Show V 66 ine AM ma IF d AO on en irim vy P q 0 0 v T X 2 n i i V N V 1 14 M aa wv V N it 0 k ap X R k remy Z 41 7 S 5 4 IL X lr r 2 vt 14 Q P 1 l r the inn by ELMO SCOTT WATSON d a host at the tha caysi wayside de inn I 1 immortalized tit mortal laed by henry wadsworth longfellow in a group of poems familiar to roost most americans and he li Is none other than henry ford millionaire maker of automobiles the wayside inn ina has stood near south sudbury mass for more lhnn two wo hundred hun Ired years curiously enough the lie wayside inn was not its original name at nil that title originated in 1820 when valien the poet bound from fro in his home in cambridge to albany N Y stopped by the wayside luring during a change of coach horses nt at the red horse tavern anti and it so pleaser its his fancy that lie inter commemorated mem orated it in his tale of a wayside inn ali red horse tavern was built in 1680 by david dald howe three other howes were successive sli 1 e keepers deepers of the tavern their combined service i as 1 mine host to talling 17 1 years lyman iowa howe was the host nt at the time of Long fellows visit and it was into lato his mouth month that longfellow put the words of the poem which begins Ll listen sten my children and JOL hear of the midnight ride of paul Ile 11 c ore verc 1 in 1800 the last of the howes hows died and the tavern furnishings yere were sold qt it auction ownership of lip flip place pince passed through various hands lin nils but it continued as an inn down to tho th present century flow it clime into the possession of henry ford was told recently hv sirs mrs rord ford herself speaking before lefor the womans comans national farm and garach association of which she la Is president at south sudbury sirs mrs ford gave the inside story as follows many funny stories have gone around about our intentions so I 1 am going to tell you so ao that at least this group will hoar bear the bretal retal truth well I 1 think we anve owned it about five yei years ars perhaps six nix mr and mr lemon owned it and ran it a on ian inn until mr lemon died mrs hire lemon carried it on about five years r eibi en she thought the would sell bell it and take fake a little ease new englanders had a great interest in coming to the place rand and they disliked the idea of ltd its being sold eold fearful it might ret get into the hands of some come one who would cheat them out of the privilege e of 0 visiting it when an association formed by many boston people with the intention of raising ra alne money to buy it was and a man offered to rive give mrs lemon her price mr ford was wan approached pro ached lie he was waa tolt about the man who intended to add on 60 bedrooms and turn it into a common ordinary roadhouse and take in everybody and ail kinds well some borne one I 1 dont know who vrho it was said that was going to happen mr ford said eaid well buy it and save cave it thit that seemed an easy thing to do buy it and save it after we realized we owned it we said cald what will we do with we know one thing about running an inn or br hotel of any kind hind we thought gewont we wont renovate it it well keep it in perfect order and keep it t as aa a museum then we began getting letters from these nice now new england people who came to it co orten writing 0 mr ford ive always been bi able to ride out to carside inn and h have eve luncheon or dinner mr air ford Is I 1 rather so BO he said cald well continue that that meant cooks cooka and managers all sorts boris of people to be here and run it we were away in hile michigan hician and when people are many miles allea away it to I 1 hard to tell whether the people are carrying it on na As we should ilka alk to have them cut cal as an long as 08 people wanted it cru did it we did think we have anybody stay over night and we should keep all the rooms as a chow abow rooms but we sol got the same name story when new england people i heard that 0 0 we want to stay over night and so wo we did that or of course we do have these restrictions we dont take everybody everybody has to be known one or have brave an invitation tiec there are only four bedrooms on an the seco second ee cond ad noor floor and tyro two 0 on n them oilra flar not very desirable because in the tie summer bummer 11 B hot up there W we just had to limit Ao People 1 ie know are reliable people we know flinoi a hip flask er like thal c mal w S 1 ly sav 0 cJ chloi Loi to begin with w ith we found the inn in very bad repair the basement was full of broken down furniture the lower had to be ba changed so GO there would be more room from floor to ceiling and we wa made it nice said and clean the next job was re wiring it IL we were afraid of fire the wires hail had been stuck in every which way we went into the walls walla and fished those little wires through gli and put them through what do you call it a conduit it was an awful big piece to do and not many who have seen the house before would know that we did it we wanted to keep it as old as possible people began to come in crowds we found we take care of thorn thara one thanksgiving came cama to dinner they began telephoning for reservations early in the morr alrig we had to do something ile he had to have another dining room and just as soon as wo started doing that we had to have another kitchen an old fashioned sink link and stove and oven that would do ago for P a fey people wont do for many people we have to have things up to date and of the best but dont see the tha modern kitchen just as soon as we started enlarging the dining abroom room people sald said the old inn must bo be making so much money they dont know what to do with rt it it was closed sundays because we decided the type of people who streamed in were not interested in ili antiques at all they merely wanted a place to upend spend the day we stopped busses coming ou out t at night because we thought it was inconsiderate to have the persons who bad been showing people over the house all day taxed further by tou tourists risti who would come to the inn in the daytime interesting as Is tills this inside story it does not tell all that the motor manufacturer has done to preserve this for future generations of americans for lie has haa spent more than a hundred thousand dollars to build a new link of public highway so that heavy traffic may be diverted from the neighborhood of tho the inn he tins has bought more than 2500 acres of land surrounding the inn and across the way from it he has restored the old stone mill over who wheel the water unter still pours as it did in the old days when the farmers brought their grain there to be ground around a 0 bend of tile hie boston post road which goes past the lie inn stands the school house where mary alary wena followed by her little lamb tills this school house originally of stood W d near sterling mass hut but finding it in a dilapidated condition mr air ford bought it and it to a site near the wayside inn so that IL it too ten may be preserved for posterity not kot the least of the interesting facts ul bout the wayside inn of today and lis its new host lias has been ills unrelenting search for the original furnishings or duplicates in the same period over the tie entrance n of the lun swings the sign which tells the vissing passing traveler that this Is the KM horse inn and which henrs bears tile come came of its builder david the me wayside inn hin near mass howe inowe and the three howes wha succeeded him after the tavern furnishings we resold nt at auction the sign hung in its place for several years tapa ahn some borne stud students out ou on a lark carr carried 1 ed it away a and nil a farmer famer who had rented them at sleigh found it in the sleigh after they lind had returned the vehicle ile he put the sign in hla his hayloft and there it remained until mr ford started the restoration of the inn and sought it out when air ford decided to reconstruct the tha inn h he a used as aa tho the tasis tails for his work these unea from Long fellows poem tho fare light shedding over at the splendor of its ita ruddy glow filled the whole parlor large and low it gl clean earned led on wainscot and on wall it t touched with morn more than wonted gria grace es fair princess marys painted face it bronzed the rafters overhead on the old spinets spineto spi nets ivory keys it played inaudible melodies it crowned the somber comber clock with flame the hands bands the tha hours the makers name and painted with a livelier red the landlords coated arms arma again and flashing on the tha window pane Em emblazoned blazoned with its ita light and shado shade the jovial rhymes that still remain writ here a century ago by the great major molineaux Molln eaux whom hawthorne has immortal toads do so far as it was possible first buyers bbyers and later buyers of objects in the inn inh were traced and one by one as many of these objects as could be found were purchased and brought back to the inn the bronzed rafters overhead of course conme remained recial ned fixed in their place tile somber clock crit crowned with flame stands today reaching reaching almost from the floor to the ceiling and the present day visitor may see for himself tile the hands the chii hours the makers name edward faulkner a london clockmaker clock maker of the middle eighteenth century fair princess marys painted face hangs on the wall near the fireplace still touched with alth mora than wonted grace near by the landlords coat ot arms hangs over the mantel the old spinet has not yet been recovered although the owner owne r of the original Is known ani and mr ford still hopes to td obtain it flo however vever another of via the same period stands in its corner all of these ore are in the aront parlor which Is to the left of the doorway and is colled the longfellow room on a table more than two hundred years old lies a hook book opened nt at the lines spoken above the window on which the great major molineaux Molln eaux whom hawthorne has immortal made cut ills his verse with a diamond ring was lost many years ago rut but two of I 1 tho he panes of glass have brive been primer preserved ved and are carefully framed the jovial rhymes which the major writ aca nc 4 century ago were as aa follows follow st what do you think dupre la Is good drink perhaps you may not know it it it not in haste do stop and taste you merry folks will show it ft the tap room where could he be obtained the majors good drink Is opposite the longfellow room the ancient bar conveniently high big for the elbow but without the foot rall rail of a inter period still stands as it did in Long fellows day on the ab shelves lilves behind the spot where mine host stood are bottles and jugs of various kinds ot of course there are no bottles to he be opened nowadays so ci that these empty relics miles are till all that remain to tell of this adjunct to the joviality of the he group which gathered around the fireplace in tile the tar tap room to sip and smoke and and hilk nearby still hangs the pipe tongs n long implement like n pair of sels scissors sors with willa which the guest without bending hla his hack back might reach into the ire fire pick out a glowing coal and light lils his pipe on tile tho walls rails of the longfellow brorn arom hang the portraits ol of some of these guests made famous by longfellow in assigning them parts part in the enles of a wayside inn among them are ole bull trio violinist professor treadwell the ti theologian c ol oglan isaac the spanish jew lulal the sicilian then a harvard lir professor lofessor ofes sor and thomas W V parsons the poet another of the rooms Is called the washington room because of tho tradition that george washington spent a night there on his way to take command of the tha continental army anny at it cambridge on the third floor which was the old garret there arc arv rooms for about twenty guests lle here rethe the of today sleeping beneath the cares as aa travelers of nn an earlier day before slept may mily take Inke mine ease in mine inn and tie be grateful gra tefol to the ninth landlord of the red horse tavern for this opportunity to enjoy the practical ue of an american shrine because bebau wine nine host of today is henry vord boril |