Worcester Democrat and the ledger-enterprise., 1941-09-19


I made my first visit to New England
by spending a weekend in the home
of a fellow teacher in the attractive
city of Hartford, the capital of Con-
necticut, and it gave me chance to
see some of the high spots of that
historic city which dates back to 1886.
Hartford is called the Charter Oak
City, from the fact that the Charter
granted by King Charles II of Eng
land, in 1862, was hidden in 1857, in a
big oak tree where it remained for
two years. The Charter Oak was
blown down in 1856, being at least
over two hundred years old. A tab
let which l saw marks the spot where
the tree stood. The State Capitol is
beautiful building, situated in a
magnificent park, and brownstone
Arch, spanning a roadway is a hand
some structure memorial to the Civ
il War dead from Connecticut. Hart
ford at that time was the home of
Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, the au-
thor of that remarkable book, "Uncle
Toms Cabin" that was published in
1852, which some authorities claim
aroused the public against slavery so
strongly that it helped to bring about
the War between the States. At the
time of my visit to Hartford, Mrs.
Stowe was "a years of age. While
my friend and were taking a stroll
on Saturday afternoon, we happen
ed to see Mrs. Stowe on the opposite
side of the street on which we were
walking. She was also out for walk,
accompanied by lady-probably her
nurse. Mrs. Stowe looked very aged
and feeble. The papers announced her
death on July 1, 1896 which date was
less than five weeks after I had seen
her. It is interesting to know that
"Uncle Toms Cabin" was first pub
lished as serial story in Washing
ton, d. c., newspaper, called "The
National Era" in 1851. In book form
it's sale exceeded that of any previous
work of English fiction, and it was
translated into many foreign lang
uages.
l never saw Mrs. Stoves disting-
uished brother, the late Rev. Henry
Ward Beecher, but I once attended
a service in his former church in
Brooklyn and heard a sermon by his
successor, the late Rev. Lyman Alb
bott. 1t is wonderful to contemplate
the changes, the inventions and the
that have been made since
| spent the school year of 1886 in
New York City.
Those were the days before the au-
had arrived and before the
subways were built under the streets
and before a tunnel had been con-
structed under the Hudson River and
he East River. Those were the days
If the ferry boats, the trolley cars
and the elevated tracks for street !
,ars. The air-plane was in it's infan-
~ and had not come into practical
Use, but was in the experimental
stage, waiting for practical genius
20 perfect the inventions of Wilbur
and Orville Wright, to find out the
secret of knowing how to construct
a machine that could navigate the
air like the bird does in its flight
so that men and commodities could be
transported from one place to another
in the shortest time.
There were no radios, and graphic
phones and telephones had not come
in to general use, and there was no
such an agent as television. There
were no moving pictures and no
means of communication by wireless;
no oil furnace heating of buildings
and no air-conditioning appliances.
Not having ever had all those modern
conyeniences, no one missed them
then, but what would the world do
without them now?
EVSu Clc odlCLy VI CitC WOAlu e1liu
human and animal life are now
threatened and in great danger by the
discoveries and inventions of the past
forty years, by such as submarines,
air-planes, bombs and explosives of
every description.
1t is startling to consider and real
ize how much of lasting character
can be crowded into a few short
months but enough can happen to oc-
cupy a period in thought covering
many years. A year is comparatively
short time, but in legend or tradi-
ton, it can in thought be made to
appear to be very extensive period
of time.
Ito be continued)