Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1922-12-13

'NEsDAY, DEC. 1s, 1922.
HOId Deerfeld, Massachusetts,
a Relic of Antiquity.
dear Advertiser:
is the little remote places in New
aiEngland that keep the traditions of
1.-The past, tiny towns off the great high
EWays where one can fairly breathe in
THE atmosphere, lavender, from old
Fashioned gardens. visited such a
fbown this afternoon, Old Deerfeld,
aseYenteen miles from Northampton.
as ass Were I a theosophist, or devo-
nee Of some other modern cult, I
fsnight believe that / had been pion-
ser in some previous incarnation, and
in this life was looking for the
fia6fd sWordsSor spinning wheels that I
aad used long since and lost a while,
nis5r it is my delight to wander through
t4uaiut old museums and historic
houses.
orthampton has building de-
Noted to different historical organi-
.izatinns. / went in the other day to
ssee a museum which I understood
WAS there. After much searching I
Efound the janitor who seemed to have
nore interest in the relics than any
Hone else. The few treasures were in
taroom deep in dust, but I managed
llaoE!see through the dirt and since the
Idea Of germs has never bothered me
fgreatly, / thought The accumulated
dnst on things might act as preser-
lNatiye. The janitor had a deeper
Knowledge Of things ancient, than his
aimIted vocabulary and missing teeth
{enabled him to tell me Of, but he said
That of all the places Of interest
fabort here, Old Deerfeld was the
most picturesque. I took him at his
word, and later went to see it.
|5 Nov, I often prefer to go on these
Eexcursipns alone, for when alone, I
ican keep my mind on the subjects at
hand, while if I am with someone, /
lam compelled to discuss modern
f}dEess, the latest movie, which greatly
loRends my sense Of allegiance to the
past, and keeps me jumping from the
back to- the tWenti-
sssa IL ny friends go witf cgn
not tell them that they are distinctly
out of place with ntiquity. So with
a good grace / bade my roommate
farewell, as she started to the Har-
vard-Yale football game at New Ha-
ven, and while she was roofing for
Yale, was reading verses on ancient
tombstones by the light of a noun
tain sunset.
alighted from the car at what the
conductor declared was town, but /
saw nothing but a long, long trail of
street awinding, bordered with
trees, and one wee country store not
much bigger than dolls house.
Across from that was the post office,
and that indeed was all. I am con-
vinced that the town writes and re-
ceiyes letters, but I am not at all
sure that it eats, as any healthy town
should. 1t must veritably live upon
sweet memories of long and re-
spectacle past.
On Main street, there were twen-
ty-one pre-Revolutionary houses, and
the little town was built about 1865.
In 1704 the Indians massacred great
many of the people and burned near
ly all of the houses. It was very un-
kind of the Indians, not to say wick
ed, since the inhabitants seem never
to have had the courage to replace
the necessary business places. But
the New England mind works in
mysterious way. ! do not pretend to
understand it. Perhaps they all at
Deerfeld have we'll filled cellars, and
no doubt the Thanksgiving tables
will be top heavy with savory viands.
1t was so bitter cold when first
arrived and the attractions seemed so
few, that 1 couldn't decide whether
to catch car in half an hour, or wait
two hours for later one. To keep
from having to think out this momen-
tous problem I walked into the little
church, built in 1878, and began