XII 
THE GUIDE TO NATURE 
possession of the local traditions and 
scandals. If there is anything in the 
whole countryside worth visiting he 
can give you the needed information, 
surrounded by details. 
“Tell him that as you drove in 
through the residence district, you 
were more than favorably impressed 
and that you have stopped off for a 
visit — and what is there to see? He 
will immediately submit a list of at- 
tractions, which may include the Car- 
negie Library, a blind pig, and a milch 
cow that took first prize at the state 
fair. 
“Or, better yet, he will ask Elmer to 
finish the man he is shaving, and he 
will put on his coat and take you out 
to meet the town celebrity. It may be 
the old soldier who gave General 
Hooker a lot of good advice at Lookout 
Mountain, or the woman who has been 
working twenty-two years on a patch 
quilt which will eventually have sev- 
enty-five thousand pieces of silk in it. 
Or he may want to show you the birth- 
place of the man who played the slide 
trombone with Sousa’s Band for seven 
years.” 
In humor and philosophy the make- 
up man has kept pace with the author. 
Here are three of his titles descriptive 
of three photographs : 
“This is the road that passes George 
Ade’s country place. Hazelden, in In- 
diana. He declares that the motor 
speedmaniacs streak by in clouds of 
dust, unable to see anything, except 
the roadway, the speedometer, and the 
undertaker.” 
“These are the charming gardens at 
Hazelden. W hen Ade found that the 
guide books had advised tourists to 
stop and ramble through his grounds, 
he thought he would be swamped with 
visitors. But not a motor pauses in its 
mad flight.” 
“This is the Hazelden golf course, 
where George Ade pauses in his play to 
watch the speed fiends shoot past. They 
never see him, however, or the golf 
links, or the clubhouse, or anything. 
Their cervical vertebrae have become 
locked and they cannot turn their 
heads.” 
We wish the famous author had 
called at ArcAdiA before he wrote his 
article. We could have given him sev- 
eral pointers, notably one of a woman 
who had been passing by on Arcadia 
Road for several vears, but had not 
seen our institution. A skillful writer 
like Ade could have written something 
worth while if he had known about the 
two business men who rushed into the 
office and shouted, “We have heard 
about ArcAdiA and have fifteen min- 
utes in which to see it before we catch 
the train. Hurry, and let us do it as 
quickly as possible.” 
In a leisurely way the manager 
looked at his watch. “So,” he said, 
“_you have fifteen minutes in which to 
do two things. You cannot do both in 
that time and I judge that to you catch- 
ing the train is the most important. 
Do it.” 
The many witch-hazels of large 
growth are now in luxuriant full bloom 
at ArcAdiA and are attracting much 
attention. Probably in no other place 
either wild or cultivated in this part of 
the state can witch-hazel be seen in 
bloom to so good advantage. Several 
vears ago Dr. Bigelow set out a large 
number of these shrubs in memory of 
his boyhood days in Colchester, Con- 
necticut, when he roamed the woods 
as hunter and trapper and nature stu- 
dent. Some of these shrubs have now 
grown to a height of twelve feet and 
in their broad expanse are much more 
effective than they are usually in the 
wild woods. They often continue in 
bloom until after the middle of Decem- 
ber and may well be called the last 
flower of the year. 
The Connecticut Construction Com- 
pany has just completed the liberal 
amount of rustic work that they began 
a vear ago in Little Japan. I his final 
touch has been given to the new Annex 
completed this spring. Rustic work has 
also* been supplied in liberal amount 
for the Alcove in Nymphalia and for 
some other parts of ArcAdiA. 
The November Wood. 
The wood is revealing its secrets 
Since screening leaves have flown, 
And giving to us with abandon 
What it held for its very own. 
For even exuberant summer 
Vouchsafed us but a part, 
But now, almost with reverence, 
We gaze into its heart. 
— Emma Peirce. 
The largest single crystal of apatite 
ever found in Maine is valued at five 
hundred dollars. 
