Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1879-05-27
NO. 1919.
miscellaneous.
NEWPORT.

| Rhode Island holds in her possession a
gem of peerless brilliancy, which arouses
the admiring envy of her sister States,
though she willingly shares the treasure,
not only with them, but with the world
This gem is her city by the sea. beautiful
Newport, the loveliest land on which the
sun shines, where the perfection of nature
and the perfection of art Join hand to hand
in the lprodlction of effects over which
poets and painters rave. and which more
prosaic observers enjoy with soberer dem
onstrations of delight. But Newport has
reached her present eminence among
watering places by toilsome steps. The
pathway to her pinnacle of fame was a
rough road with MANY turnings. Those
who enjoy the rare blessings she now Of
fers to the dwellers in her broad domain,
will do well to review the steps by which
she has reached IA regal dignity. The
story reads like romance and abounds in
historic incidents stranger than fiction.
Many centuries ago the waters of the Gulf
stream laved the shores of Newport Just
as they do at the present time; the waves
broke "a gently on the smooth beach, and
the same pure, soft atmosphere lowered
over the spot The historian sees nothing
in this >hadowy epoch of the past but dim
visions of Norsemen gathering grapes in
Nineland, and leaving behind them an old
stone mill as IA relic to puzzle the brains
of their successors. Real men make set
Elements here as time rolls on, and prosper
itv crowns their efforts. The fine harbor is
full of ships, bringing the treasures OF the
world to reward the enterprise of merchant
princes, and Newport stands on the
heights of commercial renown. when
the stern experience of the Revolutionary
war brings desolation within her borders.
She acted a noble part in the struggle. and
many poetic legend and deed of daring
is recorded on her annals. Her CONNER
cial glory, however, departed, never to re-
turn, and the quiet town subsded into II
sleep from which there seemed to be no
waking. Her darkest days We're her best
days. for within them lay hidden the germ
waiting to be warmed into life, the propi-
tous Influences which have produced the
Newport of to-day. the queen of watering
places. 1t would seem as if she had now
reached the acme of her fame ; that ant and
nature had done their utmost to beauify
this ha ppy abode that riches and re fine
ment had exhausted every device, and that
the world could show no finer specimens
of the race than those that year after year
find Il summer abode in this land favored
by the gods. But every returning year
brings its improvements. Fairy palaces
are built of more artistic elegance than
those that preceded them, floral perfection
reaches higher plane, and new drives are
laid out. until visions of a Newport of the
future rise, far surprising the elegance
and grace and fashion of the present The
Newport of to-day is, however. good
enough for us, and no picture Of summer
summer enjoyment is more satisfactory
than a breath Of the soft atmosphere, a
taste of the salubrious climate, a drive on the
avenues and ocean roads, walk on the
cliffs, a vision of the gay flowers and green
lawns, peep into the world of fashion
and culture, and sight of the glossy
beach shining like silver, with the surt
rolling in concentric waves on the sandy
crescent, and the blue green water stretch
ing out to the boundless, waveless sea-
Prorid,ncc JourHdi.
81 DON'T WANT THAT STUFF