Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1931-04-03
THE
GREAT OPEN
SPACES
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- -~xnxv- .-a~,
By FANNIE HURST

TS ny FANNIE HONoA fAS
&s}:s}:$5:&}:$ 5s$ IS is 5::s3:s3sf
CO. 1891. Mcclure Newspaper syndicats.l
(WNU Service.l
"HHE graylsh little town Of Della
lay scattered off both sides Of a
railroad track. II you glimpsed
1t at all, you caught sight Of 1t
from the window Of your coach be-
cause not more than two or three
trains day stopped at the small
small waiting room Of pot-bellied
stove, tin water cooler and composite
ticket-baggage-and-telegraph agent
Two thousand souls resided IN
Della. One the south side Of the
tracks, which was probably the least
desirable from the realty value point
of view, Mr.. and Mrs, Isaiah Moore
conducted a grocery store. 1t was an
old-fashioned green grocer's establish
ment with a porch roof, reaching like
an awning over the wooden sidewalk,
supported by wooden props for pillars.
There were three inverted barrels
standing outside the Moore grocery
store for loiterers; probably the only
three such barrels in the state.
Mr.. and Mrs. Moore lived in a two.
story frame house one block removed
from this place of business. 1t was
typical frame house; six b0x-like
rooms, no modern improvements,
truck garden in the side yard, picket
fence closing 1t in from the wooden
sidewalk, pump with tin dlpper
dangling, woodshed which contained
q dllapidated fiivver, used chiefly for
grocery deliveries, a dog house, sum-
mer kitchen and some beautiful old
plane and maple trees.
Mrs. Moore, who divided her days
In the grocery store with her husband,
did not have a great deal Of time for
housekeeping; but just the same her
late dahllas could vie with the best In
Della. So could the primness OF the
interior Of her little frame house
Spick, span, rigid, filled with the cold
smell of mating, horse hair covered
furniture and unaired front parlor.
But the Moores had a dream. II
had begun back In the days when
young Isaiah Moore, evenings off from
his fathers grocery store, had wooed
the pretty Abby Ross in the stiff front
parlor Of her fathers house in Della.
Even back there, Isaiah was full Of the
dream of the "wide-open spaces" Ev-
cry pre-nuptial plan of theirs, even
that which had to do with the imme
dlate reality of Moore's grocery store
and taking up residence In the little
frame house In which they were TO
live for a subsequent thirty years, was
tinged with that sunny vision OF the
remote "wlde-Open spaces"
OF course, the usual happened. Quick
tides of life caught UP Abby and
Isaiah and carried them along to
destiny not planned by themselves. A
year after their marriage, the father
Of Isaiah died, leaving him the some.
what doubtful legacy Of the debt-en
numbered grocery store. The next
year, Abby's twins were born, to die
five years later In a local epidemic.
II In nrobable that more than .nv.
thing that had ever hammered IN tb.m
tbis nnseemIv catastronhe frpstro,'
cd the ombltion NJ Abbv and isaiah
or at least inhibited n for tho ner,od
of the next Ave or fen vears
The Moores found themselves
cIutched bv cIrcpmstanc. rostrs,nsd
nv routine s.ddonad hv ooI.r,,,~ IA
40 during tho vaar. that tb,s .-.,-
while vvsion 30 The ",y,do o,o,, $780,,
law foIIow tb,rtv snr,no,ir,o. s,-,,,,
,round into the Iit,,o aor,an su-rounH
inc the Frame bonse Tht,.n ,.,u.."a
many Of them hi,ter and co,d wd,n
thIck LAYERS q, snow IN Tho La go
and the runtv cornaelds n, noIIa.
thirty autumps that rin,od tn,o ."iS
ana russat The ene o,d cot ,roa. 90
nlane trees ana nanIo traas nc, it,.
the leIsurelv streets ~ Della. ,hIrt.
summers that warmed Ahhv.s rosos q.
N life and font tho ,hroo harroI. g.
front of Moore. orocerv storo oro,,,d
al with loitarers
1,,or.o aaaae ~
nth zoo ,nnoh IT. w., % nneu
or Zoo ,nnoh haa. w u," 9ho~
Tho hard ohaS ~ "u." w'nu
No. aha. 80 iae. " iSaiuh
on s,ora 90 CO., oue VI ane gro
'aL u',.y o"ow sc"pe' or
- 49,. e s ne"' uahee
$3.50 'e .o'nsuS Vi INC outiylhg
.,',". " a'''al'eu,S' sven hrter
-, ge"S' 'uiheu 10 une Wesi.