from the Introduction: "I do not expect my restoration picture to represent a lost Eden displaying itself in a degenerate age that has no Eden of its own! My reminiscence will, however, bring back a much simpler world than the one which we know now. That world back there had its own temptations, its own confusions and its chaos, but it had no telephones, no electric lights, no automobiles, no radios, no dances, and only a limited amount of athletics. Its distractions were far less than is the case now. "