Evening star., 1951-07-01

ss.Ml II dirt road. All you need to capture the
1lU thrills of Columbus, De Soto and all
the rest of the what sover he-next-
hil' boys of history full tank of
gas with strong springs and the sort of itch they
kinds of technique in this adexporng
business the first consists of spottng dirt road filing
station map and heading for it, the second and exciting
just turning of the macadam onto dirt road that
looks interesting From then the unexpected is routine
friend and turned off onto such road As drove
along spotted squatng down into long grass the
of onceimposing mansion. Missing doors broken
windows and saggng porces plus dark interior suggested
adventure within We parked the and climbed up the
rotting steps,
inside the perfume of damp wallpaper. rotting wood
dust and rusty hardware enveoped The downstairs
empty shells cuttered with the refuse of a
The stairs partly missing but managed to
bridge the gaps and reach the second floor Here the
nearly bare with the exception of few mody dresses the
Closets rottng pearbuttoned frightening waspwaist
and few old magazines dated at the turn of the century
We tried all the doors the and closets One stuck
swollen tight from dampness boed from within 1t was
getting dark we left.
A Grim Secret
Two DAYS later my friend called to ask if had seen the local
papers, In them the story of that house and the
with the boted door, of youngsters had followed by
day. broken the door and made narrowing discovery
aging corpse hanging from the wall.
Another time hunting companion and myself looking
woodchucks took ockand-ru road We wound up bush
whackers dooryard That might happen anyone in that
part of the country but this yard featured huge moonhe
still going full blast The armyard deserted far
could but could almost feel those moonshines rifles
following from behind the bushes and the silent windows
scuttled back down the hill
Once in a while we find something of real value. On
grassgrown road i'm New England passed a completely
collapsed farmhouse. Poking through the debris found
among hundreds of empty patent medicine bottles tiny and
perfect poddle bottomed whaeo lamp with pewter top.
M you're interested in exploring, be any house you enter
is abandoned you may be liable for trespassing)
The thing to remember not to anything but
scenery then when discovery made it's bonus perhaps
amusing touching Sometimes when along it is
stark in unexpected pognancy that forgotten like the
lonely slab spotted lonely mountain road Set close to
the wheelrack tilted back with age and smotherng
bore the simple legend Little Charles, aged three years and
four months killed here by cruel wagon Wheel 1884,"
Embarrassing Find
ON country road used travel completely
disepuabe old hove sunk into mounds of dirt and
Several NANCY bosed about the shack and few times
caught unsavory gmps equally NANCY old character
sitting against the wall smoking pipe and staring off into
Curious made inquiries in the nearby about the old
and his goats From then whenever passed the
place we waved His name turned to be Colby too.
Regardless of where you discover the dirt roads east west
north south you'll find things and interest you
The idea is to learn to them
Just the other day. within few miles of New York City,
spotted amshacke old house that looked if it had been