Litchfield enquirer., 1880-08-12
PORTSMOUTH. N. H., Aug. 2, 1880.

Editor of Enquirer Dear Sir -. r.... ...
Since my last letter have left the shadows
of the Catskills behind. and am sojouruing
temporarily in this good old town near the
Atlantic. This is great center of departure
for the many summer resorts of this vicinity
AS write, my eye takes in the tracks, of the
Eastern and the Concord railroads. Over the
former frequent trains pass with heavily laden
trains Of passengers for the beaches and the
mountains. Within easy reach are Hampton
Beach with its famous Boar's Head hotel;
Rye Beach, with its extensive sea view and
numerous smaller hotels and private boarding
houses. Within the past ten years there have
been very extensive improvements at the lat
ter place. The beach affords fine opportunl-
ties for drives, sea bathing, and enjoying the
rolling surf of the Atlantic seldom surpassed
at any point on our coast. Here is the ter.
minus of one of the Atlantic cables, and near
by is a life saving station.
At the mouth of the Piscatsqua is the quiet
fishing village of New Castle. At least it
used to be quiet, when first visited it. Now
there are many Innovations, hear. The
Wentworth House, accommodating five hun
dred guests, stands on prominent point of
land, facing the ocean, and commanding
distant view of the isles of shoals about nine
miles off. To reach the shoals one eau take
the steamer Appleton Which plies regularly
between this place and the hotel of the same
name located on one of the islands.
Farther east lies York Beach, reached by
coaches. Just across the Piscatogua in Kit
terry is the Portsmouth Navy Yard A
small steamer constructed by the workmen in
the Navy Yark at Philadelphia and presented
to the Soldiers Sanitary Fair there, in the
time Of the late war, plies regularly between
Portsmouth and the Navy Yard. a .r,,.,5.. .
Portsmouth itself has made very little gain
in population during the last decade, There
are many indications of enterprise in the i'm
proved appearance of the business portion of
the town and in the suburban residences. ,...
b" Shipbuiding, formerly conducted on large
scale is now lat q standstil. n Even at the
Navy Yard everything in that line is as quiet
as though perpetual Sabbath had fallen upon
the grounds Some private. yards have been y
given up for building lots, for private dwell
lin gs. The largest business enterprises here
now, are the large bleweries, Of the Hon.
Frank Jones, and the Eldredge Brewing Com
pany. These produce ale and beer in enor-
nous quantities and have !, brought large for
tunes to the owners. There is nothing in the
public estimation, to prevent these men from
holding the highest offices. Jones has been
mayor and his friends claim for him that mo
man has done more for New Hampshire than
he."r His brewer, man who receives sala-
ry of several thousand year, is now the
democratic nominee for mayor. ll. i3nH .n
'n Between this city and New Castle are sew
eral bridges over branches of the Piscataqua
which thread between the numerous islands.
The first of the series is q toll bridge, the
whole of them being kept up at private ex- b
pense Here is to be found the Aquarium"
of Major Urch, who has charge Of the bridge
The Major is a genius in his way. He has
applied the principle of the velocipede to the
working of water craft. He has two long,
narrow, painted, water tight, boxes fastened
together for floats. Surmeunting these Is his
seat with velocipede attachment, connecting
with tive bladed paddle Or propeller at the
stem, and with the rudder, am told that the
Major mounted on this, skins along like
bird. ..... ....-...
He has constructed a paddle wheel with
long and broad floats that hang exposed to the
tide. AS this flows it gives motion to the
wheel which works pump, throwing water
into large tank. From this tank pass sever
al small pipes to the glass tanks, and foun-
ttains in the aquarium. Here may be seen
many Of the curious things Of thesea. under the
very best conditions forobser wing theirpeculiar-
tiles and habits. Many of the common fish OF
this region, with some quite rare ones, may he
found here In large tank outside are sew
eral sharks, surgeons and other monsters Of
tile deep. One old sturgeon, with back and
fms covered with moss that floats away from
him ID wavy folds as be moves about was