Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1911-02-23
TRIBUTE TO BURLINGTON.
what visitor Saw 10 Admire While
in This city.

Following are some extracts from a let
ter written to n relative in Melrose,
| Mass. BY q man who recently has be-
| come n resident of Vermont.
IT shall confine myself to my four
hours tramp through Burlington. They
call II the Queen city and the name
does not involve an cxtravagant claim,
for the city sits queenlike, there. by the
side of Lake Champlain, and although
! Hartford, Conn, is called the most beau
tlful city in New England my admiration
is very evenly divided between the two.
Should ] express preference for either.
! 1t would he for Burlington That how
over, is because large bodies Of water
have a failing fascination for me,
and to-day felt myself almost longing
| 10 live In Burlington.
Put before ] go any further in my
description OF the city you must know
how much ] enjoyed my first glimpse5
| of Lake Champaign. afforded by the fact
that trains from Rutland run along the
| lake shore some distance before Burling-
| ton Is reached. My heart leaped with its
never-dying love for the sea. There was
water MS far my vision extended, in
some directions with wooded capes jut-
| ing out into it. and one large island sew
eral miles from the shore. as II seemed.
| that appealed to me a place where
I would like to live II I were rich. Love
of little island Kingdoms IL another Of
| my passions you must know.
Lake Champlain is about Il miles wide
| in front OF Burlington. A haze yelled
the view Of the opposite shore, but
through It could lust discern the white
sheen of the snow on the slopes Of the
| mountains OF New York. To the south.
or left Of where I stood. there could
| have been seen no land. even II the at
mosphere had been clear excepting the
high headlsnds and the island OF which
spoke; and that rock. which persisted
in looking like big boat.
Some years ago, when | Travelled
through the length Of Lake George and
then came to Burlington by boat, lost
much of the charm of Lake Champlain,
because, after the wonderful picturesque
ness Of Lake George. with it's mountain
GUS surroundings. its clear depths End its
innumerable pretty Islands. the bigger
lake did not seem 90 romantic. | think
that if happen to visit Lake Champlain
some time next summer I shall have to
offer the lake an APOLOGY for having so
nder-estimated its beauty that summer
day long time ago.
My climb OF mile and a half, It
might be more less, brought me TO
the top OF the hill, whence | had q. SPLEEN
did view OF the mountains to the east
/ And | was right at the Vermont Inivor-
| sity, which surprised me by the size
and beauty of most of it's buildings and
the great extent Of the grounds over
which they are scattered
| Gong, and returning by a different
route, I saw some of the best residen-
tial aspects OF the city. There are some
! fine old mansions, a few of them colo
NAL and number OF very handsome
modern ones. To say nothing of less pre-
tentious but Very charming dweliin2
houses which included not IL few of the
modern cottage style. Altogether, It was
most Interesting tramp and was not
surprised to find that it had eaten up
about an hour and a half of the tins
| between trains