Evening star., 1962-04-15
CHies
and People
Time and
Its Magic
BY ROBERT ]. LEWIS

back IN the America of a
leisurely 200 years ago, when
city life had still to be in
vented.
Yet, thanks to a kind of
magic, you're closer to the
life of cities than are the
residents of many Washing
ton suburbs.
The walls of this stone
built farmhouse are 2 feet
thick, the framework was
heWn of oak with an adze,
then put together with NOR
tiSe, tenon and pin-oak pegs.
Yet three-quarters of a mile
away the four ribbons of
Route Ill will speed you
south to Baltimore in 35
minutes, to Washington in
hour and three-quarterS.
Or they'll take you north to
York in 10 minutes, or to
Harrisburg in 38. A half
dozen small towns are five
minutes away.
This is the miracle of the
expreSSWa ay, the magical
time-belt that can link the
calm of the living rural past
with the rambunctiously
frantic urban present.
Those four concrete rib
bonS, alabaSter in the sun,
work a magic reminiscent of
the Arabian Nights. They
can whiSk you from the 18th
Century to the goth Century
with no effort at all. But
they know their limitations.
They will take you quickly,
if you want to go. But can
they transport the persistent
song of the wren to the city?
Or the special color of an oat
field? Or the butterflies,
lodging above the gray
green windrowS of drying
hay?
The answer, of course, is
no. These magic ribbons
will be glad to teach you
country ways, country fla
vors, the country tempo.
They'll let you ride like the
wind to a different rhythm.
That's all they can do. But
that is enough to give you a
new perspective on time, a
new angle on life, a new in
sight into history.
IN THOMAS JEFFERSON
WERTENBAKER'S "The
Founding of American Civili-
zation: The Middle Colonies, /"
you can read why the Fed
eral houses of Georgetown
have much in common with
the distinctive Pennsylvania
stone farmhouSes. york
County, in which this COL
umn is being written, is the
part of Pennsylvania near
est Washington in which
examples of this nostalgia
architecture can be found0
Though GeorgetoW ms
houses are of brick and
Pennsylvania farmhouses of
this type are of stone, their
common denominator is the
influence of the Georgian
style.
Mr.. Wertenbaker wrote:
The proximity of the Eng
lish, the example of their
Georgian stone houses, and
the Importation of English
books on architecture, grad
ually won the Germans to
English architectural designs.
I'm time, all of German
Pennsylvania was dotte d
with stone Georgian houses. :"
THE PERIOD IN WHICH
American civilization was
founded has almost been for
gotten. Much has happened
since then-not all of it very
civilized. The few remain
ing stone houses stand out
along the bywayS, flanked
by their fertile fields, as
symbols of a calm and pur-
poseful era. This, certainly,
must be a part of their
charm.
In the old days, such
houses were heated by "a
big hearth fire in which was
the iron crane and tripod
with steaming kettles hang
ing on them" wrote DR.. Ben
jamin Rush, the Philadel-
phia physician who served
as a member of the CONT
mental Congress during the
American Revolution.
In one corner of the
room stood the table with
benches running along its
sides, and on it zinc dishes,
pewter spoons and tin cups.
In another corner stood
the spinning wheel with
bundles of flax, tow or wool.
I'm the attic were several
beds for the boys, and hang