Milford chronicle., 1922-06-30
MILFORD BOY TOURING TRIP

"a series of letters by a graduate of
Milford High School, passing a va
cation in Catskill Mountains. Mr..
Van Dyke was the valedictorian of
his class.)
We started on our trip from Della
ware to New York State, on Thurs
day, June 18th. We took four days to
make the trip of about 400 miles. We
camped two nights, but stayed at
hotel on the third night, because of
rain.
AS we travelled north, the aspect of
the country changed many times. This
was especially noticeable in the crops.
Even when we reached northern Del
aware, the difference in the harvest
time of the crops was keenly appre-
! ciated. In southern Delaware, the har-
vest of the wheat crop was the goal
to be accomplished, while in northern
Delaware, the wheat was still green.
AS we approached the boundary of
southern Pennsylvania, we found our
selves in the midst of hilly and fer
tile country. In this region, the chief
crops are oats, wheat and rye. The
heads of the wheat were bowed, and,
in some places, quite large patches in
the wheat fields were lodged.
! In some of the towns near Philadel-
phia, we passed large coke plants.
especially noticed large coke and
cOal-tar plant. In this large building,
our maline dyes are separated from
the coal-tar and prepared for CONNER
cial use.
For several miles on both sides of
the road, the large tanks of the differ
ent oil companies could be seen. I
particularly noted the name Sun. Oil
Company. This was probably because
the name was new to me. Long trains
were on the sidings in the process Of
loading up. The large distilleries for
the distillation of the crude petroleum
were in operation as we drove past
them.
Twenty miles from Philadelphia, on
the Allentown road, we. found our
first commercial poultry plants. We
saw about five small plants which
were almost adjoining. 1t is a we'll
known fact that one successful pOul-
try plant in a community causes
others to take root and spring up.
The scenery in the middle part of
eastern Pennsylvania is very pictures
que. On one side of the road, the steep
side of a mountain is seen towering
in the heavens, while, on the other
side, an abrupt descent extends to the
beautiful valley of a river far below.
Most of the mountains are densely
wooded, but, on a great many of the
mountains, the finger of the fire-dem-
on can be traced in the virgin forest.
l. Nf dao1 Of
the best timber in this country. Due
to the efforts of the fire-wardens, a !
great many of the fires are eXtinguish- |
ed before they do much damage, but, !
in very dry weather, the forest fires |
are more difficult to stop and, as a !
result, they often burn over hundreds |
of acres of the best timber lands of |
the mountains. Every camper or pic |
nicer in the woods should keep for his |
motto: safety first"
We passed through StrOudsburg and |
then camped in the Pocono Mountains.
There is large national park re-
serve in these mountains in which |
wild game abounds. Wild turkeys and |
pheasants are cared for in this park |
by the wardens. There are also a |
number of deer on this tract. On a
farm near the park, two deer are wont |
to keep a large swampy tract of wood
land as their favorite haunt. I learn
ed that they are quite tame, often go
ing to the pasture, where they asso-
ciate with the cattle.
About IL miles south of Wind Gap,
we passed several large slate quarries.
There were many slabs of slate piled
up on the ground, which was probably
to be almost given away. There are
three grades: the first grade, or hard
salable side slabs, the second grade,
which is crumbly, and the third grade,
which is almost given away, at the
quarries. AS we rode along, noticed
that a great many of the fences were
put with slate posts. Slots were cut
in the posts, and then the rails were
put through these slots. Nearly all
the roofs of the buildings in this dis
trict were also of slate.
Beyond Wind Gap, we saw large
lime kiln. This some what resembled
a brick kiln. 1t wasa large circular
structure surrounded by fire boxes.
The lime stone was mined back of
and above the lime kiln. 1t was then
drawn in trucks to the kiln, where
it was burned.
We passed through Port Jervis
about 100 p. m, on June 18th. About
10 hours later, the city, the streets,
and even the homes were flooded.
From two to fifteen feet of swirling
water was running in the streets of
Port Jervis. Just before IL p. m,
there was a cloud burst which flooded
the reservoirs. The water rushed over
the dams and overfowed the valley.
The water carried away small houses,
cattle, railroad bridges, and culverts.
the water has practically
gone back to the old beds of the riv-
ers, but it has left railroads, roads, L
and the common thoroughfare in
very bad condition. When we read an
account of the flood in the newspaper
the next dey, we were very thankful
that we had passed through the city
10 hours before the flood. Next week
will write about some of the noun
tainoas count wc passed through.
STANLEY r. VAN DYKE