Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1908-10-30
Roadside Beauty.


the same may be said of patriotism.
True love of country is not manifested
by shouting and boasting and worship
ping the flag, or even particularly by
fighting. 1t is shown by deeds that ben
eft our neighbors, by the desire to rem
der service to our fellows, by general
disposition to improve the conditions UNI
der which we exist. The man that calls
himself patriot and that does nothing
to better the community in which he
lives, is an impostor. If he were sincere
he would consider that his influence
could be most effectively exerted on that
small fraction of his country where he is
physically present; if he takes no interest
in keeping his own house and grounds
clean, if he does not lift finger to i'm
prove the roads and walks in his neigh
borhood, if he does not bestir himself to
make his little world more beautiful, his
patriotism Is not genuine. Whoever
would serve his country, let him look
close at hand and see how he can make
his own grounds and street and village
more attractive. Ii this is done every
where, it is clear that the whole country,
being the sum of all its parts, will show
the effects of it.
1t is true that in community like ours
such results as we see in the old towns of
the Connecticut and Housatonic valleys,
for instance, cannot be attained There
is not the wealth that is requisite. A
perfect lawn is very beautiful thing,
and very expensive thing-it takes 400
years to make one, they say in England.
But it is not very expensive to keep the
grass by the roadside trimmed, or to re-
move litter and rubbish and filth, or to
| keep wagons and tools and boxes off the
sidewalks and highways. 1t is not very
expensive to drain the puddle at
at your own doorway, or to refrain from
destroying the wild shrubbery with
which Nature tries to make our roads
beautiful. What we suffer from is not
SO much lack of money as lack of iu-
terest and lack of taste. The rulers
chosen by popular suffrage are frequent
ly ignorant; and what is worse, think
they know more than they do. Judging
from the operations on our highways, it
seems doubtful in many cases whether
the men in charge ever think of the pos
sIbility of making a rod beautiful. or
even of leaving it so when Nature has
done the work Do you love particu-
lar spot where the fierce wind is checked
10y thick wall of verdure, made up of
many kinds of trees and shrubs whose
foliage is beautiful in its shades of green,
and gorgeous in red and yellow and
bronze and purple when autumn comes ::
Let not your heart cling to it, for when
you next come there you shall find YOUR
shrubbery reduced to vile heap of dead
leaves and branches and unsightlv
stumps. There will the grewsome re-
mains of the trees you loved lie like un-
buried bones, while fen that have been
spared have been shorn of their lower
limbs and made into dismal wrecks of
their former selves. No longer shall
your horse refresh himself in the shade
in summer. nor shall you pause in win
ter to seek shelter from the biting blast.
The spot has been desecrated and detied.
and you mournfully turn away from il,
and thereafter avoid it. Bury it's MEM
DRY if you can, for "a sorrows crown of
sorrows is remembering happier things"
Our fellow creatures who carry on the
business of destroying the beautiful and
annlhilating the picturesque, explain
their action-when they condescend to
offer explanation-as caused by desire
to make the roads dry The trees and
shrubs keep off the wind and sun, for
sooth, whereby the mud would be dried
up! If they were troubled with water in
the cellars of their houses, would they
pull down the houses? No, they would
drain their cellars; and from the time
when men began to build roads, the
whole lesson of experience is drainage.
Keep the water out of the roads, and
there will be no trouble from the trees.
A ride over mountain road, if properly
cared for, will convince anyone that the
trees are not to blame for mud. They
stand by the roadside as friends and pro-
tectors, not as enemies. Their sturdy
trunks guard our TANKS as we march.
and their mighty limbs weave a more
beautiful roof than human skill can
frame over our heads. Truly, they keep
off the sun and the wind, and withal the
road is ideally perfect. 1t is neither
muddy nor dusty; because it is properly
drained and properly protected. Such
roads are the magnets that draw people
to our country; and our bare, bleak roads
repel and disgust many who would glad
y dwell with us. No doubt it is easier
, to swing an axe than a pick. 1t is an
agreeable amusement to lop off limbs
!, and slash bushes, and it is hard work to
, dig bitches, to lay drains and to fill hol.
: lows. But this is good work; patriotic
: work, if properly considered, and the
other is often nothing better than wick.
ed waste and mischievous cheating Fol-
it is sad truth that when men work for
the public they seem concerned to get as
much and do as little as they can. We
hear it said that the Americans are a pa
:. triotic people, and certainly there is talk
enough of patriotism. But will anyone
: maintain that the ordinary citizen, when
employed on public job, is anxious to
do his very best, and unwilling to be paid
. for what he has not honestly earned
Let those who assert this produce theil
evidence.
There are others beside our rulers who
mar the beauty of our scenery OuI
tradesmen daub their names on our rocks
and plaster our trees and fences with
puffs Of their wares. Doubtless they
think they gain by it. but they disgust
many that might be their customers, bu,
who will have no dealings with men that
seek their profit by such dirty methods
In some states it has been made misde
meanor to disfgure the face of Nature
80 for Ii l.. ,.I,A.... M