The Portland daily press., 1871-08-02

CERTAIN SPECIAL FEATURES CONSIDERED
To the Editor of the Press:
My former letter gave general view of the |
region within our State limits traversed by
the Portland and Ogdensburg railroad with |
brief allusion 10 two or three towns in the |
neighboring State of New Hampshire. Ger
tain special features of the district are worthy
of more particular consideration. and lew
OF these will accordingly be touched upon in
this communication.
The traveller will hardly have left the city
| by this route, when his attention will be for
sibly arrested by the Madison and Litt ais
of the Presumpscot. Seeing, as he wiz |w
admirably adapted to Improvement 1lese
| privileges are, learning how profuse flow OF
water has been had all through the season OF
water drouth knowing, as heemay, that this
| stream though of such moderate dimensions
to the eye is fed by "a square miles of reser-
| yoir. while even the Merrimac has but 70
square miles in its great feeder Winnepiseo-
| gee, that eight feet head can be held upon Sc
bago, but only 40 inches upon the New
| Hampshire lake; noting moreover the loca-
ton OF these privileges. in the suburbs of
considerable city, with which they are placed
in close connection by rail, and that the two
| together could readily operate 10000 spin
dies, and support $1,000 of population: OBJ
| serving further, that above these falls long
series of equal excellence are stuated-he
will commend the policy that located the rail-
road along the borders of this remarkable
stream. He will readily see how deeply in
terested Portland in particular is that these
| prospective sites of manufactures should be
| opened for use. He will see that in the event
| OF demand, a short branch extended from the
| main line of railroad wOulf bring the en-
| tire river at incOnsderable expense within
| the reach of the manufacturer, and at its most
| distant site within a half hour of Portand.-
| 1t is no figure of speech but a declaration of
| literal truth that at no distant day the Pre-
| sumpscot from end to end through its entire
leng III, will pass through continuous series
OF manufacturing villages, and the first step
toward this consummation has been taken by
| planting railroad on its banks. The country
| bordering the river is mainly fertile, and
needs only the stimulus of markets close at
hand TO pour out the opuent bounty of
market garden III its length and breadth.
LAKE sEBAGo SYSTEM.
The next striking feature of this route is
Lake Sebago and its outlying navgable APP
pendages. As the whole Trunk line touches
and opens the system of tie great lakes at its
| point of nearest approach to tide water so
this section Of the road repeats the process on
"a small scale and opens at its extreme sea-
ward point the system of the Presumpscot
navigabe waters. Here are thirty miles of
inland navigation touching upon nine differ
ent towns, some OF them wealthy and thriv-
| ing, from which already across water large
| amounts of freight are received by the rail-
| road These waters, moreover, as piled upon
| by sail and steam craft, open scenes and pros.
1 na&1 - ~ -.
| artist, the tourist and the pleasure seeker
TIE passage through the devious channel of
Songo river amidst the silence and dusk of
surrounding forests is an experience novel as
interesting. 1t is the crystal food of these
waters gathered from the granite hills, that
courses through the mains and conduits OF
Portland, lifting off the bondage of the dread
OF fire, and giving the people something bet
ter to drink than the distillation of vaults and
cess-pools. These same waters are the store
house of power whence the Presumpscot
draws its untiring forces. Not without rea-
son the railroad company have thrown up
temporary house of entertainment upon the
border OF this lacustrine basin, knowing well
that multitudes will come to gaze upon it and
| to be waited upon its surface when once its
easy accessibility is fully understood.
| THE sACo RIVER.
| A few miles further Oh another river is
/
| ed with the Presumpscot, river drawn large
| y from mountains, variable in its volume and
| diversified in the surface aspects of the tribu-
tary country. Like the Presumpscot, howev-
er, the Saco is full of rapids and falls. Steep
Falls, in the neghborhood of which the rail-
road passes, and upon which pretty village
has grown up, though improved in only
small proportion of the available power, cuts
out large amount of lumber for various
uses, shocks, headings, boards, sugar boxes,
clapboards, soap boxes, looking-gass backs,
picture backs, etc. Here lives that sterling
citizen Tobias Lord, Esq, whose liberality
is attested in the neat and commodions
station house which was free gilt
from him to the railroad. The site at
these falls is first class for Improvement The
| land lies perfectly for canals, and for
the location OF mill and workshops Linn
ington by recent vote has agreed to ex-
empt manufactures here established, from
taxation for ten years. Ii now the State had
any fundamentally of making this action
known TO investors living beyond the State,
aud the many other similar cases; if she had
an agent to visit such investors and manufac-
turers, to talk with them, to induce them to
at least come down here and look at our priv
ieges, see The ctizels and make acquaintance
with them, if in fine she would do anything
like what she is now doing for agriculture in
the matter OF immigration, the chance for the
rapid growth OF manufactures in Maine
would be indefinitely increased. How much
| progress would immigration have made if
simply document had been published, and
| then the means refused for its thorough dis
tribution, and no agent established 10 press
| matters to practical conclusions! Does the
State think it easier to bring men of wealth
| within its borders, than to draw in the poor
who at the utmost have next to nothing to
lose?
Still further on, the Great Falls of the Saco
are visible from the road foaming over solid
ledge in successive pitches through total de-
scent of Y feet. Before reaching this, how
| ever, we pass the "Great Falls Wife," a swift
rapid in the river, with large capacity for
work but with little uproar and noise, as be-
comes her character and name. The site at
Great Falls is in many respects a valuable
one; but, as in the case of Steep Falls, its ex-
animation makes suggestion of the need of |
further legislation. This privilege is one of
lne very many IN Maine that cannot be turn
| ed TO profitable account unless considerable
| tract OF low land above can be flowed. Now
the popular impression is that our statutes re-
| lating to hoWage are particularly liberal
They were beyond question intended so to be.
Such however in effect they are not. Bnder
the laws, proprietors of privileges find them
| selves unable to buy off the owners of land
| once Tor all, but are subjected to annual dam
ages, being obliged to pay yearly, as the
writer knows, in some cases for the loss of
few hundred weights of sour bog hay, more
than the whole farm upon which it grew is
worth Messrs. Legislators, establish this
matter SO that these cases can be settled once
| for ALL
The establishment of reservoir at Great
Falls would be of vast consequence to the
whole river below, obviating those occasional
| scarcetleS OF water from which nearly all the
privileges suffer and that al Saco and Bidde-
ford most seriously Of ALL A reserve can be
held at this point, without excessive fowaee
sufficient to add very materially to the manu-
featuring capacity of the stream. The Great |
Falls are known to the river-drivers as the |
Gates of the Saco," name imposed with pc |
culiar propriety, Tor the narrowness of the |
channel is such as to dam back the vast body |
OF mountain water precipitated into the river |
in fresbets, SO that the volume of the river |
below is by compulsion uniform. The Saco |
Water Power Company, who own the site, |
put in some works here years ago. to let down |
water in drouth, but not on a sufficient scale |
to have imdortant effect. This fall by the |
building of the railroad is made of real value, |
which without the road it could hardly be |
said to have. BetwiXt Great Falls and the |
tide there is total fall of 345 feet with pow
er even in the present unimproved condition |
of the reservoirs, to operate well nigh a mil |
lion spindles in q drOuth. The country above |
this point, on to the mountains, is as a whole |
of higher agricultural capacity than that |
below, but of this region. ] will speak more
fully in another letter. Under the influence
of the recent rains vegetation is wonderfully
rrevlvlng.. The second hay crop may be
heavier than the first ** |