The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1918-07-13

since shed and their trunks slowly
turning into Barre grantee What do
YOU see but some wild wierd place
like Bret Harte writes about or viii
S. Hart acts? Well being suckers
and a long way from home and Yer
monters at that. OF course We had to
see the Petriied Forest 1t was a
half.a-tank of gasolene away up in
the heights but we were going that
way and what's tanN of gasolene or
half tank-when there's a wierd
Petrifed Forest 10 be seen? We
drove up, up, up into the clouds and
came out on a meadow about like
those around Rutland. Ahead of us
was beautifully painted gate-l
should say it cost ten dollars to paint
that gate and stick up the advertising
and we were very much impressed.
But we mustn't pass without a guide
so we honked the horn loud and the
guide came. He was about fifteen
years old and looked like a rustic
decked out for farmers turn on
amateur night. II he owned an extra
pair OF oyeralls he didn't have them
on-and likewise the shirt. Just a
iplain ordinary freckled-faced kid
/ like drives into FoxborO Center, Yer.
mont from the farm once week and
buys a bag OF feed@ for Mas hens.
But believe me he was no rube when
( 1t came to collecting the mazuma.
| He looked us over and said "$13S-
please .forthe-party which includes.
the-war-tax." We were cheerful about
| the war-taX and curious about the
forest--petrifed, you understand We
| paid over our good money and were
aloud to drive in. We drove sixty
two feet and seven inches when he
4 said TO stop We wanted to know
why 1--WE were still IN the meadow
! which looks like IL looks around Rut.
fland) THE Petrified Forest" says
he. "Where?" says we. Come over
and see." says he. And he led us
fover to the forest-the ,onderful
tpetrifed Forest of Colorado. II was
hole in the ground multiplied by
six-no, five,-hye holes in the
ground about six feet deep and down
there half covered with dirt and
'dobe lay something that looked like
strip OF Barre granite sort of peey.
ish in its disposition and sour at be,
! ing uncovered Five old slabs OF
trees half covered with sand and mud
dried hard and barely showing
through-once upon time they
might have been trees but cant
prove 1t and doubt if that kid could
1t paid acknowledgement for star
ing down a hole and seeing something
could have seen free in any berry
pasture in Vermont
It's like that with everything. Al
Cheyenne Canyon they make an awfn
fuss about Seven Falls Let's see
they soaked me two dollars and six
j, ty-fve for that went in through {
tollgate and saw a stream OF waite
tmnbling down fifty or sixty feet
and anyone can see Niagara three
hundred and sixty-five days in tn,
year by simply hanging around tn,
place and paying reasonable beard.
went to the Garden of the Gods tina
, we all have heard so much about
r There's some red sandstone in ther,
| piled up about as high as the Mon
fpelier statehouse and not half so pic
; uresquely and its only half dozel
acres big And then the mex. day W
| went to Cripple Greek over a roa,
/ that wound around preciplces wher
nj We chung on by our teeth-where
I sat AZ the wheel and spat over Ia
> edge Of the running board OF the. al
j. 20 and saw the expectoration fall
Al thousand feet-and when | got dow
: here to Canon City and asked tn
Y name OF the road they acted surprise
md ! believed half the town starte
4 Jut OF the city after dark last eyenin
4 o see II spoke the truth and ther
r was a road there. They try to max
= } cheap Coney Island out OF thi
). olace and 1t can't be done. TIL
a mountains are too big to fence in
20 they take little piker things an
I stick them all over with signs an
Il ry to rake In the shekels with chea
y advertising. I'm hoping they won
! Try the same stunt with the gran
ID Canyon. II they do I'll feel so di
IL susted I'll spit in the thing. Z,
I'm glad We took In Cripple Cree
" We came through the famous III
. pass and through marvellous seenei
k, over pine-c'ad .hilltops that stretc
I I'd away into the violet mist-the
IS down the canyon road and into Il
d place with worst reputation IN.
NJ The ancient city OF SodOm. II was
II. .amshackle Old place OF one ma
IT street with all the buildings the lit
er one story side-walk-porch affairs Y,
# zee in the movies Up high on Il
Al hills to the east were the entrane
10 to the goldmines-now idle and d
/ serted on account OF the unpioftab
lty OF gold mining. Every other pre-
M ious metal has gone up in price on a
he count Of the war. God. being d
40 world standard metal, has not go
re up. The result is that as the cost
no materials and labor TO carry
IN mining has gone so high that all {
gold mines have lost their help
nd the gold people can't pay the uric
as for pipes and explosives. So Grip
IN. Creek is crippled indeed until the II
of eminent puts a bonus per ton on m
ICE iag crude gold The town looked ii
On deserted village when I'VE drc
led down into the main street We 81
di. some half-buried eartracks and
eth trying to make a donkey-cart r
, a Stores were vacant, houses had
els Rent signs in the sashless windows
us. We went into a drugstore and 4
a man from Boston who ran