Part 13 of a weekly series of blogs about Rex Wailes’ 1929 trip to the USA and Canada.
Tuesday 14.5.29
Next morning I breakfasted at “The Wayside Inn”. It was expensive but first rate, and I wished I had stayed there, or at least supped there. I had “cream of wheat” for porridge. It is our old friend semolina made with water, like porridge, and is excellent. I was at the mill to time. Roland Snow could not get the key, but one of his own unlocked the spring padlock on the door, and he left me to it. I spent all the forenoon there, measuring and photographing, and afterwards interviewed Mr. and Mrs G. H. Nickerson II, and got some more information on points on which I was not clear.
The mill is in fair order and is occasionally run for two hours on Sundays in the Season for the benefit of tourists.
I lunched at “The Wayside Inn” and left on the 3.25 for Boston.
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Bridge over the Cape Cod Canal, Buzzard’s Bay
The journey to Boston was not of great interest. The weather was bad too – dull and rainy. I noticed two sham windmill towers at Buzzards Bay. Both appeared to be used for pleasure purposes. Neither had any sails. One had a mansard, and the other a peper-pot cap, and both had galleries round the first floor. I saw two large coloured geese in a clearing near the railroad – quite strangers to me – no white on them at all. At Tremont there was a curious windmill pump. It had two rings of what looked like wood fencing, they were facing the wind end on, but obviously swivelled about the centres of their peripheries, and presented a more or less even surface to the wind when working.
I had wired the Y.M.C.A. for a room and got a very noisy one facing on to Huntington Avenue. I collected my laundry, shoes and grip, suppled in the “spa” and went to the drug store for some permanganate for my throat, as I could hardly speak. A doctor there advised Argysol – silver albamenate, he said it was – and swabs. I got some. It certainly relieves the throat, but it is only a palliative and doesn’t remove the cold.
