The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1874-09-15
Up to the Notch.
The work OH the Portland a. Ogdensburg
"A Picturesque EaiIrOad-Dr. Bcmis'
Career.

~ tue LUttOf " tHc 1850
On Friday 1 took the opportunity of the
Board of Trade excursion to look over a part of
the unfinished road-bed among the mountains.
After beautiful run over the smooth track,
we arrived at Bemis' soon after ten o'clock; and
after the cloud of dust caused by the departure
of the coaches for the Notch had settled, with
friend I started up the carriage road on foot
to ascertain what was the prospect of getting
to the Notch by rail. The old stage road soon
enters the "forest primeval," continues along
the west side Of the Saco, of which we get an
occasional glance through the trees but its
murmur is heard the entire distance.
There are many evidences of last falls
freshet where the swollen stream quilted out the
road, causing several thousand dollars expense
to the stage company to make it passabe.
Every halt mile or so, are paths pushed out,
leading up to the railroad or to the foot of the
precipce, and high up we could hear the work.
men call to one another, or to their horses, with
the report of occasional blasts in the
numerous rock cuts. Where there is a side
path there is also shanty near
for the accommodation of the men, built of
square timber or boards covered with tarred
the road bed to see how shelf could be formed
for the track in the face of a nearly perpendic-
ular cliff, and the further we went the higher
up the mountain was the grade, which rises
some over one hundred feet to the mile, or
about two feet to the hundred this is uniform
as far as We went Ii any one wants to see
bold engineering, let him go three and half
miles above Bemis' station, where he will see
the overhanging mountain of bare granite a
thousand or more feet high with hardly room
for the road between it and the river This is
called ''Frankenstein's Cliff,"-so named by
the venerable DR.. Bemis for brother natural
ist from Ohio
After crossing "Bemis' Brook" and going
and path leading by circutous route to the
immense chasm on the eastern side of the cliff,
and high up on either side of this vast abyss
is a crew of men blasting along the mountain
side and dumping the debris into the chasm,
but with no prospect of meeting, and the en-
bankfhents must be connected by trestle work
several hundred feet long and perhaps seventy
five feet high; the place where the woodwork
must rest is probably two hundred feet above
the carriage road. From this point we had
fine view Of Mount Washington and the build
wooden rail track with cars drsMehnf 81 Sa horses
1.-THE wonder is how they got them up there)
which dump large and small blocks of stone in
to the gulf, which go, bounding down the high
embankment with loud report which is echoed
from the cliff above. The overseer told US
of place further up the road where the men
have to climb to their work by ropes
and go down the same way at every
blast. This scene for half mile dwarfs all
my former ideas of railroad building, and
fIox ID
or nitro-g lycerne the scene will be wild in
deed. Mr.. Latrobe, the consulting engineer,
has said that from Bemis' to the Notch, this
will be the most picturesque railroad on the
Atlantic slope.
After rambling and climbing for three
hours we sought the carriage road aud were
lucky in finding man alone in wagon who
took US back to the station, much to the relief
of our weary limbs. Having an hour to spare
before train time, L called on DR.. Bemis
whose acquaintance 1 made in 1864 Then the
cellar of his villa was labyrinth of fine split
granite laid in courses-each partition above
was to be supported by corresponding one
of stone in the cellar. AT my first visit found
house. 1t was rifled tube fitted into the bar
rel of a breech-lot ding shot gun. To my in
quiry as to his skill with the rifle, he said that
he sometimes brought in half dozen part
ridges with their heads shot off. (Shpt spoils
them for eating) DIR. Bemis is the presiding
genius of this valley as John Muir is of the
Yosemite, and all who see his home and farm
want to know something of the man who set
himself down here with no intention of TAX
ing boarders. | know he won't thank me, but
l will explain without rising.
DR.. Bemis was matchmaker in Boston as
long ago as 1916. He learned his trade of his
father. The continual sitting injured his
health and he left the matchmaking and be-
gan dentistry, when there were only two in
that business besides himself in Boston. One
of these carved sets of artificial teeth from
section of the tooth of the hippopotamus, cut
ting the form of the human teeth, and leaving
the enamel to represent natural teeth. They
were clumsy substitute, but were considered
a great invention. The doctor followed dem
tstry many years with success, employing his
leisure hours in studying medicine, until his
health again failed, as he thought, from the
impurity of the Boston water, He visited the
New Hampshire mountains and received ben
eft uniformly. He is an enthusiastic natur-
alist and the valley of the Saco was an open
book TO him where he could pursue his favorite
study, and, as he thought, erjoy secluson. He
accordingly purchased the old Mount Crawford
House and farm, with twelve miles of territory
in "Hart's Location reaching from Sawyer's
Rock nearly to the summit OF the Notch, on
both sides of the river. He became perma-
nent resident on his purchase in 1862. He
built saw mill on Nancy's brook, near by, to
saw the lumber for wooden house, which was
all prepared and piled under sheds to season,
but he was SO well pleased with the rifted stone
from bis quarry, opened TO Dulld his cellar, that
he built the entire house of rough split stone
laid in courses. He was his own architect and
succeeded in building house well fitted for
the locality and of pleasing exterior.
The doctor is sadly disappointed about his
coveted seclusion, as the trains dump hundreds
of curious people at his door every day, many
of whom annoy him by their calls when he is
busy. He is a bachelor; the wife of his head
farmer keeps the house. His mlnd is as active
as ever and his conversation sprightly. His
age is eighty-one. w. G.
Windham, Sept. 14th.