Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1920-02-27
DORSETSH|RE IS like
P0IUsE COUNTRY.
COUNTY OF THOMAS HARDY FULL INTEREST DORCHESTER
THE EPITOME OF PAST HISTORY CELTIC
NOTIFICATIONS GERMAN PRISON CAMP

think January is the best time to see
it. The day we went to Dorchester,
the county town of Dorset, was gray
and cold. with thought Of snow in
the air. Every few miles a threshing
machine was at work, threshing
stacked grain. Landing had COM
menced and hundreds of horned Dor
set sheep with their baby lambs lay
in the fields along the way.
At the top of a hill We came upon
two lads who had built a fire of twigs
and were warming themselves. One
was munching at loaf OF bread.
Gold morning." one said in answer
to our greeting. "Cold is right" /
answered. Come and warm your
Selves" he replied, there's plenty of
fire." The boy who had spoken an
swered briefly, in thick, burning
speech our questions about the road
and the country. The other munched
his bread and said nothing. We
mounted our bicycles and rode on. It
was trifling incident of the road,
but it was part of the spirit of peo-
pie who must always be just little
on the defensive against nature.
Our first view Of Dorchester was
disappointing. A round tower on a
hill far to the right looked much more
interesting than the town sprawled
out in the valley. The day is past
when Dorchester appeared a bit of
garden surrounded by a hedge. 1t
has spread far beyond the old tree
planted walls. We rode in along one
Of the fine walks into which the old
defences have been made. The bare,
crooked branches of the ancient trees
met above in fantastic figures.
Dorchester, the real Dorchester, is
an epitome Of the history of England,
in fact of the world. Every move
ment of man from the days of pre-
historic savagery to the present has
left its mark on her, and the oldest
relic seems crude and new beside the
fossil life which is dug up from still
lower strata. If Dorchester is the
epitome Of past history, the museum
is the epitome of past Dorchester. 1t
contains fossils of strange huge shell
fish and creeping things. coins and
implements OF flint and bone-relics
Of the Britons, Roman urns, corroded
swords, skulls, and much Of more re-
cent date. all found in the immediate
vicinity. The whole floor of the CEN
trail part Of the building is Roman
pavement found nearby and relaid
there. One beautiful section, hard
glazed and perfect. is as large as the
door of a good sized room.
The collection Of Celtic, Roman,
and Saxon coins makes one ask.
what are thousand years or so.
and what will come next 1t is little
wonder that q man of deep nature,
born and bred in this gloomy. soulful
country, with the very proofs of the
trans'tory nature of mans achieve
ments on every side, should have the
philosophy and the spirit OF Thomas
Hardy.
Dorchester (Casterbridge) is the
heart of Hardy's Wessex Hardy him.
self lives there. There and nearby
his greatest scenes are laid. The
market and the old bull-ring Of 1.-THE
Mayor OF Casterbridge" are in sight
of the museum windows. The mar
ket and the square are smaller than
l had expected. but of such strange
angles that the whole is not visible
from any one point. Yet Lucetta's
house in 1.-The Mayor OF Caster
bridge" is supposed to command the
whole. The curator of the museum
told us that he one day asked Mr..
Hardy where the house was located.
"Oh," he said. sometimes it's
there, sometimes there, sometimes
here" But in essential truth Hardy
is always exact to the east detail.
Everyone we spoke to seemed to
know who Mr. Hardy is. and where
his house is He is obviously not
without honor in his own country.
We rode past his home. Max Gate,
an ordinary English house Of the bet
ter sort, set in a fine little grove OF
trees and shrubbery, though in an
uninteresting part Of town.
There is Roman amphitheater
south of Dorchester. once capable OF
seating $4,000 people. 1t is perfect
in outline but its walls are smooth
and grass-covered, where once 20O0
years ago, they we're terraced with
seats and crowded with men and
women, eager spectators of limitations
of tho gladietor combats OF Rome.
Even the Roman amphitheater is
toy beside Maiden Castle, that great
system Of eartheworks, supposedly
Celtic in origin, mile farther south.
Rampant and trench surrounding
rampant and trench cover total area
of IFS acres; ~ acres in the center
- nat and smooth as the bottom OF