Evening star., 1911-08-11
WATCHES OVER SEA
MyIes Standish in Bronze Still
Guards Pilgrim Shore.
SCENES AT OLD DUXBURY
Relics of the Pilgrim Soldier Found
in Many Places.
THE STORY OF JOHN ALDEN
Longfellow's Famous Romantic
Poem Is Shown to Be Chron-
ologically Inaccurate.
THE STORY OF JOHN ALDEN
BY WILLIAM f. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence OF The Star and the
Chicago Record Herald

BY WILLIAM f. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence OF The Star and the
Chicago Record Herald
DUXBURY, Mass. July 80. 1911.
Miles Standish still keeps watch and
ward over the Pilgrim shore. and will
keep watch and ward as long as his figure
in bronze stands at the peak of a monu-
ment-the most conspicuous object in all
the country around. which was erected in
his honor about twenty years ago. beside
a little old farmhouse that was built by
Alexander Standish, his son, in 1866. The
monument can be seen fifteen miles out at
sea, and is a convenient beacon for navi-
gators 1t was first proposed in 1887 and
society was organized to erect it. but it
was not started until 1871, when Gen.
Grant came up from Washington to lay
the corner stone. The keystone to the
arch of the entrance was presented by the
President, and the other stones in the
arch were given by the six New England
states. Each county in Massachusetts,
contributed a stone, and several towns
and villages. All the contributions were
marked like those in the Washington
monument, and several individuals have
bought immortality that way.
The monument is $50 feet high and built
like a lighthouse, of similar stone to that
of the Pilgrim monument at Province
town. 1t is 11O feet from the ground to
the parapet, which protects the gallery,
and the figure of Standish is twelve feet
high. The monument stands on what is
known as Captains hill, which is 1S0 feet
high, which makes the top of the monu-
ment $50 feet from the sea level.
Ruins Of His House Remain.
In 1862 Miles Standish built house on
Captains hill and lived in it with his
son Alexander until it was burned, in
1865 or 1865. 1t was never rebuilt, but
the foundations still remain and the cellar
is plainly marked. 1t must have been OF
unusual design. There was a central
building and two wings both shaped like
the letter Y. This is explained on the
theory that it was intended as fortress,
as the Indians were quite troublesome in
those days, although the captain was
always friendly with them and they had
great respect for him. One Indian was
supported by the captain and made his
home with Standish in his old age
The name of Standish is associated with
nearly every cottage in the neighborhood
of Duxbury, for the captain left a gallant
and vigorous progeny, and they were of
thrifty disposition. One Of his descendants
keeps a shop for the sale of relics of the
MayfloWer. which are so abundant that
one would think the little ship was as
large as the Olympic. 1t is a curious CO.
incidence that the ancient city of DELI
haven, from which the Pilgrims sailed. is
now the center of that most profitable in
dustry, the manufacture of antique Eng
lish silver and genuine colonial furniture
for sale in the American market. They
tell of a man there who, while testifying
in a lawsuit, was asked his trade. He
replied that he was a worm-hole maker,
and further inquiry brought out the fact
that he was employed by the manufacture
ers of genuine old colonial furniture to
shoot fine birdshot into the wood SO that
the perforations would look like worm
holes of the last century.