The Portland daily press., 1875-10-14
Fraternity Club Excursiou

The Fraternity Club with their ladies and
friends made an excursion to Crawford's, over
the Ogdensburg road Tuesday morning, leaving
in the regular train. The party numbered six
ty-five. The morning was overcast and chilly,
but twenty miles carried them into sunshine.
The beautiful hues of the autumn foliage make
the trip almost as attractive as in summer.
The hillsides were robed in green and gold
where stripes of evergreen ran up through the
masses of birch and beechen foliage, and the
mountain crests were capped with glstering
hoar-frost Mount Washington and the other
taller snow-clad peaks were shrouded in mist
The hospitable Crawford House received them
with blazing wood fires and bounteous dinner.
The afternoon was spent in strolls, principally
to Idlewild, romantic spot on the nearest hill
side, which the proprietors are identifying un-
der the artistic guidance of Mr.. Atwater, a
New York gentleman, who spends his summers
at the house and devotes his leisure to assisting
nature after the pattern of Willis loved home
on the Hudson, for which it is named. Seats
are erected in favorable locations, rustic bridges
thrown across chasms, fallen trees supported,
and ratings placed along the edges of preci-
pices SO that the wild natured beauties may be
seen to the best advantage without smoothing
the landscape too much.
In the evening the company assembled in the
large parlor where the huge fireplace was heap
ed with blazing legs, and the Rev. DR.. Hill gave
an entertaining and exceedingly instructive de-
scription of the Island of Juan Fernandez
which he visited with the HassIer expedition in
company with Agassiz illustrating it with pic
m of tho island Fa xu;th n
forcbe and striking argument against the evo
luton theory. After describing several new
forms of vegetable and animal life peculiar to
that island, he said that its very recent volcanic
formation precludes the supposition that they
can have resulted from evolution, AMI that
. science, unaided by Theology, is still unable to
solve the problem of their origin. The even
ing's entertainment was prolonged to a late
hour with music by one of Portland, sweetest
singers.
Wednesday morning broke beautifully bright
and clear, the finest of the season. The warm
sun melted the boar frost and dried the hill
sides. portion of the party returned in the
early tram. The remainder spent the forenoon
in climbing Mount Willard to enjoy the mag
nifcent view of the Notch from its brow and
to see the Flume, gigantic chasm, discovered
this last year. On the precipitous front of Mt.
Willard is an inaccessible cave called the Dew
lis Den. An enterprising New York gentle.
man, wishing to be immortalized, caused him
self to be lowered with ropes from the summit
and deposited there bottle of whiskey and his
card. But the Irish laborers on the railroad
having heard of it, climbed the mountain, low
cred one of their number to the spot and car
ried off the whiskey in triumph. After return :
ing from the mountain the excursionIsts took
the train up to Fabyan's to enjoy the panoram
ic view of the mountains, which Brown, the
artist, pronounced finer than he had ever before
seen it. The excursion train came up loaded
with citizens, who con yratulated themselves
upon having chosen this peculiarly fine day for
the trip. The regular afternoon train brought
back the Fraternity party, delighted with their
journey and grateful to the committee who had
planned it, and to Gen. Anderson, who had &C
companied them and provided so efficiently for
their enjoyment.