THE CITY YARD 



infrequently seen In country estates with their 

 overfrequent rustic shelters, pewter statuary, and 

 masonry that means nothing except a job for the 

 mason. It is also seen in yards. One yard in 

 my town has a rockery which the owner has be- 

 strewn with statuettes and china, that I verily 

 think he found in the ash-dumps. He does not 

 realize that a house is better suited for such 

 things than is a place where green will grow. 

 I have seen objects in a yard that were not artis- 

 tic, yet that heightened the interest of locality, 

 or hinted at resources of place or family history. 

 In quartz countries, for instance, rockeries of 

 snowy blocks and chunks of crystal connect the 

 yard with the environing land, and in sundry 

 whaling towns I think we would not spare the 

 ancient figureheads, the flagpoles, the ribs and 

 vertebras of whales that decorate the yards, any 

 more than the after-cabins of dead ships which 

 have been hauled up Into the street to serve as 

 summer-houses, kitchens or homes for the hum- 

 ble. These things, which impart a fine, fishy flavor 

 to shore settlements, are grotesque when trans- 

 ferred to Inland yards, unless by a strange chance 

 they conform to some scheme of building or deco- 

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