The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1871-07-31
This Side ihe sfountaias.
FRYEBURG, July %, 1871

So far on the way to the White Hills,via tie |
ortland & Ogdeusburg railroad This road,
shall allow myself to remark, is IA god piece
work For new road. or for any road, il is
cry easy to travel on Few even of loog-es-
ablished lines, convey the traveller with less
ar, noise and dust. L have never seen a more
ubstantiai road bed OF more thorough drain
ge. The ties are back ma ack and cedar wi b
large per centase of oak, and ale of large
ize. The rail. pattern of halt inch more
han usual depth, will, as is obv ons, secure ex
ra strength for the weight OF metal. The
country, as to soil and surface, is extra to buid
1pon, nc money has been wasted it pool wo, K,
aud the directory have throughout nsolted
that wisest economy which deems the best
the cheapest. Tn t tho road is has being nut :
into the best pOssiblc oider for Service is mat
ter of interest and hr cougratnation, n It OILY
for the public who use it but TO the commuu:-
ties who so largely Oacn it, and to Portland mo t
of all. The railroad managers. who are simply |
our stewards, are doing their wo,k well. Meth
ing less was to be expected of tn III seeing who
they are.
In coming up the road kept spread out be-
tore me large map of the district traversed,
practice greatly commended of those rho travel
in part to learn, aud who like to rccoguize the
streams, mountains, villages, ETC., located up
on the broad panorama that opens upon the
and swiftly recedes. The attentive examina-
ton OF that map showed me- what had never
realized before, how very large tract of neao
t,rritory within the limits of our own State has
been opened by this "road to the West" and
how great an incidental and side advantage,
accordingly, is to be reaped from this bold and
timely enterprise. When 1 say new territory
has been opened, mean opened, not only TO
the conner and goer and the casual wayfarer,
but opened to the possibilities of growth, to the
development of resources, to enlargement of
population aud increase of wealth. Between
the POr land & Rochester road on the south
east, the Grand Trunk on the northeast, and
the State line on the west, there is triangu-
lar tract of 1900 square miles 500 square miles
larger than Rhode Island, which prior to the
construction of the Ogdensburg road had, ex
cept in the portions bordering the aforesaid
lines, no railroad facilities, in other words was
shut out from the world. Rhode Island has
al miles of railroad or one mile to each 9, 2
oqudto mlltc vi utElIOTys huOu6 lSldlu mas
gathered together and now supports her 2l7 900
of population chiefly by manufactures. Man
ufactures now day can stand only as their
feet are planted on the railroad. The district
referred to, traversed by the Portland & Og-
densburg has, 1 do not hesitate to affirm, there
times the natural facilities for manufacturing
OF all Rhode Island. The total sum of natural
motive power in Rhode Island cannot be for a
moment put into the scale of comparison on
terms of equality with that of the Presumpscot
river alone, below Sebago Lake, where 80 600
horse-powers OF unfiactuating power stand
ready for the mill-wheels, and reservoirs Of
nearly one-twelfth the area of all Rhode Island
offer absolute security against drouth or food
A hundred and sixty water-powers of sufficient
magnitude for improvement are located in
the district in question. The soil is of fair
quality for New England. 1t is far better than
the average land of Massachusetts. This DOT
ton of Saco valley in particular, of which 1
shall speak more in detail hereafter, il truly
excellent farming country But the agricul-
ture of the whole district, without the stimu-
lOus Of the local markets created by manufac-
lures, without access to distant markets except
W ioou ohu hoioC- poWCi, has Dceu NECESSARILY
1o,s grade, and of course has Impoverished the
land and driven off population. The lumber of
the country likewise has been mainly carried
away in the coarest forms and by the rivers.
because if wrought into finer fabrics the cost
OF transportation devoured the profits. The
Portland & Ogdensburg railroad traverses this
district not far from its centre. 1t will give it
access to market, or very important part of
1t. 1t will render feasible the transportation
of those heavier products of industry that
hitherto could not be transported at all. 1t
will lessen the cost of all transportation, saw
ing that as always and every where enures
chiefly to the profit of the producer. The farm.
er will realize more for his labor. At his own
door he will command almost the prices of the
city. BY consequence he will be encouraged
to raise more than before. The road moreover
opens to the possibility of improvement the
great sum of water-power along its route. By
adding to the wealth of individuals and COM
munities it increases their ability to cooperate
tor the establishment of manufactures. WITH
out such cooperation neither in this 4s~ i
Maine nor in any other will manufactures De es
tablished. The railroad being built, the man
ufacturing question is now open for consider
alton, and action is rendered possible
There is vast amount of lumber still re-
naming in the territory now under considera-
ton. One-half of the whole region drained by
the Saco is covered with woods, deprived in
deed to considerable extent of its heavier tim
Der, but yet woods, and yielding an annual
harvest of lumber, of ten of millions of feet,
without entrenching upon the areas of growth
or cutting short the source of supply This
forest growth now has value it never had be-
fore, because it can reach market more readily
than ever before. In particular, in the towns
of Fryeburg, Conway and Bartlett, "a very great
supply ofspruce, pine and hemlock remains,
hitherto not heavily drawn upon, especially as
located upon the lower slopes of the mountains
1t is hardly possible to "driye'' this lumber by
the rivers so sudden is their fail after rain, and
by consequence it will come to market on the
rail. Forty years ago it used to be said the
lumber of the Saco is nearly used up, but
about as much is cut every year as formerly,
though of smaller size. What there now il in
the towns within reach of the road in the
mountain section and this side, with what
grows every year, will give the railroad a
steady and large business for an indefinite
time to come. 81 tA fl 1917 vi
All these circumstances require to be taken
into account, when estimates are made of the
business likely to be commanded by the Dor
tloE OF the road in Maine or this side the noun
tains. To make the sum of traffic hitherto de-
rived from that section measure of what is to
be derived would be an act of folly. Portland
VIII command far more business from this dis
trict than before. She will draw in mora
abundant food supplies from it than before. -
Being thus backed by a wider extent of tribu-
tary country, her capacity for engaging in man
ufacsures on large scale, economically and to
good advantage, will be greater than before
The advantages thus realized from the openipp
of this road, with others leading to the citv in,
their proportion, will at length instruct US that
Portland can be and do all that Fall River and
Providence and Worcester and Springfield are
and have done,as great manufacturing centres.
How soon these anticpati0ns are to be realized
both as to Portland and other places in Maine
adapted to manufactures, depends large upon
the policy adopted by the State and the liberty
of actions allowed to towns -
PLACE OF LEES SURRENDER.-Edward A.
Pollsrd's "Recollections of Appomattox Cont
House." published in Old and Neao for August.
we ma the following account of the circum-
stances attending Lees surrender to Grant:
1t has been popularity reported that the fire.
interview between the two commanders took