Forest and Stream 
Six Months, $1 50. 
$3 a Year, 10 Cts. a Copy. 
NEW YORK, SATURDAY, AUGUST 2, 1913. 
VOL. LXXXI.—No. 5. 
127 Franklin St., New York. 
A Driving Trip to Lake George and Vicinity 
By WILLIAM SIMPSON 
E VER since the domestication of the horse, 
it has become next in importance to man 
himself the most important factor in the 
pleasures of the world, and of vital importance 
in the details of every day life. One of Shakes¬ 
peare’s famous characters offered his kingdom 
for one, and as far as I know, nothing was said 
about the animal’s pedigree. 
It has been my good fortune to have owned 
and driven several good light harness ones on 
the speedway and in the parks in New York, 
which after a few years grew monotonous, so 
I suggested to Laura Louise, my life partner, to 
turn aside from the beaten tourist track; that 
we make a trip to Lake George and vicinity, and 
to drive all the way, of course. It was a slow 
but by no means a tedious journey. Our means 
of transit gave us many delightful opportunities 
of seeing interesting incidents. No resident of 
New York need look beyond his own State for 
beauty and variety of natural scenery. As we 
traveled along we were almost continually in 
view of the Hudson River, and it was our good 
fortune to have our vagrant disposition gratified 
and to have a chance to observe many of the 
shifting scenes of rural life. Traveling in this 
way afforded a continual change of scene, with 
a succession of novelties. 
A temporarily homeless couple, after a long 
day’s drive, we had something like a feeling of 
independence, and territorial consequence. After 
seeing to the wants and comfort of the horse, 
and removing the dust of travel, to eat an en¬ 
joyable dinner at the inn, drop into the arm 
chair in the evening for a few hours of com¬ 
fort, in the midst of the uncertainties of a 
vagrant pilgrimage and be able to say with fat 
John Falstaff, “Shall I not take mine ease in 
mine inn?” and listen to legendary lore with 
their charm of storied associations, and hear 
anecdotes of the place. Our being of easy faith 
in such matters and quite willing to believe when 
such entertainment was pleasant and cost noth¬ 
ing, we indulged in resolute credulity. 
The most of us measure our success by our 
accumulations or power; the gauge is a spurious 
one. The true measure is nature’s standard— 
comfort, appreciation, enjoyment and pleasure. 
For the first part of our journey the road 
lay along a smart elevation, with the Hudson 
stretched out below us, with a beautiful con¬ 
stantly changing view. In the foreground was 
a continual succession of grand and costly sum¬ 
mer homes of the rich and great; some truly so 
and some otherwise, but all conspicuous and 
beautiful. We had made ourselves familiar with 
the map locations of the principal places on the 
route famous in history and story. 
Dungannon, the summer home of the great 
and generous weaver of carpets; Greystone, 
once the cherished home of the distinguished 
Samuel J. Tilden, who bequeathed a large part 
of his great fortune to the establishment and 
endowment of the New York Public Library. 
Sunnyside, once the home of that literary 
genius, Washington Irving, to whom the world 
is indebted for some of the best in history, 
story and romance. 
Lyndhurst, the beautiful home of one of 
the greatest of living American women, whose 
activities and generosity, liberality and philan- 
trophy has been present where pain and suffer¬ 
ing or danger were at hand. Whether in the 
camp of the soldier, the sick or wounded, in 
the hospital or the associations for the upbuild¬ 
ing of Christian character, there she would be 
like a ministering angel— 
Spurning the sord’d lust of wealth, 
She serves her nation for itself. 
There is a pronounced distinction about real 
greatness and dignity that never dreads contact 
and intercourse with others, however humble. 
It is only shallow pride that shrinks from com¬ 
munion with polite individuals of lesser fortune, 
and while art has done much to improve when 
nature has dimmed the nobility of soul, there 
still is the unpretending great and the arrogant 
little. 
As we went on past the residences or sum¬ 
mer homes of those that had been marked with 
the trademark of financial success, with their 
carefully trimmed hedges and shrubbery, stop¬ 
ping occasionally for rest and refreshment, with 
no desire to seek but merely to enjoy as we went 
along, and no road that we have ever traveled, 
had nature been so lavish with her scenery. The 
Hudson River lay like liquid silver, the hills and 
mountains with their various tints, and the val¬ 
leys covered with cultivated fertility, and con¬ 
stantly the broad deep river rolling in solemn 
and majestic silence to the Atlantic. 
In order to arrive at a correct opinion of 
the true character of the man of affairs, we 
must not confine our observations to the metrop¬ 
olis, situated as it is in the very heart of stirring 
and living commerce. I have mingled with this 
class for many years in the market place of 
trade. To meet him there you are apt to form 
an unfavorable impression of his inner nature 
or social character. He is likely to be absorbed 
or distracted with perplexing business engage¬ 
ments that rapidly consume his time, and wher¬ 
ever you meet him he is probably on his way 
to do something of importance. 
While the cities absorb the wealth and fash¬ 
ion of the nation the major part of the year, the 
most enjoyable season on the calendar—-from 
Decoration to Thanksgiving day—they enjoy in 
a full measure the beauties of nature, and culti¬ 
vate a keen relish for the pleasures and enjoy¬ 
ments of country life, the opulent homes on their 
elaborate estates, where are displayed in a highly 
THE AUTHOR, HIS INSPIRATION AND THE OUTFIT. 
