Maumee City express. [volume] (Maumee City, Ohio) 1838-184?, 1839-08-31
MAUMEE CITY EXPRESS.
SATURDAY, AUGUST, 81, 1889.
LETTERS FROM THE EDITOR.
Cleveland, Aup. OF. ~

Reader! Were you ever at Port Stanley,
on the Canada shore of Lake Eriel Ifyou
have not, you may thank your kind stars
THAI you have been kept away from one of
the meanest, nastest holes that ever formed
on eddy to draw together the froth and
scum OF humanity. Soldiers, smugglers,
Irish and the itch here reign in their glory,
and we can bear you witness that in this
portion of Miss Victoras dominions, there
is nothing passable but their refined sugar, i,
which is excellent, and their brandy which
Is pure undulterated with yankee compounds
and innocent of the vile taste Of Cam
peachy. logwood and burnt West India
'nolasses. But be not tempted by these.
II you must drink, console yourself with
pure, old "Jesse Smith," and soft water,
and stay at home, won't you? What it
was but spirit Of gaddng that sometimes
seizes us when we are away from home,
that led us to take the steamboat Newber-
ry, and post over from Cleveland to that
out-oftbe-way hole, we can't say, but we
did go, and bad luck to the chap that catch
es us there again, for nothing. Well, what
did we see!
The moon shone beautifully, one night,
last week, and, like good, notable female,
as she undoubtedly is, rose in good season;
slight haze was perceptibe in the atmos-
phere, sufficient to blend and mellow the
golden beams into the most perfect soft
ness, voluptuous, but not in the least akin to
obscurlty; the waves were ripping, Just
enough to set the stars dancing in the wa
ter and we were gaily careering over their
heads in N. N. L. course for Port Stan
ley, with no land in sight in either direc-
ton. 1t was a lovely night.
Night, midnight ON the waters, beautiful
In It's lovelness, and terrible in Its beauty
when the winds are let loose and the storms
play together. We dare not say which we
love best; but even tenor has its charmes,
when, unmixed with the revolving, it enters
as an ingredient into tie sublime. But here
was nothing of the terrible. The faithful
pilot stood at his post; the rest ofthe crew
were securely mapping at theirs. Even the
engineer slept beside the ponderous machine
that owned him for master, needless of its
claLking, or perhaps soothed hy the mono
tony of its movement. We felt az if we
were alone, looking upon the works of God,
and we gazed on the quiet moon as she
breasted the clouds on her trip of pleasure
through the sky, and on the long pillar of
golden light reflected from her on the wa
ter, and felt an emotion of thankfulness for
the gift of those scenes that in their mystic
nous operations tell the soul "be glad,"
and it obeys.
But what has all this 20 do with her Ma
jesty's dominions?
Well, well! Port Stanley is situated at
no, it is the mouth of Kettle Creek, U.
c., and nearly opposite the mouth of Grand
River, Ohio. Imagine yourselfapproaching
it, as we did, about 8 o'clock of fine Sum
mer morning. The coast, for miles presents
little appearance of settlement, being thick
ly wooded, to the tops of the bluffs that rise
to the height of seventy or eighty feet i'm
mediately from the waters edge, and in their
broken and sliding surfaces are anything
but pleasant to the sight. The port itself,
none ofthe best naturally, has received but
little assistance from art, and even that has
been rendered nearly nugatory by neglect.
A narrow stream, with, on either side
short, cheap, aud insufficient pier, never
worth much, and now partially destroyeG;
crooked and spurred with bars on all sides,
over which vessels cannot pass except with
the most winding and tortuous course; in
secure and inaccessible except in calm
weather-suci is Port Stanley.
After backings and filings, turnings
ahead and half turnings back, innumerable,
we are, at last, safe in port, and fast to the
wharf, and so, we will take a look at the
town.
Three warehouses, only one Of which
own an occupant, three taverns, all Of them
in full blast, two or three groceries driving
a stiff trade in blue ruin, and half a dozen
dwelling houses all situated on a narrow
street, and bearing the appearance of pre-
mature decay and ruin from heglec ct, tells
the whole story of British provincial town,
of tolerable natural advantages and placed
in favorable position in one of the finest
by nature, in the world.
1t is worth ones while to make the run
across from Cleveland for the purpose of
contrasting The spirit and life, the enter
prise and ambition that is the natural effect
ofa government of the people and for the
people, with the lethargy and ruin that per-
vades a colony governed with despotic
sway, by rulers who cannot appreciate its
wants, sympathise with it's distress, nor glo-