Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-11-23

TO the ola ramDle written SeVeTdl
years ago, the Rambler finds some de-
scriptive comment of the old road
and he is sorry to find that he made
complaining references to the season
of the year, which was winter. 1t
seems to have been a very cold day
and the Rambler knows that his coat
and shoes were thin. He wrote:
Where the Rambler came into the Vans
vile road he made a few mental notes on its
rustic beauty. 1t is not one of those straight
roads which are direct that they are almost
brusque and which seem to be in a hurry to
connect two points in the shortest possible way.
The road has curves enough in it TO give it 4
readily grace. 1t Is boriered each aide with
tall old cedar trees. thus observing the tradi-
ton of all the old roads in this part of the
world. In strolIiHg Maryland roads one
becomes used to the graceful IL somewhat
solemn company of cedar trees that a sense Of
loneliness is apt to Cypress one on a road with
out them. Along the shaggy trunk Of the
cedars run two lines Of rail fence. the rails
gray and warped and doubt looped and
laced with green vines in summer. II may be
out of date to hold such an opinion. but to
the Rambler an old rail fence seems much
more genial and comfortable than a barbed
wire fence. A barbed wire fence may be more
bssiness-iike. bot IT Is nothing like so easy to
sit on. Then. one cannot look at an old gray
rail fence without conjnrisg up delightful
visions of 4 pack Of good hounds 10 full cry
and real bosses with real riders going over It,"
The object Of last Sunday's.walkw was
TO Sisit thessite of Paint Branch chap
Ell and them to pass on to Falkland,
where what was Paint Branch chapel
now stands; IT'S. name being St. Marks
Church II was his impression that
this very old and reverent house Of
worship stood on the heights on the
east side of Little Paint branch; and
he knew that the site of the chapel
was in a wide stretch of woodland
called the chapel woods" Later he
learned that the chapel stood in woods
through which passes the line divid-
ing Montgomery and Prince Georges
counties and about two miles west as
a crow flies and much further as a
man walks from the spot. which his
impression had selected. Coming
within sight of the broad. deep valley
of Little Paint branch, over (which
gray and purple mists hung, he saw
OF his left a. wide piece of woodland
with a road passing. into it. This he
followed for some distance. coming to
a frame house of great age, but fresh
and youthful aspect. A row of tall
and stalwart arbor vitae trees
stretched along the road in front Of
the house and dahlias and chrysan-
themums bordered the path to the
porch. A wide and alluripg view of
the valley of Little Paint branch may
be had from this place. Long before
You and were born it was known as
the Benson place. Then 1t became the
Harrison place and remained that for
SO long that all the people in the
neighborhood fell to calling it 'the
old Harrison place" Now 1T is the
Hopkins place. and the changes in
name came about in this way: John
Benson was the earliest proprietor of
whom the Rambler could learu one
of his daughters married John, X.
Harrison. John Harrison's children
were Ida l., who married Jacob Hop