The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1868-09-01
correspondence.
sketches Of TraveI-A Southern Lady's
Impressieps Of New England.

Impressions Of New England.
The communication which we print be-
low will have special interest for our reao-
ers from the fact that it is from the pen Vi
Miss Jane B. Moore, 2 Maryland lady, VINO
during the dark days OF the war was Que vi
the angels Of mercy who spent their strength
in ministering to the necessities OF our
wounded and suffering soldiers. Accompan-
led by her mother, lady dellcateiy reared |
and far from strong, Miss Moore left the re-
finements and comforts Of home, and for
months the two devoted themselves unspar-
ingy to the relief of the wounded in camp
and hospital The published report of the
labors of the United States Christian Com
mission in Maryland will afford partial idea
OF the work of goodness and mercy which
these southern ladies were abls to accom-
plish. Ed
CHEAT RIVER REGIoN-TuE "DREw" AND
THE HUDSON ALBANY TO BOSTON -
EARNING SEA SHORE ROUTE TO PORT
LAND.
The eye of the tourist does not often note
greater changes of scenery, or more striking
contrasts, than in a journey from Cheat Riv-
er valley, West Virginia, to the green level
meadows, pleasant villages, and woods which
lie along the New England route to Portland.
Maine, especially if his view embraces as
ours did, portions, and those by no means
the least interesting, of ten different States.
Maine, to loyal Maryanders, has claim on
our admiration and sympathy, for it was in
the dark hour OF our history when our peo-
pie were powerless under mob rule, that her
sons came with those of Massachusetts,, to
gladden. the hearts of sad minority, by the
prospect of capital defended, flag upheld,
and country saved. AS we ride now through
her pleasant fields, it is not unnatural that
our thoughts should revert to other days, and
trace the past from the morning, when her
stalwart soldiers, commanded universal adj
miration on their march through Baltimore,
to later and gloomier times when on numer-
GUS battle fields, and in dreary hospitals. it
was our precious privilege to supply in some
small measure, the care of yearning hearts
far away. We realized more fully, the loneli-
ness of those sick ones on the Rappahannock,
who used to tell us they came " long long
distance-.trom Maine" as we iourneyed to
New York, from thence on the splendid
steamer "Drew" to Albany, by rail through
Pittsfield and Springfield, to Boston, thence
by Eastern railroad charming ride, along
shore, famed by invigorating sea breczes,
through Newburyport and Portsmouth, to
Portland, on our way 10 the great attraction
hal Lifa Mannfosps
hadl Worthy to be held in life long remem-
brance. As we look back a succession of views
pass before the eye, like the changes of a pam
Drama. Europe does not boast steamer of
such magniicence as the "Drew" and we
doubt much if any floating palace sails amid
scenes of so much beauty. Its lighted chan
deliers reveal brilliant scene. The hun
dreds of state rooms in comfort ar d elegance
would do credit to first class hotel, while its
immense saloon, through which promenade
is wearisome, is fitted up in prlncely splendor,
luxurious easy chairs, tables, whose tops of
Elizabethan marble reflect glass like polish,
with sofas, whose covering of French mo
quette, resemble the finest flower painting,
are all for the great house of De GRAF and
Taylor, visit to which is one of the sights
of the metropolis. On deck we watch the
changing scenes of the Hudson, with its
sleeping villages, broad bays, crowned rocks,
and the peaks OF the Highlands. From the
cars ofthe Albany and Boston railroad, we
catch pleasant slimpses of Pittsfield, near
which are the homes of Herman Melville,
Fanny Kemble Butler, Oliver w. Holmes,
and other celebrities, and see at Springfield
the arsenal,
"From whose floor to ceiling s-
Like an huge organ, rise the FURNISHED arms; Q
But I. ON tue + silent mouths, no anthem pealmg
Start es tie villagers with strange alarms.
Boston is full of sights for the curious, ,.re-
minding us more of England than any Amer
lean city we have seen. To the scholar it is
deeply interesting, its publishing houses are
inferior to none, its leading magazines "Lit-
tell" and the Atlantic" have long been well
come visitors to thousands of cultivated
homes, and its revolutionary associations
thrill patriotic heart. How marvellous the
contrast. from the South, here every one is at
work, and manufacturers are busy, supplying
almost all imaginable wants from heavy ma
chinery to the pretty solid paper weight of
glass, and the neat paper collars ard cuffs of
this ingenious nineteenth century. 1t is Gu
rious to watch the busy workers at the Bay
State Line Company, and learn that their ac-
tive fingers make eighty thousand per day.
But scores of other attractions are here, and
beyond all the prospect in view of Mount
Washington, to crown our journeys end.
JANE BOSWELL MOORE.
3 PORTLAND, Me. Aug. 20 1868. l...r.