The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1922-08-12
AUNT POLLY'S LETTER

Good evening. junior friends:
Did you ever take a happen so" hike-that is just f9low the road
you wish without knowing exactly where it may take you? Or perhaps
you have decided to strike out in some certain direction and go cross
some little path in the woods and have started following it, not knowing
the path nor the place to which it leads. That kind of a hike is lois
of fun, as it is apt to have several surprises in store o the people
who take it, -
in wandering into places which are generally not visited by travellers.
! have a book that is named "Unvisited Places in Old Europe and there
it tells and gives pictures of all sorts of old and delightful. places when
are out of the beaten track usually takeh by aPehetS lnIe ae
castles and kingdoms, forests and cottages, mountains and interesting
little villages, and people land probably these are the most interesting
of ain which land who!) are very, very Seuom visited ny "ulSNS
1t has been found helpful however, for people whose Tune ana
money for travelling is limited to have certain places to visit where
they can see many interesting tmnts al ome an au nnm ne coytair
understanding of certain places and countries and help us TO a certain
degree in the appreciation of the environment n cumslahc anu
many great people have been purchased as national property and things
have been placed in them which were used by those persons o + whlch
were in common use in the period when they lived
In this country there are many such places Mount Nernoh inc
lovely Virginia home of Washington is kept as nearly like it was in his
day as possible, even the coach in the coach house beng very similar
to the n he used. Paul Reveres house, Edgar Allen Poes house.
Lincolns home town" of New Salem, Illinois 0r there they are re-
building a a memorial a model village OF The one IN when lncon
lved), and many other like memorials re continually being visited
by travellers.
The home of Bobby" Burns. the loved poet of Scotland is carefully
treasured in the little village of Ayr and is shown to all visitors. as is
the Aud Brig" Cor old BRIDGE where Tam o. Shanter Ia character in
one of Burns poems) just barely escaped being caught by the witches
The little matched cottage where Ann Hathaway lived when Shakes
peare courted her is visited every year by thousands of people. So it
is with the home of Charles Dickens, of Joan of Arc and with those
of many, many other well known people.
While it is possible to go to an extreme in accommodating such
est for their many visitors. Things are preserved in that way which
probably would not be if they remained in private hands. and they
SO we learn there are splendid reasons for taking the usually tray
eed routes and that a great deal of appreciation and understanding
may be gained in that way but there is also a great deal of delight and
pleasure to be secured by following along paths which are less known
and coming upon unexpected treasures of nature and history and meet
ing with people whose lives are lived in places out of the line of the
usual steady stream of tourists, and who are the more interesting
because of that very environment.
Hoping each of us will enjoy many such journeys, whether long
ones or short,
Your Junior friend,
AUNT POLLY