Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1871-07-18
THE EDITORIAL EXCURSION.
LAnE w1sN1p1sEocEE, July 10, 1871


My last letter left our party enjoying the hos
FATALITIES of the Weldon House, st. Adams, VT.
Tuesday forenoon carriages were provided by
the proprietor of the house and citizens and
placed at the disposal of the guests. This
was market day and those interested in the
products of the dairy made an examination of
the rich, golden Jumps and evenly filled pots
brought in and disposed of at 25 cents a
pound; but most of the sight-seers visited
Bellevue hill which rises to very high eleva-
ton from the village lying at its foot, over
looking Lake Champlain, the Adriondacks
and Green mountains, the beautiful village
and the adjoining farms. All were delighted
with the we'll nigh matchless view obtained
| from this elevated position. Nothing is want
| ing to make perfect landscape scene-tow-
ering mountain ranges, hills losing themselves
in vallies, broad plain on which rests the
village the waters of the lake stretching away
at the distance, and evergreen forests filling
the background of the delightful picture. Had
not the programme been previously arranged,
the excnrsionists would gladly have tarried
another day at st. Adams.
About 2 80 p. M, our special train of ten
heavily loaded cars started for Montreal,
drawn by powerful engine decorated with
I flags and bearing these words, supposed to be
h the sentiments of the iron horse
4 "Don't care what the grade is
When my powerful aid is
t The Press and the Ladies'"
: The country along the line from st. Adams
= to Montreal is level and prairie-like with
thin and rather stinted growth of wood. The
V fields, as indeed do those of Vermont, show
!, less seriously the effects of the drought thar
n the fields and pastures in Maine. Well fatteC
cattle were feeding in pastures that woult
> have invited the scythe, had they been ir
: Maine. As we enter Canada, 46 miles from
n Montreal, we need not be told that we hav,
D passed from the domain of Uncle Sam, fol-
everything but nature is changed. The low
mean appearance of the dwellings is particu
larly noticeable, but very few rising above the
I dignity of huts, made of stone, logs and lum-
I ber You know that you are not in Yankee
dom by the rude carts and implements of az
riculture used in the fields, at least one hun
bred years behind the times. You know il
; from the general cast of countenance of the
inhabitants-some wearing sort of John
Bullish self-importance, while others have d
grovelling look, as though they were slaves
and meant to remain SO. You see the rotund
forms and shining countenances of English
men wiping their red faces with the satisfac-
ton born of a roast beef and plum pudding
dinner the French "Kanauck," small in
stature, sharp-eyed, but remarkably docie and
inoffensive. As we saw the country from the
car window and walked through the various
stopping places in Canada, we couldn't help
thinking that Yankee ingenuity and enterprise
are needed to bring it up to what New Eng
land now is-to enable the inhabitants to dis
card the old methods of doing things, and in
troduce the improvements of the present day.
We. enter the chief city of British Amer
lea about o'clock in the evening, passing
over, or, more properly through, the cele-
] brated Victoria bridge, spanning the st. Law
renee, an iron structure resting upon twenty
seven immense granite piers. It's cost was
nearly seven millions of dollars, and its length
is two miles. 1t is a work for the ages, and
people do not wonder when they are told that
| the protector of the enterprise became insane
= over the magnitude of the undertaking.
Our party quartered at the st. James Hotel
and st. Lawrence Hall. They were worn and
: weary enough on their arrival to feel rejoiced
that no public demonstration was made On
Wednesday morning the party were UP bright
and early and scattered In all directions to
visit the various places of interest in and
about the city. These were so many and va
ried that description cannot be expected.