The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1946-02-21
Fair Enough
BY WESTBROOK PEGLER
Copyright, 1916, by King Features Syndical

r
As one Of the pioneers in the second settle
ment Of the ole frontier around Pound Ridge,
N. Y, salute the committee of the United
Nations which selected the so-called Stamford
Greenwich area for the permanent home of
that which some optimists are calling the
Parliament of the World They have fine
eye for natural beauty, enhanced by the ar
borist and treesurgeon, the architect and,
most importantly, by the earnings Of the city
sucker who poured millions into the recla-
nation of sway-backed saltboxes ano monde
script ruins in most of which George Wash
ington is alleged to have caught a little shut
eye. Invited to select ar international patch
and given their pick OF our country, they
chose an area which, having disposed Of the
old Pegler place on Mill road and Trinity
pass, feel free to describe as one Of the
lovelest in the United States
/ sympathize, however, with those old neigh
bors who are not altogether hospitable to the
invasion because share their apprehension
that they will be treated as natives in the
condescending sense of the word by repre-
sentatives and employees of the SO other ma
| tons in the reservation And I anticipate I'M
bearably provocative nastiness by the profess
sional internationaists Of New York and
Washington who will settle close to the Dor
ders Of the compound.
Already we have had few OF them, not
pioneers as We were in the late twenties but
come-late1ies who heard about this wonderful
land OF nice homes, most of them small,
gardens, woods. lakes and brooks ard moved
IN: Dammit, they are always organizing some
tnlng and improving conditions. whereas
reclaimed the countryside ITSELF and getting
up petltlons and scherning to turn the rasca1s
out
one OF the rascals they were going to turn
OUT Few years ago was our supervisor, Bill
SHINE, very good supervisor, too, for reasons
that can't remember although do remem-
Der that the committee that harangued me
until threw them out was composed of one
OF those government-type lawyers and an ag-
gresslve and determined woman politician
whose family had not been dislodged from
the great mother teat of the new deal since
the beginning Of the NRA. That kind were
moving in although I must say that poor old
Westport suffered much worse because West
port was "discovered'' by colony Of art
takers and dirty-word novelists Just after the
First World War and they defile everything
they touch They have hardly got their gear
unpack before they are finding fault with
the schools and wanting big auditorium and
a stadium for the high school and running
for office and calling you a nazi if you don't
pull your forelock and bend a knee at the
mention OF their nartyred leader who gave his
life that love should vanquish hate in the
hearts Of men.
We had serious alarm up Mill road in
1885 when 1t was noised about that fellow
was up from the Department of Agriculture
to survey US for farm-to-market road. We
didn't want any road. There wasn't farm
anywhere around except Fanchers' where
they raised black angus for the shows and
Fanchers' was right on the highway to New
Canaan. And the only market then was Ernest
Seedlings end his stuff came in from the
wholesalers somewhere all except few dozen
local eggs and maybe some sweet corn. We
didn't exactly organize, but we beat the road
anyway ever then.
The only thing we ever did by organized
effort was to vote a loving cup to Bill Jones,
the best road commissioner you ever saw,
for blowing US out and sanding the hills in
winter and filling the gulIeys after the spring
rains. He could have had the job forever but
last time around he just decided that he had
had enough OF those o'clock in the morning
turn-outs with billiards. bowling and trees
wnicb-way across the roads So the But
toni boy, just a scrawny little kid when we
first knew him. now back from the war and
Scoop Scofield, a Yankee patriot and veteran
Of both wars, had 1t out in the election and
young Buffoni won
This country was pioneered way back in
colonial days. Of course, and I always heard
that Pound Ridge was socal1ed because the
Indians and the settlers had corral or pound
there in which they rounded up deer or stray
domestic stock. People were uncertain about
the exact purpose OF the pound.
About 40 years ago. give or take a few.
the place began to slip. Old houses went to
ruin and the fields to weeds and spruce. There
had been many shoe-makers who did hand
sewing on piece-work basis for nanufa ctur-
ers and this NAV account for the vogue of
those antique cobb1ers benches that the semi.
dress summer set used for hors d'ouvres a
few years ago Some Of the farm women and
girls sewcd mems suits for factory in
Stamford New Canaan.
The machine age md efficiency killed these
home industries. The young ones went to
Bridgeport and New York and Pound Ridge
gently fell asleep.
When we came up, in 1928. following tle
Blenders and George Reinhardt and Doctor
Lieb and some others whose love Of nature
was equal to the difficulties incidental to the
wooing, the roads were awful and it wasn't
always sure thing that you could get electric
power or phone You were always finding
leak in the roof or something burned out
in the pump The drive would wash out. The
fox got the ducks the night the pond froze
unexpectedly.
But suddenly on winter night. you would
see six deer and one winter in the valley a
neighbor who was out Of work and wouldn't
take relief supported his family trspping fox.
mink. nuskrat and rabbit Many of the old
timers hadn't been in New York since the
Singer was the tallest building in the world.
- IL. Io11 al