Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-06-22
" old house stimulates thoughts
4 unlike those aroused by a new
Z house. The Rambler has prob
y ahlY-perhapS certainlY-said


~ unlike those aroused by new
~ house. The Rambler has prob
a u ably-perhaps certainIy-said
something like that before. but. OF
course. you do not remember 1t. and
II Is perfectly safe and sane to say 1t
again. He need not have called to
your attention the fact that he has
trotted out a second hand phrase, but
there are several reasons why he has
done It. That line about an old house
and new house. being .stimulants or
stimuli to thoughts, makes good
starter for this story, and anything
that will stimulate a thought. whether
II IL an old house or a new one. is to
be commended.
The Rambler. as well as you, knows
persons who would be nightly i'm
proved by anything that could stimu-
late in them thought. Some of these
people are fluent conversationalists
and others are ready writer's. Some
OF the former always sit directly be-
hind you or Immediately in front of
you in the street car when on your
way to work In the morning you are
trying to read yesterdays news in a
morning paper. They are also direct
ly behind you or directly in front Of
you while in riding from Office to
home in the afternoon you are trying
to read todays news. The CONVERSE
ton seems to be made up Of II said
to her and she said to me, says she.
and said 10 her, and then she said"
X 4 X
Some Of the ready writer's who need
a little thought stimulant-though of
course that thought never occurred
10 them-are writing for newspapers.
but the greater number Of them are very
busy rewriting for magazines matter
that has already been printed in the
newspapers. Some of them are writing
books about the war, but more Of
them are writing books about soci-
ology. social economy, and all that.
while others appear to be doing pretty
well in turning out moving picture
plays.
A good many thoughts may be stir
red by an old house. and the Rambler
is not going to attempt to enumerate
or set them all down. 1t would be
much work on the close, warm night
on which this Is being written and
: the reader might fall asleep on this
June Sunday morning before coming
to the end of the story. Or. worse
still. instead of falling asleep you
might bid adieu to the Rambler
and turn to the writings of others
whose pieces appear in another part
OF The Star. Really. now, no profess
sional jealousy Is gnawing at the
HANDLERS vitals, because he really
and truly believes and admits that
others sometimes write fairly well.
That Introductory sentence about an
old house stimulating thoughts re-
minds the Rambler that in this mar
rative he has good old house and
pleasant family to tell about. The
Rambler in other years carried you
over q part Of the old Georgetown
road. 1t is not easy to make every
body understand the ''old Georgetown
road" In fact. there are parts of that
road itself that are not easy! In re-
mote times, either before or after
Braddock marched from Alexandria
to Pittsburgh. a road was laid out
from Rockville to Georgetown-that
is, the road extended from those I'M
inhabited or thinly settled parts of
the country where in after years
Rockville and Georgetown came to
stand. You can understand that part
OF the story all right. Some time about
1880 Montgomery county built a new
road which parted company with the
old road a mile or so this side Of
Rockville and rejoined it near Be-
thesda at a place we now call Edge
moor What the roadmakers had in
mind the Rambler does not know.
Perhaps this new part of the road was
for the better service Of people living
closer to the line Of Rock Creek.
The new way did not appreciably
shorten the way from Rockville to
Georgetown, and SO far as the Ram
bier can observe, 1t did not pass
through a less hilly country. When
1t came to the matter of road i'm
provements these generally went TO
the new part of the route which, for
the sake Of giving it a name, let US
call "the CUTOFF" though, Of course
1t did not cut off very much. Travel
naturally followed the improved road,
and that part OF the Rockville
Georgetown road which was less
Travelled came to be called the Old
Georgetown road" and that is its Of
fetal name today.