The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1878-12-27
BUSINESS OUTLOOK.
The Industrial Interests of
the Pine Tree State.
Effect Of the Liquor Law on
the Trade Of Cities.
CHANGES in NEW HAMPSHIRE



FISHERY INTEREsTs-DEPREssING EFFECT OF
PROHIBITION ON THE LARGER CITIES
BOSTON, Dec. "a. 1878.
correspondent in Augusta, Me-, in answer to an
inquiry to the condition of business in the Pine
Tree State. writes follows about that section:-
The principal of revenue in this portion of
the State from ice, lumber and farming. There
is manufacturing but it is not very extensive.
farther Off toward the coast The ice business last
year was very good. Ny inquiries along the Kenie-
bee Valley show that the business last year
cellent. Only very small quantity OF last years
crop left over. Kennebec ice has acquired
well deserved popularity all the Eastern States,
aud large shipments made last year. The prices
not large i'll previous years, but the sales
Preparations for laying in heavy crop for
well advanced and large force OF cutters
and storers will be employed.
THE LUMBER TRADE.
The lumber trade has fallen off in this region, of
course considerably owing to the heavy clearings
bee river Is used III the spring only . carry
ing medium for the lumber cut further north.
districts. but the business of hewing and pilng up
this winter has not been as heavy as in years gone
Piscataqus and Washington counties, as well as the
northern portions OF Penobscot. In Aroostook
county there has been good deal OF government
land sold for clearing purposes within few years,
ana some sections have been prepared for agricul-
tural purposes. OF course portions Of the public
lands have been purchased by capitalists for the pur
pose of exporting lumber, but there is not much
animation in that branch Of trade at present.
AGRICULTURE.
In agricultural pursuits there was a very good
showing last year. very good crop OF potatoes was
Prices were lower than In former years but the
farmers feel encouraged, and hopes of good crops
next year are entertained. Kennebec and Somerset
Cumberland and Saco yield good supplies Of po-
tatoes. hay and corn which yield fair profits the
and horses raised and considerable money has
been protaby invested in this branch Of industry.
LEWISTON AND AUBURN
correspondent in Lewiston. which is large
manufacturing CENTRE gives very good account of
the condition of business in Lewiston and Auburn,
two adjacent cities. He says:-
Some of the largest mills of New England are in
full operation In Lewiston. and the fact that the
operatives are kept employed adds stimulus to
general business. During the past years there
has been good deal of speculation In real estate.
Several tracts Of land purchased ten twelve
years ago in the outlying districts of the city,
cut up into building lots and moderate priced
houses for mechanics and mill operatives
erected. Many Of them were promptly occupied,
but VIXEN the panic came on and manufacturing
received its first check necessitatng reduction III
ments were abandoned, and the owners compelled to
let them at ruinots prices or have their property lie
idle The history Of real estate in lewiston is the
same as that of similar property i'll other parts of
New England especially in the large centres OF
n-arca and trade. First grand Jump upward good
lapse and hard struggle to keep the property from
being swallowed up by mortgages and interest.
carried quite extensively. 1t is the largest shoe
manufacturing centre in Maine. and. as general
rule the business has been well sustained In both
cities the depression Of business has been largely rs
and the fact that Scion Chase the leader of the green
back movement in Maine. converted some OF our
most conservative business men to his theories OF
finance shows that there strong desire
lief through any agency that offered.
PORTLAND.
correspondent in the leading commercial city Of
the State says:--
;xp ;s bc;.
according to latest advices 1t be denied that
the stringency Of the Liquor law has tended to keep
down the standard Of commercial success. The ho-
tells, and there some very fine in that city,
have all they do to rent the bar Is closed i'll
in Portland cannot obtain his cocktail; not
glass of ale claret at his dinner he cannot invite
his business friend to his and there discuss the
prospects OF trade over glass OF wine as he can i'll
New York. Boston, Philadelphia other seaboard
cities. l am not prepared to say that this strict
prohibition, which is fostered by Neal Dow
and his followers does not increase the morals of the
city, but the liberal minded of the community
business. No city on the Atlantic coast labored
harder utZe her excellent harbor facilities the
development of first class shipping trade than Port
land. She has in eight years invested
nearly $lO000,00O in the building and maintenance
of railroad lines which promised to bring her
large shipments OF grain and other products of the
West for shipment to England The history of her
connection with the Portland and Ogdensburg
aud the Portland and Rochester roads Is OF hard
struggles and discouraging reverses. The Portland
and Ogdensburg has been completed, that its
and the Northwest, but still the immense shipping
business which she hoped for has failed to come.
She has the Grand Trunk and Maine Central lines
also, which give her superior facilities for draining
the rich valleys from the New Brunswick and Cana
dian borders. and her wharf facilities of the best
Her shipping trade is still far below its possibilities
and she is loaded down with heavy railroad debts Not
withstanding all these drawbacks Portland is in
very comfortable condition. The dry goods trade
shows fair degree of activity-one that will
compare favorably with more pretentious cities
Her machine shops. foundries factories, &C.
employment to q large number of operatives Port
land is the distributing point for most of the coal
used in the interior the State. and her extensive
coal sheds and wharves show good deal of activity
Lumber is shipped in large quantities, be
by the large list OF clearings and arrivals of coasters
daily recorded in her newspapers.
THE
business along the bays and islands of the extern
sive and irregular coast line of Maine is chiefly
fined TO fishing, quarrying and shipbuilding. The
principal shipbuilding points ut Yarmouth, Bath
iockland. waldoboro, and other points north. The
extensive granite quarries la Knox and Washington
counties afford employment to large bodies OF men,
in that section Shipbuding, of course, has fallen
away with the decadcnce in shipping trade Some
OF the largest coasters and ocean vessels in years gone
by were turned out from the yards of Yarmouth,
bath and Rockland and men made their fortunes in
that very important branch OF industry.
FISHERY QUESTION.
The troubles between the Canadian authorities and
our government about inshore fishing ON the New
foundland coast have set back the fishery interests of
Maine, but not near 80 much as those of Massachu-
sets as there is more coast and banks fishing done
from Maine than there is tor Dominion herring and
nackerc
To sum up, Maine has passed through the
depression OF business other States. Her people
very conservative, thrifty cntcrprising, aud
not addicted to speculation. She is, therefore, in
good condition any OF her sister states to profit by
MI improvement in the general business outlook of
the nation. With the return OF confidence there
not fail to to her return of that solid pros
perity which in years gone by made her one OF the
most important States III the Union.
NEW HAMPSHIRE.
DECREASE IN THE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONS
OF THE GRANITE sTATE-How THE RURAL DIS