The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1908-05-08
KIPLING SUPERFLUOUS.
Vermont Surfeited with Distin-
guished Natives When She Ad-
mitted Him.
From the New York Times. J

Rudyard Kipling left Brattle-
boro, VT, some years ago, but occa-
sionally one sees in print references
to the fact that he once lived there,
coupled with expressions of sur
prise that a cosmopolite should have
selected little Vermont town. as a
place of residence. This shows la
mentable ignorance of the advan-
tages of Brattleboro in particular
and Vermont in general. AS for
the town, there seems to be some
thing in the very air conducive
to mental activity, and so accus-
toned are its inhabitants to the
rise to eminence of their neighbors
that when William Morris Hunt, a
Larkin G. Mead, or a Mary E. Will
kins comes prominently before the
public, they are neither astonished
nor unduly elated they simply say,
"Why, of course" This subtle in
fuence extends to things material.
once knew an estimable lad , a
resident of Worcester, Mass, who
assured me the oysters she ate when
visiting in Brattleboro were superior
to those she got at home, and Wor-
cester is several miles nearer salt
water. Doubtless, had the puritans
possessed a better knowledge of
geography, Brattleboro would have
been settled before Boston. Know
ing all these facts, one understands
why Fanny Fern" wrote: at is
wonder everybody does not live
in Brattleboro.
As for the State at large, it offers
advantages as great as are to be
found elsewhere in the Union. l
will not enlarge upon the scenery,
though it is well known that the late
Professor Smith of the University
of Vermont pronounced the view
from the graveyard at Charlotte
equal to any in Switzerland; that
the late DIR. Prentiss made a similar
remark about Dorset, and that the
late William NJ. Evarts, when APP
preaching Windsor on his summer
vacations, felt a thrill as the steeple
of the Congregational church loomed
into view such as he never eXper-
fenced in front of the Doge's Palace
in Venice. Consider the comforts
enjoyed if you are a resident of the
Green Mountain State. You build
your house from lumber from Bur
lington, you weigh your farm prod
uce on scales made in st. Johns
bury, put your valuables in a safe |
invented by Silas Herring, a Yer
in your hours of leisure you
lure the trout with flies made IN
Manchester; chores done, your daug-
ter diverts you by performing on an
organ made in BrattlebOro; if you
choose to leave the shadow OF
Cancels Hump and Killington Peak
and visit strange cities, you are
taken to your room in an Otis ele-
vator. the product of Vermont
brains; you die consoled by the fact
that even without your vote the
State will go republican at the next
election: the monument placed over
you will be white marble monollth
from Proctorsville. /
Vermonters are sometimes twitted
With being slow, "a woman has been
known to wait % years before APP
plying for divorce from a man who
had deserted her. and it is true
that if load of wood is promised
'or tomorrow you will be lucky if
you get it a week from date, but
this indisposition to hurry has its
and has always pre- /
vented the State from going to the
extremes. The progressiveness of
he people is shown in many ways.
achtlng caps are no longer worn at
time, though they are said
20 be in Connecticut and Rhode !
Island, and the sturdy plowmen of !
Athens and Avery's Gore sport the
attest style of automobile cap. In
politics it Is the same. Take the
own Of st. George, with three repub-
lean tickets in the field and less
han fifty voters. | have been told
hat a State election once held /.
here most of the candidates were
of the same family Surely
10 one can accuse of slowness Cap |
ain Clark Of the Oregon, who made ,
hat notable trip from the Pacific
% the Atlantic at the time of the
Spanish war.
The State has almost forgotten |
hat it produced Brigham Young,
Hebar c. Kimball, and John Hum ,
,hrey Moves, it has been so busy !
irving birth to public men like s
stephen A. Douglass. Matthew Hale :
Carpenter, Levi p. Morton, George {
7. Edmunds. Lucius +. Chittenden, |
John c. Kasson. Ethan Allen Hitch {
.ock. William +. Villas, Redfield I
Proctor and Henry Clay lde; such 1
scholars as Asahel c. Kendriek, I
Thomas J. Conant and George p. {
Marsh, such photographers as Henry {
md B. Franklin Stevens. As for
heroes. what's the matter with {
George Dewey2 Itmay be objected z
hat some Of these men obtained
.minence after leaving the state;
nevertheless, the hand that rocked
he cradle had a good deal to do with :
. W;1;ar, II Taft and Charles I