Adirondack Country. William Chapman White (9).

New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1954.

Why read it? The history of the Adirondacks, the names, the lakes, the peaks, the guides and impressions of the tourists and the seasons. "As a man tramps the woods to the lake.. .he knows he will find pines and lilies, blue heron and golden shiners, shadows on the rocks and the glint of light on the wavelets, just as they were in the summer of 1954, as they will be in 2054 and beyond; he can stand on a rock by the shore and be in a past he could not have known, in a future he will never see; he can be a part of time that was and time yet to come."

Ideas:

"In an era when men from all sides had designs on the woods for their own ;profit and devil take the next generation, Colvin's was a voice that could make even legislators hesitate before they voted." P. 207.

………. "Colvin spoke from knowledge tediously gained." P. 207. ………. "He [Robert Marshall] belongs in the Adirondack record not for what he brought to the area, but for a clear statement of what he learned there and his desire to share it with others." P. 208, ………. "Robert Marshall classified the various peaks by the excellence of the view from them." P. 209. ………. Thoreau: "In wilderness is the preservation of the world." P. 210. ………. "The idea that in themselves the woods...had a value ln their natural form, untouched by saw, or ax, was a new concept." P. 212 ………. "Although the number of lumberjacks in the winter woods may be smaller than in years past, and although every precaution is taken, it is still dangerous work—branches fall and kill men; machines slip; there are few winters when some sturdy young lumberman is not carried mute from the woods." P. 225.              "The group who would keep the woods forever wild...are described by their opponents as 'starry-eyed idealists,' 'impractical big city folk,' 'millionaire camp owners,' 'two-week vacationists,' and 'sloppy sentimentalists.' " P. 241. ………. Robert Marshall: "For thousands the most important passion of life is the over-powering desire to escape periodically from the strangling clutch of mechanistic civilization; to us the enjoyment of solitude, complete independence and the beauty of undefiled panoramas is absolutely essential to happiness." P. 242. ………. "Another time cycle, in which human beings have no part except as watchers, works in the

woods." P. 247.

To be continued.