Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1922-10-15
BY LUCnET1A e. REMINGTON.

the house OF parliament lies
the wide neld from which these pic
lures are garnered.
More than half a century ago. when
the civil war had thrown its after
war burdens upon north and south
alike. my parents had crossed the
Atlantic in a sailboat that all but
| surrendered to the furious storm that
struck her in midocean. and. after a
| delayed arrival. settled In Ohio. Often
| had I heard references to their native
land and. even as a child. had
dreamed Of seeing that small island
| whose far.iung influence had shaped
the destiny Of half the civilized
| world. %
Tennyson and Browning. Carlyle
and Macaulay had. In verse and In
prose. sharpsned my desire to visit
England. even as had my correspond.
ence with cousins still In Britain!
So, in the summer of 1893. when the
postwar burdens Of the world war
lay like an incubus upon the land
Of Europe. / went like pilgrim from
the new world to the old. from my
native land to that Of my parents.
, My feelings were those Of q wan.
derer returning home even while he
knew he loved far better the land
he had wandered In. What would
that old home be like? What were
the customs OF his ancestral house7
What changes had the war brought
In its very structuref
Queer minglinss Of glad antioipa-
lions and fear Of finding only . half
welcome pulsed through me a. lay
In my deck chair on tho luxurious
and gigantic liner that let ter
rinc gale. blowing seventy miles an
hour. strike her beam with . nom
chalanoe that was quite in keeping
with her regal splendor. What
progress the world had made In the
last half-century, measured in the
single instance Of a modern ocean
liner and the sailboat In which my
parents voyaked to the land Of oppor.
tunity!
Even before left the liner learned
from the old quartermaster on deck Che
was dressed like one Of our 'gobs. :"
was lean and brown as q STRIPPING In
spite Of his forty years before the mast.
and possessed one eye tooth and one
lower front tooth that gave him a
wicked look) that Kent. to which ! Wa
going. was the garden spot OF all Eng
land. There the hop fields grew in
hA xdo NfpnHAA
choice fruits to the warm sun, and
there the house gardens bloomed In per-
lection.
Was he biased in Kent's favor? No.
his home was in London. He knew his
English history accurately. as all
Britons do. and he possessed q keen
sense Of humor, tradition to the con.
trary.
He confided to mo that folks on ship
board asked him strange questions
That morning q woman. greatly desir-
GUS Of seeing a whale. said to him :
How long have you been to scar
Upon hearing his reply. forty years or
30. ma'am," she eagerly pursued her
quest with Gin his words): "Hand ave
ye seen q wtle?"
INDEED. 1 md the English to pos
i sess q keen sense Of humor. q
subtler sense than the American. for
they do not feed their children on
the Sunday supplement brand OF
humor, and . humor often based for
its point upon sharp criticism that
borders closely on wit must ad-
nit. however. that when an English.
mans feelings Are the target Of such
shaft he all but too often quite
forgets his sense Of humor. He only
pretends that he has no feelings;
hey lie really very close to the sur.
face.
The old quartermaster was quite
right about Kent, as came to realize
after l had seen. by motor. $50 mines
Of Its fertility and sheer beauty. As
We drove along between the softly
rising low hills / could think OF
nothing save endless stretches Of
patch quilts. for there 10 nothing
quite 90 beautifully laid out - these
English farms, with each farm
clearly demarked from the others oy
hedges kept In trim like the hedges
about rich estates In America.
In early August the oolors were ex-
au,sits-nelds Of wheat all golden
fields Of oats al silver sray and dsIds Of
rye and barley all Jade green. each
separated from its neighbors by the
dark smbroidering thread OF the
hedges, while here and there. to give
the hillsides o rarer tone. were neIds
Of red peoples. gorgeous under the
, sun. and surely ruinous In theft
myriad numbers to the wheat they
grew among.
Then. for . finishing touch. there
were the clumps Of trees. through
whose green umbrage . castle or
abbey or manor thrust its towers or
! walls, or some church sent . slender
spire heavenward.
Mile after mile, and only . varied
succession OF farmland ~ perfectly
tended - lighthouse. Rich hill
side tapestries done In . checker.
board pattern are these fertile fields
Of ripening corn. for that 10 the word
Of the Scriptures and Of the English
for grains grown In tho feld.
his sons ana their wives A clean.
cut, nice. looking lot, too. Some OF