Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1911-09-13
BOSTON and
ITS HIN7ERLAND
A LOCALITY RICH IN HISTORY,
IN POETRY, AND IN LIT
ERATURE.
HARVARD, A GREAT UNIVERSITY

Thirty-Four"h Annual Meeting Of Am
erican Bar Association. A Notable
Gathering Of Lawyers.
We reached Boston severa! day
before the commencement of the thir
ty-fourth annual session of. the Am
erican Ear Association. My object II
coming SO early was to examine the
reports Of the several committees AM
wise-up a little ON the subjects thai
; would probably come up for discus
sion. But the lure of the historic
!, the poetic and the literary surround
.sines disarranged all previous calcu
laticas. Try ever so hard / coult
not keep my mind upon questions
relating to Jurisprudence. knew
that was in the locality where the
war Of the revolution commenced
knew in q general way what near
ly every schoolboy knows about the
CONNIE ncement CT that war. knew
that for NEARLY a year preceding the
month OF April 1776, three or four
thousand British soldiers under
General Gage had been stationed in
Boston; that the colonists resented
their pres ence to such an extent that
the ordinary functions of govern
ment were practically suspended;
that during the nine months which
preceded the opening of actual hos
tilities the farmers and others in
the vicinity of Boston met for fire.
qnent drills on the village greens
CT the adjacent towns; that some OF
these colqnists were called minute
men; that on the night Of April IL,
1916, General Gage sent his army
out to Lexington to capture Adams
and Hancock who were considered
largely responsible for the refusal OF
the colony to pay taxes to Great
Britain; that Cages army was order
ed to move with all possible haste
and take the colonists by surprise;
that Paul Revere made a great ride
ahead Of the English troops and did
much to spread the news of theil
coming; that the English troops
were hurled back into Boston with
"a loss of about 300 men, and that the
loss on the side 3af the colonists
was less than 100 men.
But that much knowledge was only
an aggrayation, wanted to- see the
fields where all this took place and
see Just how it all happened and that
desire took precedence over pre-ar'
ranged plans. And now f>want 10
tell in the least number of words pos
sible. about some OF the things ! saw
and some OF the things ! was toh
by those whose business 1t is tc
correctly inform visitors concerning
this opening battle Of the revolution.
We started on street car and IL
a few minutes crossed bridge over
the Back Bay and were told that W
were in Cambridge, and in few
minutes more we were riding past
the extensive and awe-inspirins
Of Harvard University. The
street car follows the road over
which Paul Revere made his grea'
ride, and over which the, Brltis'
army returned on that fateful occa-
sion. Big trees were pointed out to
us where numbers Of them stopped
for short rests. At the end OF the
street car line, eleven or Twelve
miles from where the start was
made, we secured the services of a
guide and am automobile, and five
or six miles more brought us to the
snug little town OF Lexington. Inc
village green contains about five
acres. Near one of it's corners the
house still stands where Adams ana
Hancock were sleeping when awaK-
ened by Paul Revere. 1t is now useo
as museum and contains many IN
teresting relics.
The advance column Of the British
army several hundred strong COM
mandee by Major Pitcairn reached IN
village green in Lexington about sum
rise. and found fifty or sixty minute
men standing in line. They refused
IN disband when commanded TO 40
so by the British officer and the
British soldiers hesitated when or
dered to fire on them until MAJOR
pitcairn drew pistol and tlreo'
Then his soldiers fired a volley klll'
ing or 10 of the minute mem anu
wounding as many more. The MN
ute men did not return this IRE
They carried their fallen comrades
into the adjacent houses, many o.
them into their own homes to die III
tho arms of their wives and chadreh
From Lexington the British force:
pushed on to Concord, distant aoo"
six miles further to the nortnWes'
News OF the killing of the MINUS
men at Lexington spread rapidly
and when the British forces reaches
the bridge over the Concord river a
Concord their further progress wa
opposed by fully 400 we'll armed min
ute men, This bridge is about IN
length of the old wagon bridge II
Manchester, and near the south az
nroach to the bridge is where tn
first British soldiers fell in the wa
of the revolution. A monument noN
marks the place where they Tell an
a