Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1871-07-08
LETTER FROM OLD ORCHARD
BEACH.
OCEAN House, OLD ORCHARD BEACH,
July 9Th, 1871.

OCEAN House, OLD ORCHARD BEACH,
July 9Th, 1871.
To the Editor of the Journal:
For the first time, am spending few days
in this precinct of the good city of Saco. As
a seaside retreat for the summer months it is
magnificent. The Ocean House, where it is
my good fortune to be stopping, is said to be
the largest establishment of the kind in New
England. 1t occupies two sides of square,
the angle of which is surmounted by cupo-
la that commands view of Portland, fifteen
miles to the northeast The building avera-
ges five stories high, is 36 feet wide, and,
(supposing it to occupy continuous line,)
403 feet long, Its capacity is equal to the
needs of five hundred boarders. The dining
hall is SO by ITO feet, and the concert hall,
used also for religious services on the Sab
bath, is sc by 100 feet. The prospect sea-
ward from the cupola, is something grand,
and the ''beach' that fringes the ample lawn
in front is unrivalled by any thing of the kind
in the country. a....
Surf bathing, SO rarely enjoyed in perfec-
ton, is here regular institution, and ante
dates the memory of the Coolest inhabitant."
1t is, moreover, perfectly safe, there being no
treacherous undertow to threaten the unwary
bather.
The rooms are new, sweet and airy, and
the table is generally supplied with all the
Injuries of the season. Nor are the needs of
the invalid forgotten in making up the bill Of
fare. Plainly, if the crowd of corners fail Of
abundant benefit and enjoyment, it cannot be
the fault of the landlord, b. Seavey, Esq,
nor his carefully selected subordinates and
assistants. Although the ''season" has scarce
| ly begun, nearly hundred boarders are al
ready here, and the prospect is that the house
will soon be filled to its utmost capacity
Many come distance of thousand miles
and upwards. But the greatest wonder here,
it seems to me, is the Park. l have wander
ed through it for hours to-day, with no shade
of loneliness upon my heart, albeit wholly
alone. There is about it an exquisite air of
freshness and beauty such as have never
g witnessed in the same perfection before. /,
comprises about thirty acres of rather closely
wooded evergreens, mostly pine. The trees,
though not large, appear to be of primitive
growth. Art has done much to beautify it
but in such a way as not to seem art. Its ev.
cry touch is in harmony with nature. Essen
tally the forest is left just as God made it.
The rustic arbors and wooded bowers are sc
disposed as to make them seem as if they had
always been there. The tablets, inscribed
with the choicest sentiments, look as if they
had been nailed to the trees by some old Dru.
id thousand years ago. This Park, which
is so great an attraction of sold Orchard,
readers of the Journal, could it be done with
out trespassing too much upon your columns
The hand that fashioned the "Oratory," the
| "Arbor on the cliff" the Peasants Nest, ;,
look upon, is turning to dust. But the ex-
quisite tracery it has left upon these dim old
woods still lives, and deserves to live for gen.
erations to come.
On the whole, "Old Orchard" is a magnifi-
cent place, and offers very tempting induce
ments to any who may be yearning to break
away for a season, from the dull routine of
everyday life, and grow young again, where
the breezes from land and sea meet and min
gle, the former laden with the odors of the
balsam and the fern, and the latter with the
salt spray that gives elasticity and strength
to so many jaded bodies and over worked
brains. Rusr1c.