THE TOWN AS A WHOLE
1
Think of the times when you have walked or ridden about our town.
What rivers did you see?
[Illustration: CAPITOL AT HARRISBURG.]
Which buildings did you think were very beautiful?
What was each used for?
What buildings have we that are very helpful to the people?
What interesting places have you visited in your neighborhood?
What other places would you like to visit?
2
PREPARATION FOR A TRIP TO SOME HILLTOP, OBSERVATORY, TOWER OR
ROOF-GARDEN FROM WHICH AN EXTENSIVE VIEW CAN BE HAD
What place shall we visit? Why? Draw a plan to include the school and
the place to be visited.
How far must we go? Shall we ride or walk? In what direction shall we
go?
When we are up high we can look over the whole neighborhood. First, try
to find our school. In what direction shall we need to face? Then let us
notice what lies between us and our school. See if you can find any park
or large building which you know. Try to find the street or road upon
which your home stands. Then look beyond our school for any other
familiar building or park, and look for your home if you did not see it
before. Notice how far the town stretches and try to see what cuts it
off or bounds it.
Next we shall turn and look in the opposite direction. What direction
will that be? Find any familiar places. How can you know which are
homes, schools, churches or factories? See how far the town extends and
what cuts off or bounds it on this side.
In what other directions shall we look? Again we shall notice the
familiar and unfamiliar places and the town boundaries.
3
THE TRIP
4
Was the neighborhood view like you expected? What surprised you? What
did we see most of? Make a list of all the places you remember seeing.
Think of each view separately; north, south, east and west. Tell of
anything you saw as you looked in each direction. Why could we see so
much? How could we see even farther?
5
Do we live in a large city, a small town or in the country? What is the
name of our town or the nearest town? Who first settled in the place
which has grown to be a town? It is hard for us to believe that two
hundred and fifty years ago there were no houses, churches, schools,
streets or roads where we now live. All this land was wild country,
mostly woods. The early settlers were strong and brave men. They had to
cut down the forests and build their first homes of rough logs. Then
they planted fields with corn, wheat and vegetables. They killed the
wild animals for food, using the skins for clothing. As soon as
possible the settlers tried to build a small plain church and a
school-house.
[Illustration: CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. From a "Thistle" Print.
(Copyright, Detroit Publishing Co.)]
[Illustration: COLUMBUS'S SHIP.]
Now we have our fine towns which have grown from the early work of these
first sturdy settlers. All of the people should love our dear home town
and try to make it beautiful, healthful and comfortable. We should love
our neighbors and treat them all like brothers and sisters. If we are
true to our village or our dear town we will be kind and fair to all,
rich and poor, Americans and foreigners, white and colored people. That
is one way of showing our thankfulness for our comfortable homes.