The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1910-11-11
HISTORICAL SOCIETY MEETING.
Address by Matt B. Jones-SOciety Pre-.
sented Painting.

The Vermont Historical society held
its usual biennial public meeting in a.
resentatiyes' hall last evening. and
| though it was not largely attended it
was of much interest President w. w.
Stickney Of Ludlow spoke Of the need
Of larger quarters by the society, which
is housed in the annex of the State
House The total membership is now
over 200, and 81 members have been
added in the last two years. The ap-
preparation of the state has aided large
! ly in the work.
Matt B. Jones, general counsel of the
New England Telephone and Telegraph
company the speaker Of the evening,
gave an address on THE Making of Il
| Hill Town" tracing its growth from
1880, through many vieissitudes, wars
and changes in the state, to the present
| time He closed as follows, 4
"The hill town has played well its part
in the history of our nation. It's rugged
acres have nurtured thousands of good
men and women, whose handiwork may
now be seen in this and other states.
Before it was itself firmly established,
its sons and daughters were pushing
westward to newly opened lands, and
sineesthat time the never ending stream
Of emigration has pursued the vanishing
frontier and like the rainbow's pot Of
gold kept ever just ahead And now
its population dwindles, its homes are
falling into ruins, its farms are return
! ing to the forest, and the cry goes up
that it is a decayed and dying mem
ber.
my friends, IL is not so, Those bush
grown acres were often never meant to
( till; those ruins are replaced by better
homes; that dwindling population pro-
duces more, is better fed and educated,
has wider interests and lives saner,
happier life than ever did its forbears.
"Let it not be assumed that the hill
town has no future. There is no longer
frontier, the fleeting will-o -the-wisp
of chean land TO the westward no longer
dances before our eyes; and no longer
will the virgin soil Of the prairies yield
up its hundred-fold without return.
Here. at the threshold OF the markets.
is the opportunity of the future, anr
men will not fail TO grasp it. The tide
ebbs but to flow again. and he, whose
eve can see the coming greatness OF our
nation, by the same token knows that
the fertile acres Of the hills and valleys
Of Vermont must play an eyer-growing
part in its economy.
Nor is this all. The hill town is still
mother of men-Green Mountain men
and in the years to come, as in the
past, the toiling millions in our smoke
grimed cities will look for elear-eyed,
straight thinking leaders to her everast-
ing hills
The adjourned annual meeting Of the
society was held yesterday afternoon
at the rooms of the society in the State
House, at which considerable business
was transacted The committee of
I finance. as RECONSTRUCTED. consists of H.
/ w. Bailey of Newbury, Edward NJ Cod
dard OF Montpelier, and Senator G. s.
Page of Hyde Park William T. Dewey
declined TO serve as treasurer and Henry
( i. Field of Rutland was appointed to fill
/ the place Five new members were re-
ceived, bringing the total membership up
to PSI Miss Julia A. Jackson Of Bran-
don has sent the society deed to an oil
painting OF her uncle, the late Hon. John
/ A. Couant, widely known as a railroad
pioneer The painting is now III the
Metropolitan Museum Of Art in New
York City. and viii not revert to the
Vermont society until the death Of Miss
jackson
It was suggested that public meeting
be held during the year in some place
outside of Montpelier, Bennington being
named. and the matter was referred
to the board of managers with power to
act