, where one can sit
under the date pams one hundred and
/ fifty years old. in the ivy orchard wall
is q monument to Sir George Somers,
after whom the town is named; only his
heart is buried here, his body being bur
led in Dorsetshire, England. In the wall
above the old monument is a white mar.
bic tablet erected by Governor Sir J..
II. LEROY, bearing the following inscrip-
ton:
Near this spot
was inferred in the year 1910 the heart
Of the heroic admiral
Sir George Somers, X. T.
who nobly sacrificed his life
to carry succor
10 the infant and suffering plantation
now
the State Of Virginia
/ to preserve his name TO future ages
near the scene Of his memorable ship.
wreck Of 1909
| The governor and commander n-chief
Of this colony for the time beihe caused
this table to be erected
1876
| The narrow streets were constructed
before carriages were known on the isl-
ands. They wend their way around the
brow OF the hill until they reach they
fiat where the barracks stand. They arc
ON level plateau-plenty Of drill
ground. We plucked leaf Of a passion