Document text
ORIGINAL MSS. OR FIELD NOTES (Check one)
PUB. Livin5, Lore in
Naw En5land
TITLE Hill Town Mail Clerk, Philosopher
MwMarfborough
WRITER Wade Van Dore
DATE 2/15/39 WDS. P.P. 19
CHECKER DATE
SOURCES GIVEN Interview
COMMENTS
Charles Monroe Hill Town
Mail Clerk, Philosopher
STATE Massachusetts
NAME OF WORKER Wade Van Dore
ADDRESS New Marlborough
DATE OF INTERVIEW February 152 1939
SUBJECT Living Lore
KAU, OF INFOIREANT Charles Monroe
Mr. Monroe, a mirried man of about fifty years, looks
very much like a perennially amused college professor. There
is always a twinkle in his blue, intelligent eyes as if he
knew a very fine joke about the world which no one else is
likely to suspect. He wears a dark Van Dyke beard; he is
tall and slender; his clothes, though always clean, are
apt to be worn rather carelessly, but this extraneous
characteristic fits very well with the calm inner light
that shines from his personality.
Still living near the spot where he was born, in a small
hill village with a population of about 500 people, he is now
looked upon as one of the town's leading citizens, though he
is not a person of ealth or education. His fine character
and his practical sense have made him respected by everyone
who knows him rich men, poor menland at least one thief
who was caught robbing his house while he was away performing
his duties as a government clerk on a mail train. Mr. Monroe
belong;s to that group of Yankees who cherish the traditions
of the past yet accept with good grace and tolerance the
innovations of the present. Most of his wisdom has been gained
by watching sympatheticlly the actions of his fellow men and
the phenomena of nature, tnough he also reads good books and
listens to good radio programs. He is not a church member,
nor a member of any ritualistic organization, and it is doubtful
if he could be a "booster" for any cause.
ie:t.ade Van Dore
Title: Eiving Lore
The ,.onroes live in a
railroad tracks over which
working week of 6 hours.
tive part of the village.
Assignment: Charles L.onroe
Topic: i_ail-Clerk T-niiosopher
house that is situated not far from the
r. iLonroe rides every uay during his
the house is situated in a quiet, attrac-
6ther houses are near out not too near.
Earge maple trees uorder both siues of the unpaved street, which is
backeu oy neat fieius and orcharus. ,„r i,onroe's house does not have
any architectural distinction, but it is a well-uuilt, two-story
wooUen structure of medium size, painted white. A small apple
orcharu stanus at one siue ot it, and ueneath the trees are aoout
half a uozen hives of aces. An ampie space for a garden stretches
behind the house.
The interior of this house is, if possiole, even whiter and
heater that the exterior. All the inside walls are faultlessly,
even elegantly )lastered, and perhaps, there are no pictures hung
anywhere uecause tne occupants prefer not to
ster surface. ror it woulu almost be like
china cup, to drive picture tacks into these
mar the smooth, clean
driving nails into a
walls. The living room
has a uolisheu hara woo u floor with several small, unworn, homemade
rag rugs placed upon it. rour or live chairs, a table, a writing
desk, a rauio and a settee coizprise the furniture. Everything is
so neat thdt the average visitor sitting in it is probably a little
uncomfortable. Even the smoke anu ashes of a cigarette would seem
out of place here.
hame: .tade Van 1Jore
litle: living Lore
1-a 6e 2
Assignment: Charles u_onroe
Topic: iy.ail-c„1rk Philosopher
Evidently this display or fastidiousness is of rs. i:onroe's
doing, ror ir. onroe does not quite fit into the picture. his
oeard, even though it is of the neat Van '.iyke variety, is too dis-
orderly; his clothes are too uhpressed.
4e sat in this house an talked of politics, art, and_ sociology.
ao 1 think of our Fresident7" he repeateu my rather uiunt
query. "'vteil, that of course is a uig question, and I douot if I
could answer it e11 to my own satisfaction. I saw him when he passed
through this part of the country several years ago, while making
_
brier public appearances from the pl„tform of nis special train.
.1-.e looked very iine up there very irienuly, intelligent, anu
self-controlled, anu right away I deciaed to vote for him. 6o if
jou or anyone else knows what a vote is really worth you might
have a good answer 4,o your question," and he stoppea speaking while
an enigmatic smile came over his face.
"Yes, so I would," I returned, "out tell me, is this a
.Jemocratic town'i"
just the opposite. The iepuolicans make a good majority
and they are, stil riding Cal's colt as if their trousers were sewed
tioht to the sac:idles. And I wouldn't try to pull them off, but
I do nave a little fun sometimes oy telling them that I've gone
iJemocratic."
"And what dia you or what do you now think of Coolidge?"
acie Van .00re
litle: iivLn i,ore
Page 3
A-ai6nrhent: Ltharles 1..onroe
Topic: rhilosopher
"I think most intelligent people will now admit that he was
a...pout the luckiest president on record. It just happened that the
economic dialance of the country was good when he came into office,
ana he was just smart enough to leave it alone. 3ut he wasn't
smart 21-iough to see that the whole situation was graclually building
up to an awful let-aown. You simply can't let a nation Q,t tnis size
go rurthino wild like a train on the louse and not expect it to come
to a dent in the track somewhere. ihe tine is coming when the puulic
will realize that some sort of large scale idianping is necessary to
our national well-oeing.
"Coolidge Was riding a run -away train and he Niva.s lucky enough
to jump off oefore the crash came. noover, not knowing any more
than Cooliage afa auout wnere we were going, experienced an awful
shock wnen the crash came. And do you rememuer how Coolidge spoke
when the i)ok %Lower was openea to the puulic down in Floriaa? he
said. something to the effect that now, since ue Americans have
accumulated plenty of wealth, there's no reason who it shouldn't
oe all riht for us to ease off and spend a few pennies for utili-
tarian things which might ue good for out souls. 'Jae made it sound
as it we had no right to nave anything to ao with art until we first
killed 01.11: stomachs. It seems to we that that was a terriule insult
to artists, wno, as I've discovered, often do not uother to eat even
when they can afford to eat.
Page 4
Van 1411re
Assig,i,ment: Charles 'ionroe
Title: Living Lore Topic: i..ail-Clerk Philosopher
"CI course I'm only a mail clrk, not an artist. 3ut if I
were an artist with words, I'd take a pencil stub andarat a picture
of Coolidge that would reveal him as one of the prosiest masters
of prose on record. ry as a small stick and dusty as an old
puff-uall. ot by any twisting or turning was he a good composite
example of an .iLmerican, nor even a good New Englander! And that s
what I tLink of Coolidge."
home people wouldn't agree with you there. 3ut tell me, if you
were to be elected president, would you have good plans all ready to
introduct to your expectant public?" I asked.
"I'd certainly have a few ready. We've heard a good deal
about 'back to the land' movements, haven't we? Well, for one thing,
I'd try to start some sort of a 'go to the village' movement. To
my knowledge such a scheme has not been presented oefore. I know
it has been the fashion for novelists to picture American village
life as a very 'dead, form of existence. They have revealed its
worst aspects very thorou' hly. Por a long time now it has been
almost a national pastime to ridicule villages and 1 should like
to try to put a stop to such thinking. Would you rally like to
hear what I think bout villages?"
*Yes, I would like to.*
i. ik..onroe slid down into his chair and gazed up at the spotless
ceiling of the room for a MOitiE nt. he fingers of one hand camtully
Name: aaue Van Akirs
Title: Living Lore
Page 5
Assignment: Charles monroe
Topic: mail -Clerk Philosopher
stroked his pointed beard, Out his other fingers drummed rapidly
and lightly on the arm of his chair as it they were calling his
thoughts to order.
"I think most of us would admit that city living as it iS
practised today is unsatisfactor..y. lhe average New Yorker, for
exam •le, is not quite sane. When I got to New York and see the
way people act I'm either inclined to laugh or feel ashamed of
humanity. Everyone is in everyone else's way. Every hope -and
aspiration of life seem to Oe caught in some sort of a traffic
jam. ut to keep to the dollars and cents side of the matter, no
city is suif-sufficient, ana that fact alone, looking from a scientific
viewpoint, makes city living impracticaole.
"me newspaper writers have oeen telling 116 right along that
it wouldn't oe fun to oe caught in a oig city in time of war or during
an earthquake. J:hese are the more outward oad features of the
matter te fedtures that have Oeen more or less publicized, and
I'll not say much more uout them. Ly own case against city living
goes much deeper.
'trine admitted fact is that we are social animals, and that's
how cities 8ot their start. ut look at social life in cities todayl
It is 60 anti -social that it would take a brave man to advocate that
a 'good neighbor' policy should be tractised there. we have heard
many times that the loneliest people in the world are city people
iame:'..ade Van aJore
Title: Living iaore
Assignment: oharles ii,onroe
Topic: icail-L,lerk Ilailosopher
who have no friends. 1-ind city people do not oefrienu one another
any more they compete with one another. human life seems so
cheap anu common there that an ordinary person gets no more respect
than a rotten fence post.
"out in a small village such as this, everyone gets at least
a little syuiathetic attention. i know there is plenty of gossip
and nypocrisy here, Out even the lowest man in town is given the
rating of a human peing. We are not _satiated with people, and
10 we are much kinder and more considerate of one another.
you see my point A I mean that if our social worl*d is to continue
standing on its foundation of humanity, as the term is still
defined in the dictionary, we have got to give more attention
and consideration to individuals. e have got to ue good neihoors,
not only politically, out socially. Let me tell you auout a few
taings that have happened here, anu you may see what I'm uriving
at. ii -et I'll tell you atiout something that happened to us right
here in this nouse.
Hoeing away from nome every other week as I am, makes it
rather naru
for my wife anu uaugnters.
'mat is the main urawoack
to this jou of mine although it's certainly nice to ue aole to
stay at home for a full week at a time too, and rest up or do
work aoout the place. Well, several years ago we aiscovered that
a peeping lom was prowling aoout. Once my wife caught sight of him
aaae Van -'ore
Title: 1,iving 1,ore
-iage 7
Assignment: Charles ,.olaroe
Topic: kail-Llerk 1-hilosopher
peering through the window on a night when I was away. She was
starqed, Out since nothing came of the incident, sne soon stopped
worrying auout it.
"Several weeks later a passing neighbor caught sight of a man
standing unuer that window there, and we soon realized that the
fellow was making
that I was away.
frlends to watch
and several times
a regular practise of night peeking every week
ae didn't know what to do about it. I asked
the house for me to try and find out who it was,
the man was chased. We didn't want to shoot at
nim. LAit my wife and daughters were getting more and more frightened.
"This went on for almost two years, and my wife was near to a
nervous ureakdown.
oy leaving d marked
window. The scheme
nanded it in at the
Then I thought of trying to trap the peeper
twenty -dollar bill on the desk by the open
worked. he t-ok the bill and a few weeks later
store, where I'd toia the storekeeper to oe on
the watch for it. he turned out to oe a young man who doesn't
live far from here a rather weak but by no means disrespected
fellow. After talking the matter over with the judge I decided to
send him to jail or a year.
"he came back from nis sentence during a week when I was home.
i met him walking on the street he was across the road and when
he saw me he was all smiles and waved his arm and called out, 'Hello,
Charley!' as if I were one of his best friends. Cif course I returned
laade Van bore
Title: Livin Lore
Page 8
Assignment: Charles 1..onroe
'Topic: Lail -Clerk Philosopher
his greeting for I had no intention of holding a grudge against him.
°And that was the end of our trouble. There were no bad feelings
anywhere so far as I could see. eur peeping- Tow did not fall down
in his social standing. lie and his friends looked at the whole
affair as if it were an interesting adventure, and no douot some of
the younger men looked at their returned crony as if he were a sort
of a hero returned from Successful parleys with famous jail -birds.
"You see, there's actually more tolerance among village people
or country people simply because everyone is move or less aquainted
with everyone else's personal affairs. :bife in a village is like a
game of cards in which everyone holds a hand. 3ut instead of the
playera playing against one another,. the opposing forces to beat
are more impJrsonal ones like poverty, sickness, or even oad
weather. 4-xli events Lend to draw the individuals together. or an
instance, let us suppose that two neighoors have had a little quarrel.
1,ar a while they are not on speaking terms. 3ut onaday a child in
one family takes sick and dies, and the importance of that event
sweeps all pettiness away, and the two neighbors become friends
again. ;xren a severe snowstorm, which people just have to talk
ab ut, is sufficient in a village to give the conversational ball
.good push, and after all the world is operated oy the countless
levers of small talk.°
1.ame: IacLe Van .ore
Title: Livir*, Lore
Page
Assignment: L;narles ,„onroe
1.ail-L,Lrk Philosopher
6uddenly iconroe became more animated and he sat up straight
in his chair.
"-i;hat 1 am trying to say is this," he went on. 46ince man is
a social animal, anu since we have embraced, or at lewt accepted
christianity, our social integrity must prove itself uy fulfilling
not a 'Good .Leighoor 1.olicyl with a neighoor two thousand miles
away, but one next door really next door. Just oeing friendly
to do with the good neighoor program 1 would auvocate.
'Les," he continueu, "our country is suffering from a severe
'size complex.' LAIr worship of uig things is causing no end of
trouole. 1.,Ag ousiness' ana oig everything else first gives us
illusions of grandeur, then we suffer from all sorts of related
economic ailments. oity people are so oomoarded oy events and
oujects of magnituae that it is nearly impossible for them to
hang on to our stanuaras of measurement. sometimes it seams wonuerful
to me tnat an inch can remain an inch, that a pound is aole to hold
itself to a pound. L3y constantly watching one another, rather than
tne comparatively impersonal events which city people watch, village
folk are aole to hoiu to a pretty staole source of perspective.
rfhat's my opinion. L.f course oecause of cars ana radios, a great
part of our social life is gone, una we uon't look at one another
nearly as much as we uia twenty-five, or even ten years ago. I'm
a ruaio fan myself have ueen one ever since i °ought my first set
hame: .4aae Van ,Jore
litle: Living Lore
Page 10
Assignment: Lharles .iaonroe
Topic: liatil-01erk i-hilosopner
oack &pout nineteen twenty. Lust have ownea nearly a uozen sets
altogether anu i aon't know how many hours I've spent listening
to them and tinkering with them."
"What sort of tnings ao you like to listen to?" I asked.
-onroe's face uroke into a very oroaa and lasting grin.
9 Lon't think that m trying to jioe you out I like to
listen to announcers while they are trying to sell something."
"just what uo you mean oy that?"
"I mean that for real arama I've never founu anything that
entertains me more. .:,11 the finest snaues of human emotion are
expresseu in their voices. At first most of the selling talks were
cruuely presented, out now, selling oy raaio is almost an art. I'll
admit that its prouauly very hard to ao a 600u job of radio -selling.
A speaker must feel somewhat like a man on a tight -rope who is
trying to perform halt a uozen tricks at the same time. he must
think ot
distance
allotted
his sponsor, reau his script carefully, keep at the proper
from the micro -hone, and finish with a second or two of the
time period. J.:,,ut that is the easiest part of his jou. lo
really succeed, he must keep unaer control every vioration of his
voice, he must not eounu nervous nor over -anxious to ao well; he
ifill6t Itake aosuruities sound reasonable; he must sounu sincere even
though he knows that the iroauct he is advertising is a harmful
ur-dg or n actual poison like i-eoecco tooth -paste, for example.
Page 11
ame:,,aue Van ..)ore Assignment: wiarles 1-onroe
iitle: Living Lore rhilosopher
nave you reaa tluulU00,000 (:iuinea lige,' the book that exposes
many manufacturers of harmful drugs anu foousT"
"fes, I've read it."
"ell then, you must remember about the man who coiiimitted.
suicide by eating a tube of 1-ebecco tooth paste. that book gives
good proof of %hat I \NUE 3ust speaking; about t -e mispiaceu faith
that most Liericans have in big things, successful things. I put
1:y faith in smaller things, and i uon't expect to run to a national
hook-up or to the baturdaY Lvenin ToRt.for any kinu of consolation."
"But what uo you like in the way clf rauio prorams'i" I asked.
"L.,00d news commentators and musical 'irograms, mainly. Kaltenborn
is my favorite commentator at present, anu as for music, I think
I've got a fairly goou musical education from listening to good
concerts. i still -listen to alter .Jamrosch's music appreciation
Hour, and I can identify most of the music he plays. '.hen there's
zialred „allenstein and his good concerts on station
perhaps the 1-hlinarmonic oncerts on '.:,,dnday afternoons please me as
much as anything."
ti
s music your fdvorite form of art'i"
"rrossioly yes, i suppose it is. .-,nd aside from the pure en-
,Joyment I get listening to it, I'm very much interested in its
social suggestions that, in spite of this era of nationalism and
censorship are still allowed to go flee. it seems to me that music is
hame: ade Van .Jore
Title: Living Lore
PeL6e 13
Assignment: L.harles l_onroe
1-hilosopher
Li brother-in-law h a oluS good coo. It was an ugly business. ne
witness ITii eu and another vomited, and it was a big relief to
was, get out of there. i felt like the executioner myself, as I
partly, for the fact that we do not press the button or cut the
rope doesn't let any of us off.
a:Jut it I can't cohvince you that I was a killer in that instance,
you'll have to grant that l'm a killer of pigs and cattle, or I've
often helpeu farmers butcher their live stock. I've done this to
satisfy my own conscience, for I'm a meat eater, and oein ameat-
eater, why shoulan't I assist with the uirty work? You =nein
"I'm only smiling my approval, 1::r. i.bnroe. Thei, I take it,
you must be'weii accLuaintea with the country people about here?"
"ch yes I know all the tarmers. It happens that -IHaas
planning to visit an olu fellow living about five miles from here
this very afternoon. .bo you think you .would care to go along with
me? it's only two-tnirty now, and I coula stop at our home tor
old folks, and leave a few things there,
like very- much to go along," I re'lied.
"Then we'd better start right away.*
c) ii. ohroe led me out of the back door of his house as
the shortest way to ghe garage. however, before we reached his
car I stopped in my tracks in astonishment when I noticed that
the short sidewalk on which we were walking consisted of 'old
gravestones.
.Lsame: maae Van Ldore
fitlet Living Lore
Page 7.,.=
Assignment: enarles .4nroe
lopic: rk rhilosopher
'LLike my sidewallau asked lAx. Lonroe
Everyooay
is interested in it when they first see it. I got the stones from
an oid graveyard that huu to oe movea to make way for a new road.
:ifter the oodles were taken up ana given new ourialt it was ale
covered that there were too many stones for the numoer of graves.
asked the road superintenuent if i might have them, ana he
was glad to let me take them away. lou see even a grave -stone can
serve 4 practical purpose. Ui course the drawoack here is that
visitors always have to Ltop to read the inscriptions. Perhaps I
should have planted then, face down.°
As my host had mentioned, it was indeed a fine, mellow autumn
day. inc _Leaves of the 'urees had fallen, out there was still
plenty of live color in the landscape. We started on a road that
ran straiht toward 4 distant mountain, out in a few minutes we
turned off on a aescending oack road that took us to a secluded
valley where
few farms reposed, in their autumn ripeness. un one
ol tnese farms some of the town's homeless people were kept. It
was not an unattractive place. A fine valley ana mountain view
could oe seen from the large, vell-shapea old house that, according
to r. -onroe, at the present time nousea four old men.
We found one quavering old fellow sitting on a oench in the
sunshine ;:;laying or trying. to ply a harmoniea. I would not say
tnat he looked unnap,y, out his face certainly lignteu when he saw
1.ame: ....ade Van ,,ore
Title: living IJore
age 16
Assignment: L:harles 1,,onroe
lopic .11-(.;ierk i-nilosooher
"Lhariey," as he calieu my companion. Lonroe handed him a
package or tooacco, then sat uown to chat for a tew minutes.
"ell, Frea, how have you ueen making out iateiy-i"
'Ai, my rheomAtics oe miaalint oad. arley! I Ldhlt gittin'
much rest oy nu signt, that I ain't. An' this 'ere mouth organ is
nign worn out too: it's so liveiy pad Lorne w nts t' he my play
it any more."
Ies, as I came up I noticed that it aidn't souna dust riht.
let me see it! Is this the kind you like to play?"
"Ihat snore oe the kind, Lharley, for a certain! iiut this 'n's
nignt to seven year ola an' it ain't even wuth 4 oent nicklei Jest
let me show you.°
And the feeole old man took oack the instrument and oegan to
play "Old f)lack joe' on it. I thought that he tried to make it sound
as pad as possioie in order to convince us that what he said. was
true.
'ow ain't it a hellion, Doan't it sound like a JOU--
cat tith thirteen oeiiyaches7"
"it does souna pretty oad, Fred. I tell you what I'll try to
oring you a new one the next time I come.*
"You will do so, arley7 I will oe greatly beholden to you if
you will ao so: A new shiny one just like this 'n', you know!
lhat will oe right danay!"
e 16
rag
iamet haue Van _wore
Title: ivin r,ore
Assignment: Lnarles i.onroe
Topic l i„ail-olerk Philosopher
°Are you folks here getting oient: to eat these days'i"
"h we oe havin' plenty or potatoes and vitties1 de ain't
complainin', icept about the 'Oaccy. r. hhitely aih't a amoker
hisself you know, an' he's wonuerfully uncanny to understanu how US
pipe toters love our smokin's Like we do. Out mostly we contrive
to nide a few shots somev.neres to puff on the sly when our main
supply runs out till 14....hitely fetches home s.qiie new from
down street. r. nitely is a-plc:kin' apples over in the orchard
behind tie hay -barn ,jest now if you allow t' see him.*
Ill won't stop today to see him, urea.. rout 1'11 just step in
the house and leave this package on the table, and you can say I
orouc;ht it if you like."
left the old man still sitting on his oench in the thin
autumn sunlight, out he as holding and fondling the package of
tojacco insteau of his old harmonica when he passed iron our sigh.
'.here you have seen a very successful home for old beople,*
said r.i,onroe as we drove into hillier
another point in r,vor or small things.
what goes on tnere, aria I'm certain that
country, flan(' it stands as
I have kept goou track of
some uf the inmates are
happier then they nave been before. r. hitely never keeps more
than six at a time, and everything .really homelike. It's much'
better than a large state institution, even if the medical care
may be better. ut there is still one thing more important than
.L -age 17
4aue Van .00re
Livini&. Lore
Assignment: oharles nroe
Iopic: i-hilosooher
science in this world., ana that is true sympathy anu frienaship
omething rather rare in all uig institutions, if I'm not mistaken."
.ihe country was rapidly oecoming more ueserted anu wild -looking
as we went slowly over a roau that ooviously receiveu Jut little
attention from -Le town's road -workers. i)etails or a uark, shadowed
mountain oecame more vibiole as 1,..e approached it, yet we had not
traveleu more than six miles from our starting point.
"you'll like a:,,athan ,,euos. he's in the 'apple ousiness' as he
calls it, though I douot he has ever bold five dollars' worth of
he cc,me to me early last spring and asked if he might Juy
a swarm of my Jees so that he could put them in his orchard to
fatilize the Ji08:1,0111S. he hau no money, so i told him he could
take the pees and pay for them later just to make it sound as if
i took his apj4e farming seriously. .1here is his house just aheau.
.athan lives all alone and his nearest neighbor is more than a mile
to the north. he has no way or getting around except oy walking,
and i think we'll find that he hasn't even any uaskets or bags to
put his apples in."
drove into the yara of an old, rickety, unpainted house, and
the only bright anu cheerful thing that could oe seen was a large
pile of oright red apples heaped on the grass in the uooryaru. 'Then
we saw nathan .e.00s himself a slight, weather -worn man of aoout
sixty years, coming up from'a small orchard behind the house to see
auiie:,taue Van 4.Jore
bore
Page 16
Assignment: t.harles D.onroe
lopic: l'hilosopher
who his visitors were. his race lighted when he saw 16:r. .i„onroe,
and his first worus were:
"I was jest hopin' you woula come up anu see my fine crop f
Iihose peas maue love to my apple olossoms last spring and
no thistake aoout idn't I say they wouluA bee that pile of
apples, .rley7 Ain't they as purty as any you ever see?"
"es, they certainly are -line looking apples."
"nere, jest sink your teeth into this Ohe and see ter yourself
if it ain't as juicy as a rreshened jersey cog. I'm very sorry I
have no money to pay you or those uees, out wouldn't you like to
take home some aples? 1,et me jest put a oushei or two in your car."
6o to let the proud orcharuist feel that he was glau to oe
cothpensateu with auples for hie swarm of oees, hr. Lonroe allowed
several pails full to oe o.uthped into his car in spite of the fact
that he h u more apples on his trees at home than he knew what to
Uo with as he told me later while we were returning to the village.
.e walked do n to inspect the orchard itself and the hive of
oees, and athan lea us here and there with the eagerness ot a
chilu whose toys were nothing out apples and apple trees. he had
a s-uory oout ,la.iobt every tree. he showed us where he had dug
oorers from their trunks; told us where he had got some old screens
to protect their oark from rauoits; showeU us his pruning methous.
hame: 4aae Van .Lore
Title: iving ore
Page
Assignment: cnarles ionroe
lopic: i-ail-Clerk Philosopher
or half an hour we talked of nothing out the prouuction of
apples, anu it seemeu that athan careu auout little else.
nothing es saiu on either side about the possioilities of
marketing them, anu at last Mr. Lonroe saia that he would have
start for home, anu auueu,
.b.than, 1 can see that you are going to show the
woriu how to raise apples. I'll try to come pack within a rew
weeks anu perhaps oy that time have rbunu a few customers
to buy some of your apples."
Hat will oe very ooliging of you, charley."
Anu we were uriving oack the way we came. ..he sun was now
low anu the air seemeU suduehly ckEte cool. ..._ountains in the
uistance were wrapped in beautiful folds of haze.
"..here's a man who is an exact opposite or your average
uneuucated city man," spoke r. onroe after a thoughtful -silence.
"he is as poor as a church mouse, yet see how his interest in apples
makes him sort of withdrawn king or simple men. ne really doesn't
want to sell his rruit. -he appl,-,..s are too oeautiful. Ana there's
a theme for you, since you're a writer. 'he Lan noLoveu Apples
_better ,.han Link of all the social paraoles that could oe
woven into such an essay. c myl sometimes I've half a notion to
give up my mail ,joo and oe a writer myself!"