Evening star., 1920-04-04
ALL-DAY
AUTOMOBILE TRIP
TAKENAT RANDOM
Oliver BoWIes of Bureau of
Mines Tells of Pleasure
It Afforded.

The joys and pleasures to be derived
from an all-day motor trip taken at ran
dom through the brown fields of Mary
| land. with no particular goal as an OBJ
jective. are told in the following story
by Oliver Bowles. quarry technologist Of
the bureau of mines. Department of the
interior incidentally. Mr.. BOwles re-
fers to the scarcity Of the Irish po-
tato in these parts during the present
epidemic of high cost of living.
MIR. BOwIes' Description.
His description of his trip follows:
"A single holiday without definite
program, and without a care. The
party consisted of my wife. two boys
of seven and nine years; a companion
able lady kindergarten supervisor
who was a warm friend of my wife's,
and myself as chauffeur. The object
was to go somewhere. but nowhere
IN particular-to breathe the odorS of
he woods and fields. to relax from
strenuous toll. and to forget for one
day the exacting duties of busy lives.
with the instinct of a true house
keeper my wife desired to purchase in
cidentally good country produce when
| opportunity offered
The season was October. with it's
glorious haZy sunshine warming the
! brown Maryland fields and filtering
through the gorgeous foliage of scat
| tered roadside trees or denser forests.
! Red. crimson. orange. yellow and
green were scattered and mingled on
| every side, while few fieecy clouds
| were thrown in to exhibit to better
advantage the deep blue of the sky.
| "Joyous Freedom" Depicted.
| What can exceed the joyous free
| dom OF motor trip that has no speci-
| ned destination, no prescribed path.
and no set time for return. especially
for those who habituaIly comply with
rigid Office hours. rendered more
strenuous by the aftermath of war?
| The guard at the railway crossing
| beyond the District line responded to
1 the Juvenile greetings from the rear
| seat with a friendly wave of the hand
| for joy is Infectious
| For miles we followed the waver-
ing macadam. our first object being
to reach speedily the open country.
and to place wide stretches of field
| and forest between us and city life
The macadam ended abruptly at a
! rough cross street in a small town.
To the left the road descended a short
valley and curved away beyond
among the hills in an inviting fash
| ion that was a sufficient inducement
to make the left turn. At the foot of
| the hill the road branched. and the
turning of a milk wagon into one
destination in view. sufficient reason
| to induce them to take the other
| branch. Two curves beyond. low
rocky ridge and an abandoned stone
quarry offered choice lunch ground.
| while the lunch baskets were be-
ing unpacked, the boys and l contin-
ued down the road for half mile
to procure eggs and fresh water at
a large farmhouse. Our approach to
the house was heralded by the bark
fY1fr ~
| a flock of ducks and the familiar calls
OF numerous hens and turkeys. We
! were received on the porch by a moth
| erly cat with two acrobatic kittens.
! and tall man with squeaky voice.
who followed weather comment
| formation about influenza. An elderly
lady appeared thereafter. and pro-
pounded a sure specific. the secret Of
which consisted in the somewhat
| doubtful proposal to fill the patient
| to utmost capacity with quinine.
OId-Time Pump in Requisition.
! After the purchase of a dozen
! eggs and a quart of chestnuts. the
/ water pail was filed at an old-fash-
| ioned massive log pump. such as one
! reads about but seldom sees.
! Upon our return to the quarry
| lunch room. fire was built where
bacon and eggs were fried and coffee
| boiled. The odor and flavor were un-
! surpassed. Was it the October air,
| the sunshine. the quarry. the firewood.
| or a combination of various factors
that added such exquisite qualities?
After lunch the fire was carefully
| extinguished and the journey re-
| sumed. After returning from the
| farmhouse the automobile was facing
| the lately traversed road. Following
| the general holiday plan, the logical
procedure was to go straight ahead
| rather than to turn around. Back
! in the little country town we con-
| tfnued straight through down a
stony hill. and then more hills and more
! stones, with a few ruts and water gaps
| to add variety.
| "The next stop was at a little COM
! munity consisting Of a blacksmith
| shop, two farmhouses and the accom-
panying barns and other outbuildings.
| At one Of the houses a bushei of pears