The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1877-05-17
The AndrOscOggin Lakes.

From very entertaining article on the An
droscoggin Lakes by Edward Abbott in Har-
per's Magazine for June the following excerpts
are made:
We call Maine the "Pine. tree State" Lake
STATE" would be an equally appropriate and
distinctive appellation. Her forests are gradu-
any falling before the advancing stroke OF tne
lumberman, but her lakes can never be lost out
OF her mountain-guarded territory, nor can
their charms ever be lessened by the touch of
settlement and civilization. TheIe are more
than fifteen hundred of them laid down upon
the better maps IN use; hundreds more are zoo
small to be enumerated in general survey;
while many others lie hidden in regions that
have not yet been explored. The author of
Water-power of Maine says in that work:
'aThere are but three or four districts on the
globe, not more extensive than Maine and
equally habitable in other respects, upon which
an equal number of receptaces for impounding
rainfall of not inferior capacity and service is
to be found. The Kennebec River has more
lakes connected with in than the gigantic ORR
n0co, and the Penobscot than the Oregon, or
than all the rivers in Africa, so far as is
known
But the Kennebec and the Penobscot are
only two of half dozen important rivers in
Maine, each of which is connected with an ex-
tensive lake system of its own. These two
rivers drain the central portions of the state,
the Kennebec being the outlet of the great
Moosehead Lake, whose varied attractions
have already received due notice in the pages
of this magazine Far to the eastward, on the
confines Of New Brunswick, the st. Croix
river and the Schoodic Lakes; to the north of
these the st. John aud the Eagle Lakes; to the
west again, following along the Canada border,
the Alleguash and the lakes of upper Piscata-
quis county; and finally, we'll around on the
New Hampshire line, the Audroscoggin and
its flakes. These are only six out of some if
teen systems which are recognized by the geog-
raphers
The Androscoggin Lakes, as commonly reck-
oned, are six in number, though the character
of the connecting waters is such in two in
stances that the number is sometimes reduced
to four. Thus Cupsuptc and Mooslucmagun-
tic are joined by so broad strait as really to
form one body of water, though the contigura-
ton of the shores justiies the division which
has been adopted in the nomenclature. The
same is true of Mollychunkemunk and We
lokennebacook, which are sometimes spoken of
together as the Richardson Lake or Lakes
Rangely Lake, at the upper (northeasD ex.
tremity of the chain, and Umbagog, at the
lower Southwest; extremity, have each more
distinct individuality, being separated from the
others by very papabe streams. ALL however,
constitute one series, and the waters of the An
droscoggin River, as they leave Umbagog by
its western shore, gather part of their volume
from small pond which lies away to the east
of Rangely. A dozen or more such smaller
ponds are buried in the forests and among the
mountains that surround these lakes, and con-
tribute their quotas to the mighty current
poured therefrom through the Androscoggin
aggregate surface of seventy-seven square
miles. They drain a tributary area of nine
hundred square miles By aid of dams erected
at connecting points, their storage is increased
to very nearly $4,000 100000 cubic feet, and
their outflow is but from 36 to 48 hours in
reaching the city of Lewiston, to whose many
manufactures they furnish an ample and ex-
haustless power. This function, taken in con-
nection with the extended timber lands which
envelop them on every lside, gives the chain
great importance ina commercial point of view,
and the busy numbering life, of which in win
ter they form the centre might very properly en-
gross our attention to the exclusion of other
aspects.
But 1t is with these lakes as resort of the
sportsman and tourist that we are now chiefly
concerned. AS such, they are coming into wide
and deserved notice, This northwestern corner
of Maine is a lesser Adirondacks. ''No part of
the world" says the Second Annual Report
upon the Natural History and Geology OF the
variety of trouts. than Maine" And no part
of Maine is richer in this particular endowment
than this upper half of Franklin and Oxford
counties. The wilderness is practically limit
turesque and often grand. The fisherman and
the hunter may find constant exercise in sea-
son for rod and gun. Lovers of nature in her
wilder moods are already beginning to make
their way Int0 the region IN considerable num-
bers. And nothing is needed but time and a
measurable degree of enterprise on the part of
those who have the handling of this vast estate
to effect its development into one of the most
delightful summer resorts which the country
contains.
As one notable feature of this lake region
among many others that commend it to seekers
of health and pleasure, let me mention its alti
tude, compared with other localities that are
better known. Thus the romantic Lake Win.
nipiseogee in New Hampshire, is but sol feet
above the level of the sea, and the waters Of
Lake Superior itself are only $50. But the fig.
ures of the Androscoggin Lakes are as follows:
Ompagog .'s''.''.'''..''. l256
INiCudLusOu' ...l40b
Mooselucmaguntc. NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. 1886
hangeley. .15l1