The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1876-04-08

A dream may be an idle thing TO tell, but
sometimes it comes in at the ivory gate and is
prophetic, then wouldit indeed be pity
should it be left untold. The events of the
evening naturally impressed themselves upon
my sleeping consciousness, and as naturally
fell to dreaming. Without troubling itself to
span the chasm, my spirit leaped the gulf of
time, and I was standing with Master Cleeves
and General Preble on fine autumn morn
ing in the old grave yard below MuDjoy Hill,
looking at the spot where the two dead cap
tains lay
"In their graves oerlooking the tranquil bay"
The Indian summer sun was shining
with golden light through the hazy air, and
the yellow leaves were sitting slowly down
from the long lines of trees which bordered
the sides of every street. The harbor was
full of vessels steaming in all directions, and
on each shore and every island were massive
stone piers and warehouses. Even Simon
toms Cove had resumed its pristine mercan-
tile vigor, and its dock were filled with ves-
sells busily discharging ard loading. In the
distance, as far as the eye could reach,
stretched out suburban residences.
''Not less than three hundred thousand
now," said Master Cleeves.
"Thrifty, too" replied the General, "very
little sign of poverty"
"Can it be that hundred years have
passed so quickly and I not have perceived
it ?" thought /.
Master Cleeves turned his calm eyes upon
me and answered my unspoken thought.
Thine is only sensation my friend. In
this world turning so quickly everything is in
whirl; and think how it must be in Jupiter
with the hours and days only half as long,
and everything TO be done just the same. If
the brakes could be put on so that the globe
would turn only half as fast, man would find
himself at leisure, but he would not perceive
it except that his clocks would all run away
with themselves, his fuel would burn twice
as fast, and he would grow hungry and rag
ged quicker. But that can be realized in Italy
or Egypt now. 1t is only in the world of
spirits, where the hours are hundred times
as long, that man can find true leisure,
Master Newbegin.''
"Voltaire makes his giant from Saturn,
where the days are about as short as in Jupi-
ter, six Thousand feet high, 1 think, Master
Cleeves," said 7. "H ow does that agree with
the short hours ?"
"Quite preposterous, SIR" replied the elder.
Altogether too big to get through with his
do MIC uyort Trry 10 ;poouino nia a.
thousand feet high, rushing about to do the
chores after supper, and only half as long a
sunset as there is here"
SIN the old time" said the General, "when
the primeval forest waved over the neck, and
the startled bear galloped clumsily away aud
hid himself in the swamps when he heard the
light dip of the paddle and saw birch canoe
stealing into Clay Cove, do you suppose that
the chief Of the Cascos stood here, and gaz-
ing on the beautiful bay with its numberless
isles of beauty, felt proud that his race had
always owned this lovely spot, and felt his
heart beat with exultation at the thought
that their descendants should multiply into a
great nation and occupy the whole land?"
s'Doubtess every race believes itself eter.
nal" replied Master Cleeves, "but the wing
of Time sweeps over it like the enchanter's
wand, and the scene changes, like that same
primeval forest of which you speak, and
which no one ever saw, for the Indians were
forever burning over forests by design or
accident"
We left the cemetery and wendell our way
downward towards the harbor to look at the
site of Master Cleeves' house, Everything was
as strange to me as to him. The streets
were changed, about all the old buildings gone,
and substantial warehouses of brick and stone
filed every street. We found the streets
widened and smoothly paved with composite
cement as hard a. stone, which needed not
to be taken up, for arched tunnels lay under
each street with lines of railway on which
all the heavy transportation was done, with
space for water, heating and sewage
pipes, while elevated railways carried
the passenger traffic overhead. The streets
were thus kept clean and neat for pedestrians
and light carriages.
'It is strange" said the General, "that
people could 60 on hundred years digging
up and laying down the pavements continual
ly and never think of this way Of doing the
job once for ALL
We came to where the Custom House had
stood. Every trace of it had gone.
"Custom duties were only relic of barbar-
ism" quoth the General, "they tied commerce
hand and foot, and people were sure to learn
it sometime" Fore street was restored to its
ancient glory and the old-fashioned stores
had given way to elegant structures. We
passed up Exchange Tor Fish street, as the
General called it, admiring the height Of the
buildings which was twice that of the old
ones in 1875, and all supplied with elevators
which made the upper stories available. On
arriving at Middle street we came upon a
magnificent building reaching back to Fed
eral street. It was the post Office. Carloads
of mails were arriving each minute by under
ground railways, and the building was filled
with an army of women sorting and dispatch
ing them in every direction to branch offices
in the city for distribution, or making up
mails for other cities. Crowds of citizens
were depositing letters, but no one receiving
them; everything was delivered to its place
of address. Across the way on the Fox let
stood a building of equal size, occupied by
the telegraph lines. An immense number of
operators seemed to be occupied with the
business, but no sign of wires appeared; they
all went under ground as was. originally con-
templated when the telegraph was invented.
The City Building was rebuilt and remod-
eled and had been changed into downtown
police station with police court rooms, while
new and elegant City Hall had been erected
on Bramhall Hill in the centre of the city, as
we afterward found. The first familiar
structure that met my eye was the Second
Parish. 1t had grown venerable with age,
and tall elms were reaching up toward lis
spire. The First Parish, too, kept its place,
and looked much the same, but was evidently
preserved as relic of the past, rather than
as meeting the present wants.
Cumberland street had familiar look,
though the buildings were all different; the
old arch of foliage was there; the trunks
something stouter but the trees much the
H AVan ot