Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1909-03-03
HE TELLS A WHALE STORY
REV. GUY GOODSELL SEES SIGHTS
IN BOOSTING TOWN"
He Writes EntestaininsIy for the Edifi-
cation of His Friends and Censor
Readers

nave been long Tune IN hVlng 40 TO
my promise, made before left NIroqua,
/ to write letter TO the CENSOR. But
4 | have delayed for two reasons: | have
/ been too busy TO write at length, and
| when | first came TO Boston, | did not
| know enough about the city t. wlite of
| it lntelligently. But now | have more
/ leisure and | also know the city much
| better. Before | came east / expected
I to dislike the fasteners, as | had been
| told about their pecuIiarities and their
| reserve, but / confess / have been de
| lightiully disappointed, for with bat
! few exceptions, have found them very
cordial and not given to reserve any
more than the people Of the middle
west.
Boston is particularly rich in interest
! from historical point of view When
/ first came here | spent several days
IN going about visiting the points of
/ interest in connection with the Revolu-
/ tionary war and the Incidents leading
! up to it. / have visited the place where
4 the Boston Tea Party" occurred, when
| several precious chests of tea were
/ dumped into Boston harbor. The place
1 is no longer a dock, but has been filled
! in, and the elevated railway runs past
! it now. | have visited the Old North
I Church, where the lanterns were hung
| AS signal to Paul Revere who was
waiting on the Charlest0wn side of the
river,
Ready to ride. and spread the alarm
Through every middleseS. village aud farm
/ The Bunker Hill monument Is a place
OF great interest. lit is on Breed Hlil,
where the engagement known as the
/ Battle OF Bunker Hill took place OF
course ali students of American history
| know that this IS true. The elevation
known as Bunker Hui is nearly half
mile away from where the battle was
| fought, and had, so tar as | ann able 10
I learn, no part ia the battle.
| The Copp's Hill burying ground is a
! very interesting place -oHe OF the oldest
( cemeteries in this e0aaCry. The day
went there, found the gate closed and
| locked. / shook il vigorously, and pre-
sently little wlzena old man came
sauntering out from among the tomb
stones. Hewas the sexton of the place.
/ ! told HIM l wanted to see the old
graves, de let me in, and began to
! look me over. After eyeing me for
some time, he asked: what part of
/ the country did you come from"
| told him l was from Wisconsin. After
4 looking me up and down again, he said;
They grow EN- big out west, don t
they?" My presenb weight is 2l2
1 pounds, and tc han, Wisconsin is some
state way oat west and full of
ssyages and wild beasts The Copp's
/ Hill cemetery w2s nearly a hundred
years old when the battle Of Bunker
Hill was fought Tie old sexton told
me that one of the British 5alIerles
was planted in the cemetery during the
engagement, and many Of the tomb
stones have their corners cblpped Off,
and their inscriptions disiigured by
:. Re hgllets arc anon balls from
Breeds Hill during the engagement. /
could go on indefinitely telling OF the
/ historical places | have visited, OF Lex
/ ington, and Boston Commons, and Old
/ South Meeting House, Concord, etc,
! but ! realize that space does not per-
Unit me to do so.
The Boston Of today is even more
wonderful than the historical Boston.
| The Boston pari, system il unequslled
by that of any other city in the world.
! In the heart of the city, quite near to
/ Boston Commons, are the public gar
/ dens, a most beautiful place III summer.
/ Flowers of all kinds in abundance, swan
/ boats for the children on the lagoon,
and the squirrels and pigeons are 50
! tame there they will climb or fly into
ones lap and take food from his hand.
| 1t seems To me that the people here in
| the east take time to enjoy life more
! than we Of the middle and extreme
/ western parts Of the country. The
1 people of Boston DO not rush along so
madly as they do in Chicago and Mil
/ waukee and Minneapolis, Here they
take more time TO be polite and friend
! ly. They seem to Ike to see everybody
and everything comfortable and con-
| tented Most OF the horses on cabs,
drays and express wagons have no
check reins on them. This is a result
of the work of the Boston Humane
| society. At the foot of hill on
street nearby Is a gold lettered sign
which reads as follows: Please un-
check your horses while gong np this
! hill. Usually drivers, whose horses
are checked up, get down and unchecH
them as they go up the hill.
! Boston also has musical organiza-
ton that Is conceded to be- the finest IN
the world. IL il the Boston Symphony
Orchestra There are ninety-elght
musicians in the organization VINO give
their whole time TO that work. / heard
the orchestra a few days ago; to me II
WAS nothing short OF marvellous, The
pianist, Paderewski, appeared with
them when | heard them. de, too, was
wonderful.
The first tine ! ever saw whale
was two weeks ago yesterday. 1t had
been killed down near Cape Cod, and
had been towed TO Boston 70 be use0
Tor commercial purposes. | hesitate
about writing of It's SIZE, for fear my
friends in Vernon county viii THINK
ministers are no exception when 1t
comes 70 telling a fish story. But J Will
state the facts, and yDu can use your
own judgment about believing 1t 1t
was about as ugly a thing as We ever
seen. The sea captain VINO took me 70
see 1t sad It's weight was at first e8tl-
mated at 70, $50 pounds, but later hey
discovered tnat IL weighed nearer 30,
900 pounds. Tne actual distance across
the tip end of the tail Was twelve feet.
The whales length was about forty
feet.
ct course / have had Boston baked
beans. IL is hard 70 spend any time in
Boston without hayiag 0eans. Il is the
custom Throughout New EngIa0d 70
have beans and brown bread for : ,pper
every Saturday, and there are very few
homes that dG not observe this custom,
am told. Even tHs restaurants and
hotels make special preparation tor
Eerping beans ana brown bread for the
pgening meal on Saturdays So far as
s - 4 rff NFerss