The Republican journal., 1876-11-23


The New Story of the State of Maine.
| Our heart warns 1T once towards any
one who has a word OF kind regard for our
state, or Just appreciation Of its many ad-
vantages We feel that not only il it de-
served, but that it is in Justice called tor
to combat the foolish notion which prevails
with lmthinking persons that Maine is a
| cold, barren, torbiddn@ state, without
climate to attract, or soil or productions
to reward the labor and hopes of settlers
| 1t has become fashionable, even among
| the sons and daughters of Maine to decrv
the good old state and praise the adyanta-
ges of other and distant regions Bat those
who believe in and stand by her, have fire.
| quent occasion to smile ut those who hay
! ing tried the seductons OF other regions.
and found them false, come creeping back
with broken health and shlunken purse.
| after learning in the hard school Of eX-
| perience some bitter lessons
Holding these sentiments we are Glad to
find upon our table, neatly printed in pam
phlet form and published by Dresser, Me
Lellan n Co.. of Portland, the lecture
which Enoch Knight of Portland has de-
| llvered in various places in the state dur
| ing the past Two wears 1t is entitled The
New Story OF the State OF Maine Mr..
Knight, who is Il careful and philosophical
observer OF facts and gatherer of statistics,
has done excellent service in the cause of
justice to Maine by the abors which have
their immediate results in this pamphlet,
and will have more remote fruits in pro.
noting a better and juster appreciation OF
our home
One great bugbear, that vi q rigorous
climate, need not be argued against to
those who have tried the vicssitudes Of
other latitndes ThAv. at l.ast know how
to appreciate Maine On This head Mr..
Knight has the following
We have but thirty snowy DAYS in an Tie
year, and but sixty rainy ones, while the aver
age temperature for twenty years had been n
deg: and we can challenge the world to show a
climate more favorable to the health and long
life OF any people who work. This claim i, not
only founded upon general statistics, bur il es
tablished by the universal statement of our best
industrial producers, who declare that no other
operatives can do so good work so many hours
in the day with so little loss of physical force.
We never had tempest such as occasionally
sweeps along the Gulf. We never had a dan
gerous epidemic such comes of titfuI changes
for the cold of winter is softened by the dash Of
warmth from the sea, and winds such as sweep
around and freeze The J0urneyer in the West
are checked by forests and hills that break their
force. and the Waytarer makes his way with
safety in a temperature that would freeze him
IN an hour with a remorseless prairie wind to
embitter it. We never had an earthquake nor
plaques OF poisonous Vapors; nor clouds of de
sroving insects; nor Hoods that set at nalIght
the provisions OF men; nor droughts that burn
up fields and forests; for the thousands of hills
and mountains pierce through and brean the
clouds, equalzng the currents and the distilIl-
ton, While from the South and the great Gulf
Stream are borne the vapors that insure equa-
BILE rainfall from mountain height to low shore
slope, keeping a thousand lake rcsery ors for
ever full and feeding more than tive thousand
miles of beautiful streams that tumble and
thunder, and leap, and laugh, till they sing TO-
%ether at last in the great, clad chorus OF the
sea.
The author deplores the policy that pre-
vailed with the early settlers of Maine, in
stripping the land of its valuable timber
and shipping it in the toughest state to
the most convenient market This haste
and greed has scattered with prodiga
hand riches that should have been kept in
store Tor future generations This is seen
and acknowledged when almost too late
for remedy.
Judge Knight presents a most attractive
array OF the known and developed indus
tries of the State, and dwells lovingly not
only upon their probable increase, but the
undoubted discovery Of untold new ANA
remuneraliye ones. The many forms in
which the various woods of the State take
their place among commercial articles
the ships, furniture, boxes, and down to
Il toothpick or thread spool, are An i'm
mense aggregate The making of wood
pulp for paper is Il great and growing in
dustry. Farming in all its branches toots
up Of course heavily, and compares favor
ably in return in dollars and cents with
the most favored States \ bushel of
corn, OF the Wanted crops of the west, is
the average equivalent of Il half bushel of
potatoes, three heads Of cabbage, or
quart of Strawberries, raised in Maine
with market at the farmers door, which
the west does not always furnish The
agricultural specialties Of cheese making,
sheep raising and green corn packing are
not only profitable. but peculiarly fitted
for our climate The fisheries of the
State are specially large and valuable in
the aggregate The canned shell : fish
alone come close up to a million dollars
in annual value. The porgy fishing en-
ploys a capital of Il million of dollars. for
ty steamers. thirty eight other vessels,
400 men, and reaps this harvest Of the
sea at the rate of GAG 900 barrels Of fish
millions. and with failing seasons else
where must make Maine the great, Ger
tain and reliable producer of the com
modify The lime slate, granite and
iron productions are each reviewed, with
aggregate figures that both astonsh and
CRAFTY the reader.
Stephen A. Douglas, who was born in
Vermont and achieved fame in the west,
used to say that the state Of his birth was
a good one to emigrate from. The object
OF the pamphlet under notice, and one
which it will accomplish with reasonable