Sept. 8, 1916. 
place. A restful, pretty place in which to sit and coax 
back a fitful appetite. But it comes! Girls are weighed 
upon entering, if they wish to be, and also when leaving. 
There are records of having gained six pounds in two 
weeks. 
A music room is also one of the attractions. And 
the bedrooms, usually with two beds to a room (twelve 
beds being the capacity of the house), are cool and invit- - 
ing with their white enamel beds and dainty hangings and 
rugs. Five fireplaces are noticed throughout the house. 
The cleanliness of the place is perfect. Each girl 
attends to her own bed, wipes up floors and dusts, and also 
helps wipe dishes. This is just enough daily exercise to 
insure a homelike feeling and interest in the place, where 
all the rest of the time is spent in luxurious leisure. Out 
under the trees are hammocks, seats and out-door games. 
Nearby the house is the flower garden, surrounded by a 
thick hedge. A great bed of heliotrope cut into four 
sections centers the garden. Beds of pink, red and white 
phlox and of the verbena are brilliant in their coloring 
around these sections of heliotrope. The garden is indeed 
NORTH SHORE BREEZE and Reminder 9 
a gay little place, and many varieties of flowers may be 
plucked if one wanders around its grassy paths. The big 
green houses with their choice fruits, including grapes 
and peaches, with their flowers, and the big vegetable 
gardens close by are other interesting parts of this place. 
Formerly the Larchmere kennels, kept by Robert 
Jordan, were an important adjunct to the farm. They 
are now practically discontinued. Last year the place was 
occupied by Mr. and Mrs. William B. Sheppard of Phila- 
delphia, the latter a sister of Mrs. Jordan. The matron 
in charge is Mrs. Annie Smith. 
Near “Rest House” is the “House of the Iron Rail- 
ine” at Wenham Neck, the vacation house for girls, main- 
tained by Miss Helen Clay Frick of Pride’s Crossing. 
This has been running for several years as a private 
philanthropic movement by Miss Frick. 
The North Shore, with its wealth of beautiful homes, 
may feel much pride in these two vacation houses, ex- 
pressing as they do the sympathy and love for those less 
fortunate than themselves, of its two most prominent 
residents. 
Insects, Bird and Men 
HE protection of insectivorous birds secured by the 
new federal migratory bird law, which has just gone 
into effect, rests on world-wide experience. It takes three 
facts of immense importance for man into account—the 
incredible fecundity of insects, the ravages of which 
they are capable when unchecked, and the absolute need 
of birds as their natural exterminators. Kirkland has 
computed that one pair of gipsy moths would produce 
enough progeny in eight years to destroy all the foliage 
in the United States. Riley, another entomologist, esti- 
mates that the hop aphis, developing thirteen generations 
in a single year, would multiply in twelve of them to 
the number of ten sextillions of individuals; and Forbush 
states that if this brood were marshalled in line, ten to 
an inch, it would extend to a point so sunk in the pro- 
fundities of space that light from the head of the pro- 
cession, travelling at the rate of 184,000 miles a second, 
weuld require 2500 years to reach the earth. 
Frederick the Great, after he had seen a flock of 
sparrows pecking at some of his cherries, ordered the 
killing of every svall bird that could be discovered; two 
vears later he found his cherry trees without fruit, but 
bearing a splendid crop of caterpillars. In 1912, report- 
ine on the enormous increase of insect pests in the Nile 
valley, Lord Kitchener urged measures against “the in- 
discrininate destruction of bird life,” and the Khedive 
was enlightened enough to issue a decree forbidding the 
further slaughter of Egypt’s birds. The settlers in New 
Zeeland killed off the native birds only to have their 
fields devoured by the crane fly and the click beetle; to 
estore the grass it became necessary to import the Eng- 
lich starling. The crops of Australia would today be 
ruined by grasshoppers were it not for the good offices of 
the ibises and other indigenous birds. When the martin 
was exiled from Bourbon by a price set upon its head, 
the grasshoppers filled the island in such numbers that 
the edict of banishment had to be revoked. Not very 
long ago the agriculturalists of Hungary decreed the de- 
struction of the sparrow, but in five years they were so 
overrun by insects that they were glad to have the bird 
brought back. 
The moral of all this is well put in a scene described 
by James Buckland. A gardener notices that damage 
has been done to his peas and next morning is up betimes. 
He sees a bird running among them and pecking at some- 
thing on the ground. There is a loud explosion, followed 
by a puff of smoke. The smoke drifts slowly away, dis- 
closing a bird lying dead. Some months later the gar- 
dener issues forth to gather in his mammoth cabbage for 
exhibition at the local fruit and flower show. Alas for 
human hopes! The cabbage is riddled like a colander. 
“The gardener when he shot the bird forgot, if he ever 
knew, that the ancient law forbid a muzzle to the ox 
that thrashed out the corn.’’—Boston Herald. 
N Burcess Porn’, Beverly Cove, is located the pretty 
home of Col. and Mrs. William D. Sohier. This is 
one of the enviably situated homes close to the water 
front. A high wall comes up from the shore, and when 
standing on its top, which is even with the grounds of 
the Sohier home, a dizzy feeling may be the result, if not 
exactly sure of foot. The house is surrounded with fine 
lawns heavily shaded. The garden is situated in a tri- 
angular piece of ground on Neptune street at the en- 
trance to the avenue which Jeads to the attractive summer 
home.of Mrs. N. W. Rice and Miss Annie Rice as well 
as to the Sohier home. 
Mr. and Mrs. W. B. P. Weeks of Neptune street, 
severly Cove, have a summer hove in which the fine 
trees are one of the most distinctive features. Rich green- 
ery surrounds the attractive brown-shingled house set in 
the midst of the trees. The whole place presents a cool 
and summery look. A typical little garden is enclosed by 
a privet hedge and shows so've fine specimens of roses 
and other equally attractive flowers. Just now great 
bunches of hydrangeas are noted on the piazza, one shrub 
having over sixty blooms. These flowers are seen all 
along the Shore during the late season, and with the 
chrysanthemums, make up the rich color effects of the 
autunin.. 
The Puritan tea room at Montserrat is the one year- 
round place in its imrediate vicinity of all the tea rooms 
that dot the North Shore during the summer season. This 
rosy little place, furnished in the soft gray Puritan colors, 
has an ample fire-place, which radiates warmth and cheer 
to those who stop for a cup of tea or substantial luncheon, 
or supper in the late fall and winter season. 
