Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-07-31
VILLAGE OF PETERBORO
Regarded by Many as the Love-
Hest Town in New Hampshire.
REMINDERS OF NORWAY
First Public Library to Be Supported
by Taxation.
PRESERVING COUNTY HISTORY
Patriotism as Well as Family Pride
Stimulated by the Annals-Arbor
Movement in New England.
COUNTY HISTORY

Movement in New England.
BY WILLIAM e. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence Of The Star and the Chicago
| Record Herald.
PETERBORO, N. H, July &C. 1907.
| The village Of Peterboro makes a charm
| ing picture, and is esteemed by many to
| be the loveliest town in the state because
| of its artistic combination Of hills, trees,
| meadow and water and the fine houses
| that are perched upon the hillsides. The
| town dates back to 1871 The approach to
| Peterboro is through the woods over an
excellent road with landscapes in every
| direction that remind one of Norway A
| few miles before reaching the town we
| passed through the quiet, quaint little vii
| lage of Antrim where the farmers work in
| the fields during the summer and in the
| factories during the winter months. In
| village on the seacoast, If you ask what
the people do, you will be told that they
are given to farmn', fishin', lobstern' and
| lumberin'. Here It's farmin' and factorin'.
Each village has it's own Individuality
| one CT more industries that have been de-
veloped by local enterprise often for the
| production of novelties invented by local
| genius In Antrim was the origin of many
| contrivances to lessen the labors of the
kitchen, and at the cutlery works, owned
| by former Gov. David H. Goodell they
/ make apple parers, potato parerS, cherry
stoners and numerous similar novelties, in
| addition to 1900 different kinds of knives
and forks and other forms of cutlery me
| original apple parer, which was invented
| by Gov. Goodell himself in 1864, was manu-
| featured in this shop, which still turns out
| from nine to ten thousand dozen a year.
| The idea has been developed to remark
| able degree and they put up gangs of
|
| chinery and handle thirty apples minute.
| One woman can pare and core 100 bushels
| a day.
Ingenuity Not Laziness.
| 1 have heard it asserted that the labor
saving contrivances Of which New England
| Is 50 prolific are the offspring Of Incidence
| rather than enterprise. but that is base
less SANDER on the Yankee race. Some
people take things moderate" as they
| say up here: some people have moderate
| dispositions" which is synonym for
laziness. but there is harder working
race in the world than the Yankees of
New Hampshire It's an nfalible rule
where the soil is poor and the rocks are
plenty and the mountains shut out the
horizon. who have a struggle for exist
| ence and long winters for contemplation.
| are stronger mentally, morally and physic-
ally, and have higher standards of duty
| and place higher valuation upon life
| than those who live in tropical zones. You
can see this illustrated very strongly in
| Switzerland, in Norway and Sweden, and
can contrast their national characteristics
with those of Italy and Spain, If you do not
| care to make the application in our own
country
| Every town has its loafer, of course, a
lazy. worthless. but smart fellow. usually
a man Of middle age, with bibuous in
clinations and who bulges amidships. His
nose Is red his chin is double, his eyes are
/ bleary, and he "has little hair for'ard. but
plenty aft" He tells good story, he has a
quick retort, his comments upon individuals
| and events are always amusing and he is
| tolerated for that reason. But he is alb
| solutely useless, like an empty vessel at
anchor. and counts for nothing in a COM
munity Of busy men, except to emphasize
their sterling qualities and interchangeable
| industry by contrast.
Founders Of the Town.
| Peterboro is the summer home of George
| E. Adams of Chicago, and although he is
| in Europe this year. he usually spends four
or five months every season at the ances-
trail seat of the family of Mrs. Adams, over
looking a wonderful valley, with Mount
! Monadnock in the distance. Jonathan
Smith, the greatgreat-grand of Mrs.
I Adams. came here in 1913 with the first
settlers, and located upon the heights east
| of the village on what Is called Elm Hill,
| because of a row of gigantic trees which
serve to identify the place as far as you
can see it. l was told that there are sixty
six of those noble trees. The place went
out of the family a generation ago. but Mrs
| Adams bought 1t back in 1902, and 1t has
been restored nearly as possible to what
it was when it was originally built in 1174.
According to tradition the woodwork in
| the interior of the house was all made
from the lumber of single tree cut on the
place, and the stump is still preserved.
i All the fittings and furnishings of the
colonial period, with many heirlooms. There
! is nothing modern in sight and Mrs. Adams
has made a most interesting collection of
bric-a -brac the most interesting examples
| being a long row of mortars and pestles
which she has picked up in the country
round about.
! Her ancestor Jonathan Smith, and his
! brother William Smith, who came from
| Ireland in 1885, We're the original proprie-
tors of the town, and there was reunion
| of their descendants at Elm Hill in 1904
| when Mr.. and Mrs. Adams and Mrs Per-
/ kins Bass her sister entertained a hundred
| or more of their relatives with oldfash-
| Toned hospitality. Mrs. Bass and her son,
John F. Bass. the newspaper correspondent,
| also live on the old place in what the man
| who directed us there described as "a plum
| colored house."
Many Fine Summer Homes.
There are many fine summer residences
| Columbus. Ohio: Mrs. B. P. Cheney,
widow of the expressman of Boston:
Mrs Charles P. Cheney. her daugh-
ter-ln-law: Prof. Edward Mcdowell Of
New York and several other city people
| have handsome villas surrounded by spa
| cious and highly cultivated grounds. Mr..
| Mcdowell. understand. has arranged that
! his great mansion. called Hill Crest. with
| three or four hundred acres Of land, shall
| be preserved forever as summer rest for
! professional musicians of New York and
| Boston; and 1t Is proposed to raise an
| dowment that will pay sufficient interest
| to maintain it.
| Peterboro is an enterprising as well q
| beantif,1l place and has an excellent hotel.
| It's specialty is bedspreads and baskets.
There Is a factory here which turns out an
| incredible number of cotton bedspreads
! every day and another which makes from
500 to 600 large baskets of ash splints for
use in dry goods stores groceries and SINH
| lar institutions. Other industries produce
! cloths for the rollers of printing presses
, wooIep goods and worSteds. There Is an