The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1932-09-29
ROAMING 'R Ond Tn MARYLAND The Mountainous Country


in Washington county he, somehow,
seems at home.
The Passing Villages
The road runs smoothly on through
several of the friendly little villages
which are characteristic of the Mary
land scene. The small houses grow in
rows tight up against the sidewalk.
Just inside the curb are unbroken
ranks of tall old trees which shade
their fronts. Most of them sport gay,
little window boxes and thick vines
Chamber up the porch pillars.
At the corner of one such street a
more than plump and elderly gentle
man sat in a wide rocking chair on
the brick sidewalk. His face was rosy,
his head covered with a thick thatch
of white hair; he wore wide and bag
gy linen trousers and a white shirt,
open at the neck. An old, hard maple
tree completely shaded him from the
sun. In his right hand he carried a
palm-leaf fan, which he used chiefly
to wave salutes to the neighbors who
exchanged smiles with him and passed
on the edge of the sidewalk to give
him plenty of room.
He was poor. He was certainly not
an intellectual giant; there was moth
ing to suggest that he had ever played
a large or important part in the
world. He merely looked like man
who had lived long, comfortable and
happy life-and who was still at it.
Some of the old ladies, who were
paying neighborly visits and who wore
nice blue and white checkered sun
bonnets, had the same aspect.
Signs along the roadside indicate
that relatives of the late Levi 2. Lett
err, whose daughter became vicereine
Of India, are still doing business in the
town which is named after the fam
lily.
Hagerstown's Memories
Hagerstown itself, the third city Of
the State, still cherishes the memory
Of the days when Gen. Thomas Sprigg
lived en- his great estate, which he
called Sprigg's Paradise, maintained
his private race track and pack of
hounds and set the pace for gay and
spacious living among the neighbor-
ing planters.
A more recent local hero was Gov.
William T. Hamilton, one of whose
daughters writes delightfully."- in the
Atlantic about her life in Hagerstown,
where even the street car conductors
were most polite, carrying the bundles
of each of their lady passengers to the
very door.
In a Hagerstown cemetery is the
grave of Thomas Kennedy, who seems
to have been one of the most versatile
of men. He was by turns merchant,
poet, editor, politician and United
States Senator. On his monument is
a tablet, given by the Jews of Mary
land in gratitude for Kennedy's sue
cessful effort to secure passage of a
law giving Jews the right to vote
without sacrifice of their religion. He
was enc of the apostles of religious
tolertion in the State.
A Church Dispute
An amusing example of that tolera-
ton for which Maryland is famous is
one of he memories of Boonsboro, a
few miles down the valley. There, in
the old days, the Lutherans and Cal
vinists decided to build joint house
of worship. They FLASHED on certain
architectural details. The Lutherans
proposed that the windows of the
church should have rounded tops. The
Calvinists held that rounded tops were
sinful. They must be square.
Here was material for first-class
row. But the sweetly reasonable sons
of Maryland did not quarrel. They
simply went ahead and built their
church, with the tops of the windows
on one side round-that belonged to
the Lutherans-and on the other side
square.
The chief claim to fame of Smith
burg, another village beyond Hagers-
town, is the fact that so law-abiding
are its inhabitants and so strong their
taste for literature that they actually
turned their Jail into public library.
WilliamspOrt's Claim
A third hamlet in Washington, with
an intriguing tradition, is Williams
port, on the Potomac, which was laid
out by the famous Gen. Ohio Holland
Williams, with broad avenues and
public squares. 1t was his idea that
the new town should be chosen as the
capital of the United States. George
Washington looked it over, but decid
ed that it was too far above the head
of navigation for big ships and turned
thumbs down on the project.
1t is homogeneous that here in the
midst of this peaceful, happy, smiling