The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1871-09-07

PREVIOUS to the adjournment of the Superic
court yesterday forenoon, Judge Williams at
dressed the Court in substance as follows:
May it please your honor "there is reape
whose name is death, and with his sickle Keen
has been busy in our ranks. Withih less Una
l month he has garnered three ripe minus, gu
distinguished brothers, DAVIS, barhes' an
Poor.
OF late wears Brother Poor has not been il
| the active practice OF law and many of GU
| Junior brethren remember him, not as practl
| tioner at one bar but recognize him mainly a
/ / do not rise to eulogize; this is not the tim,
/ nor the occasion; but cannot permit pro
| fessional brother TO pass thus suddenly ava,
! WITH ,ut some recognition OF SO solemn al
event.
Brother Poor has identified himself with The
/ history OF our city aud our State, and theil
leading interests, and has placed his ndelliblt
4 mark upon the present age by his ability, en-
| ergy, and indemitable perseverance,. He is 9
loss to our city, our Stale, our country-yea
more, to the civilized world. PosteriIy will
| give him credit and respect his memory. We
are all little apt to do justice to the living, but
after death existing vir ues are exto)led, real
| or imaginary errors forgotten, and marke good
traits shine with undimmed luslre.
Brother Poor was in the midst OF his useful
/ ness, in apparently perfect health and like
| " Nicanor, died in his harness."
But L simply arose to offer a mark of re-
| spect to the memory of our departed brother.
| L therefore respectfully move that, with the
| leave OF your honor, that this Court do now ad-
jOurn until Thursday morning. thus enabling
the Court ard the members of the bar to at
tend his obseques this afternoon. ,I
The motion was seconded by Hon. L. d. M.
Sweat and sustained by few .eulogistic re-
| marks.
Judge Goddard replied as follows:-
Portland has been called to mourn the loss Of
Il an unusual number of of its prominent citizens
| during the present year. Rarely indeed are
mortuary lists OF cities no more pOpulOus tn An
| ours crowded in eight months with such names
| as those of Hart, Hammond, Steel, Greenough,
Davis, Barnes, Libby and Poor. Within
month this bar has lost three of its members,
all of them were widely known beyond the pro
fesson, all cut off in full reign of mind all
moved from lives OF uncommon activity at a
comparatively anripe age. ISIS ,.-a'. z...sa4
Mr.. Poor, whose sudden and most unexpect-
ed death SO startled our community yesterday
morning, although member OF the bar of this
county since his removal to Portland twenty.
seven years ago. has heen known here mainly
through mis- extraordinary public labors and
services in other spheres OF practical usefulness
/ well remember how in early youth, [ was
impressed by his first public appearance in our
city in 1874 His commanding presence, his
extraordinary vigor and activeity OF mind and
body, his inexhaustable energy aud untirne
industry all were al IDaC Time concentrated In
the one great idea which seemed TO form bis
whole being-the realization of direct r abroad
connection with the ST. Lawrence at Montreal
and Quebec l-5.s ta 7sa1as s.ssU .a.fl 30 51oa
Such amazing efforts were really sure of sue
cess, and the scheme triumphant over obstacles
and oppositions that in the retrospect now seem
almost insurmOuntabe. His statistical tasks,
his original and wonderfully forcible presenta-
ton OF facts both in his public speeches and in
the columns of the press, ais mid winter jour
ney with the venerable Judge Preble in an OPP
en- sleigh to Montreal his arguments before the
Parliamentary Committee OF the PrOviLce, the
desperate resistance from Boston, and the f.
aal speedy complete success, all these, after the
lapse of more than quarter of a centuary,
are still wildly impressed upon the memories
OF our people. But M. Poor was not a man
content to repose en- his laurels at the age OF
thirty seven, however brilliant his triumph.
Not long after, he originated the magnificent
idea of another Railroad eastward to ST. John,
Shediac Halifax, and by a tubular bridge
across the Gut of Canso TO the Island of Cape
Breton and across ewfoundland, thus reduc-
ing the European voyage to five days. -
A convention for that purpose was held I'M
der Mr.. PoOr's auspices in Aug Just, 1850, at
which it was my privilege to be present: it was
largely attended by distinguished men from the
Provinces, with some representatives from
England, and resulted in definite plan now
Just approaching partial realization in the
completion of the European & North Ameri
can Railroad to St. John, N. B., during the
present month.
IDdefatgable in all that concerns Railroads
and their extensions, we find him scarcely a
month before his death originating another
Railroad convention in this city, assembling
the leading citizens of several Western States
in aid of an airline route across the continent,
for "no part of Utica confined his powers
But his exhaustless activity found rent in
other directions. s.-g s,...t s.,sa
In 1855, he established daily newspaper in
Portland and conducted it for about six years J
1t was appropriately called "The State OF
Maine" Tor althO' at times violently political.
it never lost sight of anything which promised
to advance and promote the meterial prosper
ty of the State. A2EEeW #E E6s
In the propagation and defence of his vast
schemes, Mr.. Poor was often called before COM
mittees OF our own Legislature and those of
Massachusetts, and other States and to the ma
tionsl Capital, where he always enjoyed an ex-
tensive acquaintance with the leading states
men of the country. Yet Mr.. Poor see med I'M
ambitious of political power, and never enjoy
ed, nor, SO far as l am aware, desired any Of
flee except that of Commissioner on the Hy-
geographic Survey of the State, to which he
was appointed by Gov. Chamberlain in 1867,
and which resulted in the valuable and we'll
known report of their SecretOry, Mr.. Walter
Wells. -E-Z---- =.-----------, ~ 9
Mr. Poor's life was so busy aud controversial,
and bis character was so original, aggressive,
and peculiar that it is difficult to realize that he
has forever left us. And l apprehend that 1T
may be long before we are able fully to appre-
ciate the great value OF his extraordinary la
bors in behalf OF easy, safe, and rapid inter
communication between Maine and the differ
emit parts of the Canadian Dominion. When
we reflect on the hundreds of miles of railroad
now in successful operation in New England
ard Canada, which owe their existenc to the
fertile brain and persistent energy of John
A. Poor, it is hard to say how much of the
present prosperity of our city and State is not
directly due to his efforts in our behalf since