Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1906-01-31

Boston, Jan. 25-Ihe digging ana
delving and propping and buttressing
that is now going on around Boston's
historic Old South Meeting House in
order that right under it an entrance
TO the Washington street subway, now
in process of construction, may be
built, and still leave the venerable
structure uninjured, eXempiities the
new spirit of the makers of CONNER
cial Improvements toward famous
buildings.
Less than twenty years ago, when
the same building, which because OF
its traditions had come to be regarded
as a national institution, was threat
ened with destruction, only the efforts
of limited number Of persons spe-
cally interested in American history
could save it from sharing the fate Of
many other important relics Of the
past. At that time James Freeman
Clarke wrote regretfully of the disap
pearance of famous local features in
these lines which now appear IN auto
graph on the walls of the Old South:
Dear Paddock elms, my friends ar
chaic,
Horse railroads brought you to your
doom.
The City Fathers, too prosaic,
Destroyed you in your summer bloom.
l heard with grief improvement sum
mon
Old Brattle Church its square to fee,
| look in vain across the common;
The Hancock House no more see
All that is changing In Boston to-
day Landmarks with historic asso-
Citations are treasured, and where once
the horse railroad brought destruc-
tion, the present transportation sys-
tem-which, with its carefully coor-
dinated subways, tunnels. elevated
structures and outgoing surface lines.
has acquired a worldwide reputation
for eXcelIence--is in a measure one of
the instruments of preservation The
station Of the elevated company under
the old Massachusetts state house has
given new security to the fine old
example Of colonial architecture and
the great girders that are now being
placed under the historic tower Of the
Old South in order that tranicking
thousands may descend by way of it
TO the subway station will establish II
more firmly, rendering it less liable
yhan formerly to subsistence on the
bed of clay which served the original
builders as a foundation. Practically
every station, in fact at which the
visitor may get on or off one Of the
elevated trains has its historical out
look, from the Sullivan square termi
nal on Charleston Neck, the scene OF
the flight Of the. American troops from
Bunker Hill, to Dudley street, one of
the outposts of Washington's encir-
cling army.
Crowds for the last few weeks have
been peering through the iron fence
into the big hole constructed between
the tower and the northwest corner of
the meeting house. Never before in
the memory of man has it been pos
sible to see the well mortared sub
structure which the old time builders
laid in the spring of 1929. Nor will
the stones be visible fer long because
a portion of the earth, now temporar-
lily removed is to be restored. Even
the ancient ivy which for generations
has graced the tower and front of the
church will not have been injured
The roots of the plants have been
carefully gathered into canvas bag
with sufftciency of earth for their sup
port during the winter months and
they will presently be replaced in a
bed of nourishing soil.
Perhaps nowhere on this continent
will there be a more marked contrast
some months hence than that between
he interior of the historic meeting
house and the white-tiled subway sta
ticn beneath, with its laundering
trains and hurrying crowds The I'M
der ground platform and apparatus
constructed by the Boston Transit
Commission in accordance with an
agreement with the Boston Elevated
company, viii represent the latest
features Of steel and concrete con
structiun. suitable for tunnel
equipped with facilities for safe run
ming of commodioug trains. Meantime
in the church still reposes the histor-
zeal museum filed with relics re
calling the most important scenes and
parsonaees Of our earlier epochs.
= .,ove all, there are everywhere in
IL instances Of the endlne Of the colo
NAL era and the beginnings Of the
American republic, for since April &c.
1890 when the present building, con
structed according TO the best taste
-of the time and recalling Sir Christie
rher Wren's English efforts. was ded-
ieated. # has been closely associated