The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1871-04-08

| resources as watering place were nardly DE
veloped From the great confagration of 1861
new Portland has arisen, and the Cinderella
| of a decade ago has been transformed by the
, wand of fairy-whose name is Progress
into the belle Of thousand charms, who brings
multitudes to her feet. She does not obtrudt
herself upon public notice. During the long
, | cold winter months she rests and gathers
strength and health for the summer campaign
| and when June clothes her superb old elms
with their exquisite robes of green, and carpets
her fields with tender grass worked into the
rarest patterns, with the wealth of prmroses
dandelions and buttercups; when the waters
} of Casco Bay leap and dance in the sunlight
and, standing on the broad bluff promontory
of White Head, the snowy caps of the breakers
in the distance nod and smile, and seem to say
1--WE. too, are coming;" when from the summit
of Bramhall lovely landscape, such as Hill
or Bierstadt would delight to paint, lies stretch.
ed out before us-Fore River, winding its way
along at our feet through verdant farms dotted
with great trees and coy farm houses. while
in the middle distance rise the huge bluffs,
rent in twain as it were by some cOnvulsion Of
nature, over which rests a soft blue haze, and
far in the perspective towers the white hills oil
New Hampshire, their peaks crowned with
| snow; when from the summit of MuDjoy
| we look out to sea some twenty miles or more,
and, if it be evening" watch the bright light Of
Segun at the mouth of the Kennebec, twen-
ty miles away, or if it be early morn mark
| 'Tbe stately ships go on
| 10 their haven under the hill,'
while we drink in the fresh, pure breeze of old
| ocean, and are warmed in the sunlight as we
sit on the lowly benches that provident City
Government has provided. gaining health and
vigor with every breath we draw; then, indeed
is Portland worthy to be called a shrine to
which all Pilgrims in pursuit of the beauties of
nature or in search of health should direct
their steps, Why such men as Trollope and
Dickens have exclaimed with wonder, "why
are not these promenades sodded, the walks
and drives rolled and macadamized, and a neat
railing placed about the border of the cliff In
Europe the city authorities would spare no ex-
pense to keep such charming resorts in perfect
order if they only possessed them"
The first question is how to get to Portland?
If you are coming from New York take the 8
a. m. or 8 p. m. train on the express line via
Springfield, or the s p. m. train on the Shore
line via New London, and arrive in Boston at
6 a. m. or 3 p. m. Then ride over to the East
ern or Boston & Maine depots and take the
| 7.3O q. M or 6 p. m. trains for Portland. Or
| you may take the excellent boats of the differ
emit lines via Bristol, Stonington, Fall River or
l Norwich, and arrive in Boston in time to take
the morning train for this city. There are four
trains day between Portland and Boston.
There is daily railroad communication with
Bangor, Montreal, Quebec, Augusta, and all
the principal cities and towns in the State.
This summer the Portland & Ogdensburg rail-
road will transport travellers to Conway that
famous summer house of so many Bostonians;
the Portland & Rochester railroad will convey
the tourist without change of cars to Alton
Bay, where famed Winnepiseogee unfolds its
many beauties; the steamer Lewiston twice a
week will carry passengers to that latest and
most celebrated seaside haunt, Mt Desert;
| the City of Richmond will enable the traveller
| to become acquainted with the charms of the
Penobscot river, which celebrated Harvard
Professor declared surpassed in loneliness of
| scenery the storied Rhine; the Charles Hough
| ton will open up the beautiful coast view that
lies between the city and Boothbay and Damar-
| iscotta; the New Brunswick and New England
| will take you to the fishing grounds or to the
| magnificent scenery that surrounds Frederic
ton; the Chase and Carlotta will Lut you in
communication with Halifax and if you should
chose to come from New York by steamer you
cannot do bettes than to patronize the Dirigo
or FrancoLia.
Let us presume that the visitor has conclud-
ed to pass the summer in this city. He can
secure accommodations according to the length
of his purse. The stately Falmouth Hotel
| which will take rank with the st. James or
Revere in Boston, the Fifth Avenue in New
York, the Continental of Philadelphia, opens
wide its hospitable doors with its large COM
Portable apartments, its excellent table, its per-
feet service. its accommodating landlord and
clerks; the United States and Preble Houses
are among our best known and best kept hotels
and the proprietors are unceasing ia their eff
| forts to please their guests, while their regis
tiers show in the long list of arrivals how popu-
lar they are; the St. Julian on the European
plan is miniature "Parker's" in its way and
does first rate business as it should, for Ward
sknows how to keep a hotel" Then there are
| many other obstetrics" and boarding houses
that will carefully minister to the comforts Of
the stranger within their walls. Should a
l
; House, on Cushing's Island, three miles from
the city, will make pleasant home and the
city can be reached every hour in the day by
. steamer; or the Ocean House, seven miles
} out, the Atlantic House nine miles out, the
Kirkwood House, same distance, or Cape Cot
tage, three miles distant. At either of these
houses excellent sea bathing will be found,
/, good fishing, and all the attractions of a water
ing place hotel.
Let as suppose that the visitor has secured
} | his residence, how will he pass the time? He
will take the little steamer Gazelle and spend
an hour if he likes sailing about the beautiful
| harbor, dotted with its traditional 3G5 islands
/, for only twenty-five cents He may secure a
| Yacht and enjoy Gunner fishing or deer-sea
| fishing. He may secure an elegant team for q
fair price and drive for miles along hard road
either by Falmouth foreside or Cape Elizabeth
with the ocean on one side and fertile farms on
the other. He may indulge in evening excur'
sions to the Ottawa, with hop at that fine
hotel and moonlight sail home, He may en-
| ioy picnics to the Ocean House, Atlantic House
and Cape Elizabeth, and meet with many
pleasant people. The horse cars will carry
him by pleasant half hours ride to thai
beautiful city of the dead-Evergreen Gene
tery-or he may take constitutionals to Bran
. nall and Munioy, and enjoy the magnificen
> panoramas spread before him. If he wishes Il
u make days excursion he will take the morn
% ing train on the Ogdensburg to Lake Sebago
d where steamer will convey him over tina
charming sheet of water, returning him to tn
Of hotel at the station in time for dinner, and i,
It the afternoon he will return to the citv: or h
g. will take the morning train over the Port,an,
y. &, Rochester for Alton Bay, visit Wolfboro an
A | Center Harbor on the Winnepiscogee. dine n
a | the steamer and return to the city at niob
~ He can also make the city his point of depart
nre for a few days excursion to the Whit
8, Mountains either over the Ogdensburg road
n Frvehurg or by tie Grand Trunk to Gorhan
these are but few of the attractions of Por
y land. Whatever strangers may desire in IL
N wav of repenishing their wardrobe; in mini
;" terinp to their ills should they fall sick;
- creature comforts, all may be supplied her
10 They will flnd all the advantages OF city, coul
trv and seaside combined, and society as r
fined and agreeable as any city OF 81 lnha
itants can boast and occasional entertainment
at that season of the year furnished by u
best metropolitan artists.