Thursday morning two parties were ready to start at 6:30 in the Stanley steamers driven by Mr. Godfrey Dewey and Mr. Hubert Stevens for an all day trip of about 110 miles. It was a glorious day and the early morning ride in the cool, bracing air made us forget every care and worry. We followed the West Branch of the Ausable River, with the road crossing it many times and often winding beside it on narrow ledges with the mountains towering above us where we could get the proper thrills of danger. We all felt confidence in our chauffeurs and enjoyed equally the swift runs on the level state roads, the racing up the steep mountain roads and the swift plunges into the valleys. We stopped for a moment at the beautiful Wilmington High Falls and then sped on to Ausable Chasm. We explored the Chasm and made the trip by boat through the gorge. This seemed a bit perilous and, although assured there had never been an accident, we took our places in the boat with an uneasy feeling. The ride on the swift, deep river in this wonderful cleft in the mountain was, however, all too short. We would have lingered to enjoy the wonders and beauty of the gorge festooned with vines and banked with ferns which found a congenial home in its limestone walls, but there was a long journey ahead. We climbed the walls of the Chasm to our waiting automobiles and were soon speeding south, with Lake Champlain on our left and the Bouquet River for company along our road. Occasional stops were made to take on water, sometimes from the hose at a friendly hotel, sometimes from a brook, and once from the stock drinking-trough at a farm house where the agitated farmer's wife was fearful that our great machine was going to pump the trough dry. At Westport Inn we joined the other party, and had a rest on the cool piazza and a good dinner. In the afternoon we ran west through Elizabethtown to the mountains again, stopping for a moment to cheer our friends in the other car who had punctured a tire. Our turn to stop for repairs came soon, when our friends extended their advice and sympathetic aid and passed on. In a few miles more we began to climb a narrow mountain road which seemed impassable in places, and were enjoying the wild scenery when another tire puncture held us up in a lonely place, remote from the telephone. A family touring party in another automobile stopped to offer aid, but they could not help us. The women in that party inquired if there were wild animals thereabouts and, when assured that there were lynxes, bears and other fearsome beasts in the woods, they besought their men folks to hasten on before the dark should overtake them. For a number of miles we crept along in a crippled condition to St. Hubert's Inn, where we waited several hours till a new tire could be sent from home. The rest of the trip was largely after dark over rough, narrow, precipitous roads along the Cascade Lakes where we had our fill of the spice of danger of mountain night travel. We reached home too late to attend the council fire at Iroquois Lodge.
Friday, July Fourth, was celebrated by the absence of fire-crackers and fireworks and other nerve racking and dangerous devices. Instead, a competitive prize fire drill by the Club fire department was held. Guests could thus see how secure against harm from fire life and property are at the Club. Under Miss Sharp's guidance, a tour of the Club property was made in the afternoon, and we saw how the comfort and well-being of the guests were cared for in the various departments, such as the laundry and the kitchens. Informal tea was served at Miss Sharp's cottage, The Larches, where Mrs. Frederick M. Crunden assisted Miss Sharp in dispensing good cheer. That evening the party enjoyed an informal banquet, with Mr. Dewey, Miss Sharp, and other resident members of the A. L. A. present. Just as the dinner closed, the bonfire on the lake was started and the beautiful and unusual spectacle was enjoyed of viewing the fire through a curtain of water from one of the powerful fire hydrants.
On Saturday several short automobile rides were taken in the morning, including one to the home and grave of John Brown, of Ossawatomie, now the property of the State. In the afternoon the party was taken by launch to Moose Island in Lake Placid and had a picnic lunch before a camp fire in a typical Adirondack shelter fragrant with fir balsam boughs. On the ride home mist and rain lent mystery to the beauties of the lake, and just before the trip ended double rainbows proclaimed the end of the storm and a fair day for the morrow. That night a delightful dinner was given the party at Iroquois Lodge which was graced by the presence of Mrs. Dewey. A charming feature of the dinner was the arrangement of lighting wholly by candles in rustic candlesticks of white birch, some of which were used to light our way home through the woods, and treasured afterwards as souvenirs. After dinner the company assembled in the council chamber and listened to a graphic story by Mr. Dewey of the origin and growth of the Lake Placid Club. Originally planned to afford an inexpensive, sane, healthful vacation for educational and literary workers, including librarians, it had surpassed all expectations in its success and growth. Before the party broke up the thanks and appreciation of all for the good time enjoyed at Lake Placid as Mr. Dewey's guests were voiced by Mr. Hill, Mr. Thwaites, and Miss Ahern. Mr. Jast brought a message of appreciation from over seas where, he said, Dewey is a household word in the library world. All spoke in a reminiscent vein and expressed the hope that Mr. Dewey might again take active part in library work.
A small party climbed Whiteface that day and had a rather rough experience, particularly on the descent owing to the heavy rain.
On Sunday automobiles carried the party through Saranac to beautiful Loon Lake, one of the famous, old-time Adirondack resorts, where we stopped for a few minutes, and then went on to Paul Smith's on lower St. Regis Lake, perhaps the oldest and best known Adirondack hotel. Here, as at the Westport Inn, we were guests of the proprietor at a fine dinner. The hotel also arranged a boat trip for us through the Lower St. Regis, Spitfire, and Upper St. Regis Lakes where we saw some of the finest of the Adirondack camps. On our way home we visited two famous sanitariums for the cure of tuberculosis, the state institution at Ray Brook and Trudeau's Sanitarium, a private, endowed hospital. On this trip no breakdowns marred the pleasure, and, aside from a little delay in starting owing to the agitation of a timid lady from Chicago who found herself alone on a rear seat with two mild men, all events came off as scheduled. It might be noted in passing that on all the automobile trips there were at least two and sometimes three men in each car, a marked advance as compared with the famous White Mountain coaching trip with one man to a coach.
This day, which was perfect in its sunshine and cool, bracing air, was the climax of the trip. With keen regret we gathered to bid good-bye to our hosts at Mrs. Dewey's afternoon tea. This Post Conference will long be remembered as one of the best of them all.
The party broke up that night. A few stayed on for a rest at Lake Placid and the others took their ways homeward. Some journeyed down Lake Champlain and Lake George, and one stopped at Saratoga to be lost in wonder at the huge hotels where all the A. L. A. might easily be housed in comfort and elegance should that body ever meet there.
JOHN G. MOULTON.