The Holbrook news., 1911-04-14

IS d WSdlln O1 pOOdy I1A sociated with the village
 smithy. Would you hear the latest news of the countryside ?-go to the smithy. Would you meet the retired farmer or the village nomads, go to the smithy.
 This is the meeting-place of all classes, the reading and debating room by day, which one finds adjourn ed to the fireside of the village inn by night The village blacksmith is a busy man and, as if to upbraid the idler and the phlegmatic, he makes his anvil ring from early morning and, except the subject be very interesting, waits till occasion calls him to the bel lows handle ere he gives his views on momentous questions, local and na- tional, which are discussed near the forge. His workshop is the center of attraction, the center of business, the gathering-place of all and sundry, and when it's doors are closed the village wears a depressed, unnatural appear ance, which strikes one immediately if one is familiar with local idiosyn- crasies
 EOIcSdlu64luS at lAS OOOAcs lAC habitues prod holes in the ground with their sticks and discuss the forthcom- ing sales. notices of which are in7en- arable from the smithy d5cf.-0s.s i, smith is away and they proceed to he village inn, which does not seem to have quite recovered it's energy from last night It is lethargic, it has not yet cast of all the fumes of strong pipes and twist tobacco, it's floors are still damp and clammy from the cleansing pail, it's spittoons have not yet been adjusted in their wonted corners; but the smith is away and so the inn is the alternative. It is poor substitute, for there is no visi- tor here to quiz. the ring of the anvil is missing, the parson has shut him. self up in his study, the landlord of the morning is not the landlord of last night, and so conversation drifts to turnips, and the company, who know each others views on both turnips and pigs inside out, go home to dinner early, passing the smiths closed doors with the feeling of regret man has who has been used to his club and after years finds himself unable to U
 pay Its fees. However, the sights and incidents of his excursion provide the smith with fund of information and his patrons with a plethora of ques- tions on the following morning when they draw up to the corners and lean ing-posts which they have come to look upon as their own personal prop erty.
 A variety of incidents takes place before these open doors, surrounded by newly-painted cart-wheels, aged and dilapidated harrows, injured and rusty blows and a heap of scrap" awaiting a buyer Almost every one who is "a native" of the locality pulls up to pass the time of day and ask if them there chains is made" or that there horse rake done" Then belat- ed motorists, broken-down cyclists and the more old-fashioned drivers of gigs whose horses have cast shoes, all call in turn for the smith to set them fair and square to continue their journey.
 The blacksmith is essentially some thing of a mechanic, and knows, as he puts it, ''the innards of them mo tors" better than he understands the '1nnards" of his own COW or the horses he shoes. He prefers the two latter, however, having little sympathy with the motor, which has already robbed him of many horses at the big houses in the locality. The smithy frequent CTS stand leaning on their sticks as he crawls under the motor or bends over the cycle, filled with indignant curiosity at these latter-day innova- tions. The company feel sort of proprietary interest in the smithy, and so look upon the motor as an in vention specially directed against blacksmiths generally and their own village blacksmith in particular There are occasionally redletter days at the forge when a young horse is being shod for the first time Great is the criticism during the operation, much resented by the horse.
 At one time there was associated with the smithy a great deal of lore and legend; it was at the anvil that lovers decided whether their affections were returned, and here, too, by strange rites and ceremonies, mys- teries of murders and thefts were