The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1873-12-16
WiscasSet Letter.

The late arctic wave, which swept the coast
of Maine, left foot of snow along the sea-
side, which has melted into pools and rlvulets,
and filed up the brooklets to the delight of
shoals of frost-fish now being trapped for
market. A reorganization of this wave now
threatens to close the prophecies of an open
winter. The cold has been intensely unexam-
pied, and the woodman's axe has been stimu-
lated here, to unwonted strokes, in telling an
Gent forest stock among the young oaks.
GREAT OAK.
We have just paced across the face of
stump some five feet over besides which lies the
trunk of an oak of giant size, and of centuries
growth which it took two axmen nearly
two days to fell.
ORIGINAL FOREST TREES.
The forests Of Maine, in their native and
original grandeur, must have borne no small
approximation to the giant growth of Califor-
MIA. "Josselyn" IN his ''Rarites' gives us data,
from which we can form tolerable idea, of
the size of our marketable forest stock in 1885,
The pine, called the 'boorapine, is, says he,
very large tree, two or three fathom about!
''Of the body, the English make large canoes,
twenty feet long, and two and a half over;
the outside into a boat
''These stately high-grown trees were for ten
miles together, close by the riverside. The
spruce was goodly tree-the staple for masts.
spars and yards for Ships
To persons in that day, skilled in ship-build-
ing, he says, 1.-THE spruce is conceived to be
absolutely the best of trees in the world, many
of them being three fathoms about and of
great length"
AT Piscataway" he adds, there is now
Spruce tree brought down to the water side by
our mast-men, of an incredible bigness-and SO
long, no skipper burst even yet adventure to
ship it; but there it lies and rots." The hem
lock bark, yielded dye, which, ''the fishers
used to tan their sails ana nets WITH, in his
day.
Taken with the great oak just fe!led, on the
grounds of Geo. B. Sawyer ESQ.,, these descrip-
tions, warrant us in believing the aboriginal
forests of Maine, were full of giants in those
days.
BUSINESS.
The financial wave, has in no way affected
the business prospects of Wiscasset, or checked
industries. The mills of Mr. Hobson have
been and are still in full work, and laden YES
sail at his wharves, for foreign and coast-wise
markets, among which, great loads of 'saw-
dust" are taken away.
The mills, machinery, wharves and all the
appliances of a mighty lumber business, now
adorn the delta of Birch Point, the seat of the
S5urgis, Dewitt, and Haines manufactures;
and the three masted schooner, Ira D. Sturgis,
now lies at the wharf, ready in few days, to
take on board a cargo of ice, from the mill
ponds of that company, 1t is understood, the
mills are to start in the month of March next;
they have cutting capacity of twenty million
feet of lumber per annum.
Wiscasset has too, boot and shoe factory
in full, and it is understood, profitable opera,
ton, under the management of Mr.. Meader.
The new building is pleasantly located on the
burnt district and is an ornament to the place;
and the stock turned out is of the most SUBJ
stantial character The factory is SO connected
with the newly inaugurated prison discipline
In this county, as to give employment to onr
Jail convicts, and effect to the law of last
winter, which the wisdom of our county COM
missloners, has here put into successful opera
ton.
NEW ROADS.
By order of the Supreme Court, after fierce
conflict. the road from Wiscasset to the thrift
full and beautiful hamlet of Hodgdon's Mills,
through Boothbay is to be Strengthened to an
airline will the saving of many weary mile,
between Hodgdon's Mills and the Wiscasset
Depot of the Knox & Lincoln railroad.
RUMORs
The air is full of rumors of stately ship
building another season, at and about Sturgis
Mills; but there are here and here about, plen-
ty OF bricks, and the best of hay, for winter and
spring shipment. Alfred Lenox Esq. is
putting up another store house for hay,
| anticipating perhaps, the increase of
trade in this staple commodity, from an early
| construction of the great interior municipal
railroad which Wiscasset has now in hand, to
the heart of the State, and the borders of the
Dominion! the breaking of the ground for the
opening of which we expect to see the coming
season.
The future of Wiscasset has never looked
more promising, and it is not too much to say
that her deep sea estuary and land locked win
ter-clean harbor may yet, ere long, be called
into use for the relief of your freight bur 1ened
wharves in the European and Canada trade.