The Portland daily press., 1871-08-19

Loiterings Along a New Road.
No. 1.
10 the Editor Of the Press:
have been drifting along the line of the
Portland and Rochester railroad, spending |
couple of days respite from business in an |
.imless sort of way, turning aside from the |
rack as inclination prompted, and examining |
,uch subjects as were of chief interest to me. L
heard very worthy minister in Portland re-
Duke the uneasy and needless OF his congrega-
tion once Said he: If the sermon does not
appear to meet your wants or excite your in
terest who knows but there is some poor soul
in the audience to whom the preachers words
are really the bread of heaven. So if your
readers find these jottings uninteresting for
"tbey know all about ii and have been there
hundred times" they will remember that am
not preaching to them.
had Rochester and Lake Winnipesaukee
in view when 1 started, but had desire to
see some of those interesting little business
places up on the Saco river, and 1 turned off at
Buxton Centre, and managed to get seat
with the driver OF Lanes stage, which runs up
to Limington. A mile or SO from the station
group Of houses clustering around the meeting
house, school-house and town house-a quiet
place enough, so far as externals. 60, but the
farms look fertile, and the houses are bright
and cheerful. There are two large buildings
here, devoted to the manufacture of clothing
and boots and shoes-Or rather they are the
distributing centers, from whence 60 out to
the ne;ghboring farm-houses for miles around,
the cut material, to be received again complet-
ed, and packed for market. A great many
thousand dollars of ready cash comes to the
farmers annually through ,hese sources and the
freight received by the railroad from here is
very respectful in amount.
F.~o .4iIes -f.-.hn- +h-nnoh a broad and
open country and over a hard and level road,
we come to West Buxton or Moderation, and a
mile and half above is BonDy Eagle Village,
not an attractive place in lOcatiOn.0r thrfitness
When the river is full the falls must be quite
romantic, as the water rushes through the gap
cut in the rocks and tumbles over the bould-
was very low in the main channel, New River
was dry and manufacturing operations conse-
euently very much depressed. This is splen-
did water power, not half improved, the height
Of the fall being nearly fifty feet within a dis
lance of half a mile. The capacity of the mills
is estimated at about 100000 feet of lumber
per year. The chief operators here are Isaac
L. Came aud Abjah Usher.
A short walk brought me back to Modera-
ton, one of the most active villages on the
river, lying on both sides of the stream. The
water power here is wellimproved. though by
no means fully taken up. Mr.. A. X. P. Lord
is the great lumber. king and owns several
mills, with gang and single saws, beading and
box machines, which are now running night
and day. de takes great deal of pride in his
machinery and the new mill on the west side
of the river, built in place of one carried
away in the great freshet of September, 1869
is one of the finest in this section of the coun-
try. 1 conld not ascertain the amount of lum-
Der manufactured annually by Mr.. Lord, as he
was away from home, but the estimated ca
pacity of his works, was told, is about Il, 900,
600 feet. Messrs. Dow & Hill, the owners of a
portion of the water-power, have grist-mill
and plaster mill on the west side of the river.
Horatio Bryant is also large manufacturer Of
employment to large number of females.
The wooden factory, formerly owned by Oliver
Tracy, has lately come into the possession Of
Messrs. Lane &Little of Portland, who have
started up part of the machinery and are
overhauling and improving the remainder.
am told that they propose, if they meet with
thes uccess they anticipate, to increase the
size of the mill to double its present capacity.
The Saco Manufacturing Co., operate the old
mill on the east bank. and all the machinery
is in motion. Their product is satnets and
cassimeres. There are some very substantial
brick buildings in the place, among them two
large blocks, one owned by Mr.. Lord. The
residence of Mr.. Lord on the hill, and that Of
Mr.. Dow, opposite, are elegant mansions and
finely located, commanding view of the
whole village. The high plain on the right
bank of the river has some fne dwellings, and
I sat on the piazza of the hotel, after tea, lad
came up with heavy string Of splendid pick
erel, ranging from one to two and hall
pounds weight each, which he caught that af
ternoon in Bonny Eagle Pond, two miles dis
tant. merely refer to this fact for the bene-
fit of some of my friends who sell fsh-hooks.
I had made up my mind for a five mile
tramp down on the bank of the river next
morning to catch the first train west, but the
day opened with an almost impenetrable fog
and a slight drzzle of rain. The prospect was
not encouraging; but fortune favored me for
once. The freight steamer which plies between
Moderation and Saco river station was just
casting loose for her down trip with cargo Of
headings, and asked passage OF Capt Ride
out. After we leave the shoals at the foot Of
the falls the river grows deep and somewhat
broad. but sand spit shoots across the chan
mel occasionally and the pilot engineer lodges
the boat around the sharp curves very skillful-
ly. The fog lifted and the sky grew brighter
and the sail was quite romantic. The banks
of the river are moderately high and fiat, and
we sail between cultivated fields and grazing
land or skirt retreating meadows detted with
magnificent elms and naples 1 am familiar
with nearly the whole course of the Saco, from
its mouth to its head.waters. Before had be-
come so heard enthusiastic praise of the va
rying beatty of its scenery, with broad and plac-
id surface bordered with green banks, and
rugged and majestic waterfalls ;but none of the
descriptions have exceeded the reality.-And
so down to Saco River station, one of the inn
portant points on the railroad, where the lum-
Der freights alone amount to thousands of dol
lars annually. had just time to 60 down the
river far enough-a mile and half-to get the
location of Salmon Falls village, at the head of
the falls of the same name, and see the Bar
Mills Falls, where the water makes a rush
down an activity of about twenty feet in a
very short distance, and then back to the sta
ton to take the train. The water-power is but
partially improved, but millions of feet of lum
Der are produced. which finds way to market
over the railroad. In fact one can have but
little idea of the extent of the lumber produce
ton of this eight or nine miles of river until he
has visited the manufactures.
Limerick is reached by Whitten's stage line
from Centre marlborough, and this road
opens up some matters of interest. 1t is very
pleasant ride, and takes in Ossipee Mills and
Chadbourne's Mills, the latter on the outlet of
beautiful pond, surrounded by thick woods
except on one end, by which the stage road
runs. These are lumber factories, and the best
stock Comes from them. At Limerick is a
large tannery and Hollands wooden, mill.
which produces twenty bales of blankets per
week. Swasy's school furniture factory, the only
one in New England east of Boston, is located
here-a large four-story building, with ma
chinery driven by steam power. He has or
ders now that will require four months to fill,
and the works are being driven to the fullest
capacity. He consumes many thousand feet
of cherry lumber of the choicest kind, some of
which ensts az hioh az S1Ol nor MI a.aoa