Evening star., 1911-08-23
QUEER CAPE FOLKS
Old Customs Yet Prevail on
Massachusetts Peninsula.
BIG TOWER TO PILGRIMS
Erected at Provincetown to Mark
Landing Place.
NO LUXURY IN CHURCHES
Religion to the Capers Is Solemn
and Serious Thing-Hibernate
in the Winter.
70 LUXURY IN CHURCHES

the Pilgrim Memorial Monument rises
from the top of High Pole hill back Of
the village Of Provincetown. It was
erected at cost Of $91. .264 by public
subscriptions collected by the Cape Cod
Monument Association, and the govern
ment of the United States contributed
$4,000
The monument is 252 feet high, 6S feet
square at the base and % feet square at
the top; the material is rock-faced gran
lite: the design is Romanesque, and the
top is battlemented like the prehistoric
Roman towers you see upon the ancient
castles Of England. The corner stone to
the monument was laid by President
Roosevelt August 20. 1907, when Ambas-
sador Bryce made a notable address upon
the influence Of the Pilgrim fathers upon
the civilization of the world The COM
pleted monument was dedicated by
President Taft August 5, 1910, with ap-
propriate ceremonies, which were at
tended by great and good men from all
parts OF the country. President Eliot of
Harvard University wrote the inscrip-
ton that is chiseled upon the tablet over
of MISREPRESENTATION as the Declaration
or Independence, as you will notice by
reading the following:
Inscription on Monument.
ION November q, 1920, the Mayflower,
carrying 102 passengers, men, women and
children, cast anchor in this harbor,
81 days from Plymouth, England
The same day the Al adult males
In the company solemnly covenanted and
combined themselves together into a
civil body politick.' This body polite es-
tablished and maintained on the bleak
State without king or noble: Church
without bishop or a priest: a Demo-
cratic Commonwealth. the members Of
which We're strongly tied to all care Of
each others good and of the whole by ev-
cry one. For the first time In history they
illustrated with long suffering devotion
and sober resolution the principles of
civil and of religious liberty in the prac-
tice OF a genuine Democracy. Therefore
the remembrance Of them shall be per-
herited their ideals"
1t Is noble monument, and it is
beacon that will guide all suffering
mankind to the gates Of freedom that
the Pilgrims passed through first. al
though they did not stop here longer
than they could help. The men started
out from Provincetown bay to find a
permanent location. The women went
ashore and did their washing on q Mon
day. which must have seemed good to
that is probably the reason why Mon
day has always been washday in the
great American republic.
The place where our foremothers did
their laundry work will be pointed out
to all who wish to know, and amiable
residents will show you lots of other
places which were visited by or iden-
titled with the Mayflower party-the
spring where they drank the first
water after their long voyage Is still
cooling the dusty throats Of the ma
tives. The habitual consumption of
salt fish in this part of the country en-
genders a thirst which some men
would pay large sum of money for.
The place where the Pilgrims saw
the noble red man for the first time In
their lives Is within easy driving dis
tance, and the knoll where they found
an old palisade that had been left by
Capt. John Smith or some other early
voyager is popular rendezvous Near
by they opened a mound which proved
to be grave, and they dug up q kettle
that had evidently been lost by some
previous visitor.
Town Of Two Streets.
There was already one memorial to
the Pilgrims standing in front Of the
town hall which was erected many
years ago in commemoration Of the
covenant which was signed by the Pill
grims in the harbor. as a we'll phrased
Inscription testifies; and there are
other evidences Of the pride which the
Provincetown people feel in living in
the place where New England c1viltza-
tion was started.
Provincetown Is a quaint old place
with only two streets, and both OF
them very narrow. Nearly every house
comes out plump against the sidewalk.
which is entirely unnecessary. There
are a few stores, several hotels and in
Vulnerable boarding houses, for since
the decadence of the fishing industry
the greater part Of the population Is
dependent upon summer boarders Tor
living, and hibernate in the winters, as
bears and other animals are said to do.
Many of the quaint customs OF olden
days are retained. Among them Is the
town crier, who takes the place OF a
newspaper. SO far as official announce
ments are concerned. He Is a gentle.
unassuming old gentleman, with his
face wrinkled like Typographical
map, and always wears a. round fur
cap on his head and bandanna hand
kerchief about his neck. Ringing bell
with his right hand, he strol1s leisurely
up and down one street and back the
other. crying out in a monotone any
announcement that he has been en-
ployed to make either by the select
agents Of the travelling transformers
and other entertainers who come to
town.
Shores of Shifting Sand.
The average width Of Cape Cod penin-
sula is six miles, and at spots 1t narrows
| to half that distance. Along the center
is a backbone of diluvian rock with a
vein Of clay on either side which crops
out in different places, and particularly
in the so-called "clay pounds near Truro.
where the Highland lighthouse lifts its
lantern 200 feet above the ocean. The
sand on both sides OF this backbone is
shifting constantly. The shore line Is
never the same winter and summer. and
often it is necessary to move the houses
| that are near the coast, for fear the sand
will either cover up or unsettle their
| foundations. The Pilgrims discovered this
phenomenon early in their experience,
| and the first settlers learned that the only
way to stop 1t and hold the surface OF
the earth steady was to plant grasses
and shrubbery. which accounts for the
| large tracts of pitch pine and other under
| brush. The state government has taken
| hold Of the matter lltely and Is planting
| bunch grass, trees and bushes, which are
effective to q certain extent. From $4,000
to $35, 600 year is expended for that
| purpose.
what impresses a stranger most is the
| poverty of the churches-the uninviting
and uncompromising severity OF the archi-
! lecture of the houses Of worship both
cape. They are all built on the same de-
| sign. with the same style of steeple, and
| the same straight-back. uncomfortable
pew. No attempt is made to decorate the
surround it, AS a rule, the grass is kept
closely cut. and the meeting house itself
and the sheds for horses which are al
ways provided are in good repair. But