The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1877-10-18
A Castine Home.

"A CdSCluc NOME.
There is the garnet, not full of moth
eaten refuse and festooned with cobwebs,
light and airy, the favorite play-room of
the little folks, and frequent resort of
their elders when the bay is to be swept
with glance in search of an expected
pleasure boat, or a lookout kept for the
first glimpse of a gait topsail as the Spy
comes creeping around Lighthouse Head,
hugging the shore too closely for unac-
customed eyes to distinguish the slowly
gliding masts from the stationary objects
on the bank above. There are heavy
chests filled with the discarded tinery of
former generations, the lowered brocade
of the great grandmother who danced
with the British officers being the chief
treasure of the hoard. The now obsolete
spinning wheel occupies distant corner,
and ranged along the walls are decrepit
chairs with wide carved backs, and claw
footed tables too cumbrous for the taste
of the present day. Nor is there wanting
even here that suggestion of the sea
which gives quaint touch and flavor to
all the belongings of Castine. There
are rows of huge conch shells, for which
fashion no longer demands place upon
the parlor mantelpiece, and boxes of Gu
riosities collected by childish hands {;
there are masses of coral rock brought
home by the boys from the ballast wharf,
and delicate coral fans, the gift of some
the floor is ornamented with rows of star
| ~ = - Al. III
of to-day have laid in the sun to dry.
In the chambers below, the curtained
beds and cushioned arm chairs of old
times are set off by quaint engravings or
richly toned paintings, reminders of
Mediterranean voyages and of hurried
visits to art capitals along the coast.
The Bay of Naples,or the villa-crowned
height Of Genoa, smiles from the wall
upon the scarcely less beautiful piano.
rama Of sea and shore outside the win
dows; and the sewing table is adorned
with basket of finest workmanship, the
gift of the sailor son, who remembers in
Eastern bazaars his mothers patient
stitching and mending in the days of his
boisterOus youth. Her daughters bureau
drawers in the opposite room are stored
with foreign treasures. All her garments
smell of myrrh, aloes and cassia. When
she goes to pay visits, she attires herself
in shawl so wondrously embroidered
as to be above the caprices of fashion
and her ivory card-case is a miracle of
Chinese art. The grave father Of the
family cuts his Boston Transcript with a
sandal-wood paper-knife, and writes his
business letters at solid desk Of cam
phor wood, whose massive brass frame
fairly lights up the corner of the sitting
room, where it has an abiding-place and
a table of its own.
In the parlor the mantepiece is gay
with the artistically grouped feathers o.
tropical birds; upon the shelves of the
whatnot are glass jars of the spices Of
Ceylon, arranged in the various develop
ments of their fruitage; the drawers o.
the bookcase are full of Chinese pic
lures, innocent of perspective and bril-
liant in coloring; the table is strewr
with ingenious puzzles; and never fail
ing source of amusement for stranger
guests is the japanese fan, which, opened
Alright, offers brave show of costumed
figures, and reversed, tumbles into rags
and empty sticks. Even the dining
room and kitchen partake of the foreign
element which the great and wide sea
brings to this remote shore. Every one
in the house recognizes the subtle fra
GRANGE when a certain tiny saucepan is
brought into requisition, and the chill
dren rejoice to see upon the tea-table the
pale blue jar ornamented with watery
landscape, which hints of preserved GIN
ger within.
Nor is it alone the great square houses
that contain these cosmopolitan treasures.
The neat white cottages by the shore are
made picturesque by their imported be-
longings. Queer beads and heathenish
necklaces dangle from the frames of the
looking-glasses; exquisite shells adorn
the bureau in the best room; and the
tame gray parrot sits on the fence and
scolds the passers-by in foreign jargon,
but with an emphasis Enthusiastically sug-
gestive of his meaning.-ElizabetA H.
EUans, in Harper's Magazine.
Do NOT FACE THE LIGHT WhEN AT