The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1921-10-14
MIR. HOWE IN NEW ENGLAND


his niece, Miss Adelaide Howe, paid
!, the editor and his family the long
promised visit to New England. They
are widely travelled, even around the
world not being too wide a field for
them. But somehow New England
had been left out of their schedules
He is the author of many books;
philosophy, fiction and travel all
coming from his productive and Or
iginal brain. He writes for a mum
Der of magazines, and those who
read the Saturday Evening Post or
the Country Gentleman know the
Howe contributions. His monthly is
where he finds his best expression,
for it is typically the man him
self, full of sly digs, whimsical at
times, an apostle of common sense
and common things, given to ex-
pressing the naked truth and pune
\ turing bubbles. 1t is eagerly greet
ed each month by thousands of
readers. Knowing that Mr. Howe is
accustomed to expressing his honest
opinion, some of the fraternity were
fearful of what he might say in re-
viewing his trip; or as one of the
brethren expressed it, it was danger
Gus to take it for granted that be-
cause Ed Howe had been entertain
ed in the State quite royalty, there
fore it was a foregone conclusion
that there would be nothing but
! bouquets presented in return. The
Kansas newspaper man is in the
habit of expressing his mind quite
freely, without consulting the opin-
ions of those whom he describes"
All of which is true, which makes
his description of his trip, which
we will publish in the next few is
sues of the Opinion, more valuable.
Like most persons who have travelled
widely, he is simple in his tastes,
direct in his manner and a consid-
crate guest. We will let Mr. Howe
speak for himself in the following
paragraphs:
An Automobile Trip in New
England.
From E. w. Howe's Monthly.
Somewhere about 1857, when l be-
gan looking out the front door, won
dering what was beyond, probably |
heard first, of the houses of our
nearest neighbors; then of the COM
bined church and school house in
which we were all interested, and
next of the country town where
my father went to do his trading. |
Having thus realized that there
were other worlds than ours, think
that not long after / began hearing
of New England, a subject no Ameri-
can can avoid. And l have been
hearing of it pretty steadily ever
since, but had never visited it, eX-
cept one brief trip to Boston thirty
five years ago, until the latter part
of August, 1921. So ineffective is the
written and spoken word that l
never correctly visualized it; l
should have known better, but
somehow l thought of New England
as a fiat country like my own.
During an automobile trip Of
New England like an old recollec-
ton of Switzerland. When we left
one valley, we crossed mountains,
through notches and passes, to reach
another. On the way we followed
roaring brooks, which might have
trout, but saw no fishing,
and heard little of the subject. Lakes
are also numerous; one, Champaign,
S a hundred miles long, with the
Green Mountain range on one side,
and the Adirondack range on the
,ther. Champlain does not look
ike Lake Michigan, or Lake Erie,
)ut like a river. 1t is broad and
Impressive, but | should call it /.
liver. There are many who say the .
new across Champlain from Burl- :
ngton, Vermont, is one of the fin
st to be seen anywhere, and Burl-
ngton one of the most beautiful cit !
es. As another evidence of my :
allure to understand New England :
rom reading, | had long thought of !
Vermont, as village. t..
md / was specially interested in :
he town, because one of my heroes,
henry Holt, lives there in summer. !,
ienry Holt is one of my heroes be- !
ause he is a fair, capable man at :
lightly. | have never seen him; only :
card of him, and realized that in ,
pite of his years, he is one of the :
est writers in America. To my =
lind one of the greatest human ac- =
is to be a fine old :
entleman. Henry Holt, the New =
ork publisher, is one, and still able Il
D compete with youth in most of Il
s tasks and blessings. -
i have often wondered where the +
ord Burlington" came from orig =.
rally; somehow it has become popu- .
II and famous. Various things are !.
AIMED for it in foreign countries. -
II | can find about the word in -
nat ponderous book of knowledge, ~
lie Encyclopedia Britannica, is that y
is a corruption of "Bridlington," "
town in Yorkshire, England, where =,
any early Americans came from. :,
here must be rare euphony in the a
vented word, to result in its adop- Z
on so widely. -
In the West we hear much of =
lie abandoned farms of New Eng =,
nd. / found these high up in the =,
Ills, and they probably never :,
ere valuable, while the farms in =
lie valleys are clean, well-cultivated -
i'd worth in most cases from two =,
four hundred dollars per acre. -
he valley farms are no more ahan- "