The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1922-06-01
THRESCAN- WEALD

This is not intended for an enigma;
nor was it placed there to frighten
honest folk and nature lovers away.
The word "Threscan' is Anglo-Sax-
on and means Ito thrash" or Ito beat"
he word Valid" is Anglo Saxon
for wood" From two words com.
pounded, one gete our word threshold
because threshold is the wood we
thrash with our feet when we GO
through doorway. But the word
'weald' as the writer understands II
means forest and it is conception
of his own that @threscan- weald means
or may be trusted to mean the place
where one enters a forest to thrash
or to beat his way through it, either
over we'll defined trails or through
pathless areas. When he has passed
under the big sign he has crossed the
threshold md is on the Glover Slope
Trail; il he questions it and will look
backward he will discover on the OPP
posite side of the sign, in letters equal
l. prominent the word.
CLONERSLOPE
Less than ten minutes ordinary
walk. takes him through a grove of
beautiful white pine to the border of
The "Besse Reservation a tract OF
! two hundred and fifty acres. purchas-
ed by Mr. F. L. Besse of Clinton, Me-
and decided direct to the Good VIII
Home Association in 1921. The term
"Besse Reservation is now al
most synonymous with devastation, p"
because it has within the last five
years been devastated by the lumber
mans axe. but this Is not for long.
because il is reforesting itself at an
amazing rate. Barring accidents, 1t
solves Good Wills ummer fuel ques-
ten for all time and while 1t WAS
Il riY that the entire area could no.
have been subject to forestry rules
tie coming generation will have a
ehanre 10 see what nature will do
il repairing wounds. The main ave-
nues through the Reservation will be
kept omen and clear, fire lines will be
established. and it becomes a tract of
great interest. In the heart OF II lie
tie Jewell Camp"-a board structure.
an Interesting place in winter and
headquarters for Good VIII boys on
chopning days, Of which they will sing,
IS the first Good VIII wood choppers
s'ng of another camp now thing of
the past
where we ate our lunch and
drank our coffee
So we could chop more trees" =
The Bes"e observations has pc
cnliar Fascination for young and old.
in winter time; it is not suitable for
a summer camp 1t is part, how
ever Of plan to be explained later.
THE COLBY TRAIL
The Colby Trail" at Good VIII is
unlike those that have been mentioned
1t has at its entrance two pillars.
built yeirs ago by Good Will boys,
under the direction of Mr.. Fred p
Rawson, a Good VIII graduate. who
WIS teaching in the boys school. The
pillars are of concrete; both look as
though they might have been built
in the sixteenth century; one OF them
carries. embedded in its heart. the
names Of all who had hand in the
building of them. but these youthful
signatures will PROBABLY never be seen
by mortal eyes, the concrete is too
massive to ever reveal them.
The Colby Trail" is more popular
among the boys than those thus far
mentioned because, il soon strikes
Narten Streams and follows along the
Audubon Rapids and Audubon Camp"
which Is canvass affair much oc-
cnpied by the writer in July and Au
gust; il goes close to Hemlock Cabin.
IN attractive resort built by the Sup
eryisor. w p. Hinckley. for the use of
himself and his friends; it comes
plumb onto the "Ole swimming hole"
which some decree is better than the
kennebec River. for a dive on summer
afternoons; it touches the beginning
Of the canoe trip-a trip that offers
twenty-seyen sharp turns in an hours
paddle between Audubon Rapids and
the odd Bridge" at North Fairfield;
il ends just over at Lovejoy Spring,
named for Colby's unique alumnus.
Elijah p. Loyejoy, the first martyr in
the cause of the abolition Of slavery;
in the bottom of the spring is white
stone taken from the foundation of
the house in which I.oveioy was born.
The day that the Colby Trail was
formally opened, the Good Will COM
munity went out in single file and at
a suitable place, near Audubon Rap
ids, and where lIemlock cabin now
stands, listened to an address by pres
ident Roberts of Colby College. who
closed with these words:
And, hereafter this is to be known
as the Colby Trail
The mayhowers blush in their
mo 'sy retreat,
The columbines flame in the air,
The sassafras green sheds its odor
mong the leaves
Through the woodlands all fresh
and fair ?
THE MAINE TRAIL
The Maine Trail in the Good Will
woods has not yet been formally