The Portland daily press., 1881-07-21
PORTLAND TO MT. ERT
A LANDsMAN'S FIRST TRIP TO BAR
HARBOR.
A Moonlight Sail.

the City of Richmond left astern the scattered
lights of the city and harbor But few miles
before our PROV there shone great silver sea.
1t sent a long white shaft which almost touch
ed the ship. The ship-so it seemed to me-
tried to leave the black water that surrounded
her and sail ON this luminous pathway to the
silver sea. But the shaft kept just little
ahead. Fas ter went the ship and thereupon
legion ofserpents with glittering scales darted to
the surface Of the water and famed and flashed
and Knocked at our slowness, till our indignant
ship would dash out big billow and swallow up
the serpents, and the white shaft would
change into tossing pavement of black and
white. Every now and then vicious wave
would thump the ship on her ribs, when q
young lady on the forward deck would utter a
little scream of ooh, my'' Al the eastern
horizon dark sea seemed to touch grey sky
till pencil of ragged light was swiftly drawn
across and revealed burning cities and blood
red battlements.
GETTING ONES SEA LEGS ON.
had often heard the expression that man
should get his sea legs on if he would walk up
rightly on the tottering floor of ship, and just
as often had I wished for favorable chance
to exercise pair of sea legs for myself. A
favorable chance was now mine, for even the
captain conceded that it was ''little rough"
An official concession of even this mild form
means good deal. I once happened to be on
the top of Mount Washington when there was
blowing what should have called-and then
thought my words feeble and inadequato-a
whirl-wind, a tornado, a cyclone, blizzard.
"Why there was not a single lady in the party
that was able to stand up against it unsupport-
edl Notwithstanding an officer of the Signal
Service Bureau remarked that there was lit.
tie air stirring, to be sure, but that to really
feel the wind blow I must come to Mt. Wash
ington in the winter. have never been. But
as the captain said, SIT was little rough
Not rough enough for bromide, but
rough enough to make firm and steady stride
on deck thing to be proud of. leaned up
against the pilot house SO as to put my sea legs
firmly on. get my bearings and lay out my
course. Midway between the cabin door
and my anchorage was an old gentleman hold
ing on to post and looking up at the moon
with far-away, rapt expression, seemingly in
different to the use of both sea legs or land legs
1 resolved to show this worthy man how easy
it was to walk on ship-board, if one only puts
his sea legs on. So weighed anchor, bore
down upon him with all sail spread, and was
just about to tack and run in the cabin, when
the ship suddenly fell into great big hole,
and l held the post with my .moon-gazing COM
panion.
RULES AND REGULATIONS.
On many of our inland steamers the mental
peace OF the traveller is disturbed by the OBJ
trusive presence in his state-room of rules and
regulations, "Beware of pick-pockets,' - in big
letters, makes him see beneath the clerical
garb OF some innocent, mild-mannered passen-
ger member of the light-fngered gentry
"All valuables must be left with the steward"
reminds him of the unpleasant fact that he.
has no 'svaluables," unless he gives his own
precious person into custody and is locked up
up in the safe over night, running the risk
of the clerks forgetting the combination, CIR of
the ship going down and not being able to
even get a life-preseryer. He is not even al
lowed slight memento of the voyage, but is
told imperatively to 'leave the key behind
him. The sleepy traveller may have obeyed
the charges to shut his window, to close and
lock and bolt the door and barricade it with
the bureau, and be about to turn in when his
wandering eye will spy the ominous words,
"The use of the Life-Preservers." The Sleep
lest traveller will now be wide awake. He is
convinced that his temporal life is likely to
depend upon the buoyancy of those few bits of
cork. which look as il they had been used the
night before. He cannot help wondering
whether the man was saved as well as the
"preserver. He tries to make out the differ
ence between that piece which the ''rules'' say
is the ''iacket" and that which they call some
thing else. It is an easy task to forget most
rules-those of arithmetic for example, or of
college faculties, Or Real Property But these
rules when once committed will not out
The last time that was on the Sound there
would ring in my ears between the music of
the fog whistle the horrible refrain, "Shut the
blind, lock the door, tie on your Jacket, leave
the key
I missed all these rules on board the "Rich-
mond, 'till the next morning found in an out
of-the-way spot in my state room courteous
invitation to passengers not to sleep in their
boots. This both satisfies the requirements of
the government inspectors and does not wound
the feelings of the sensitive passenger For ne
body wears boots nowadays, and the notice
says nothing about shoes.
ON SHORE.
MIR. Cough was once SO excessively introduce
ed to his audience by foolish chairman, that,
knowing himself unable to satisfy their I'M
hopes he did his best to do his
worst. With such success did he do this that
in few minutes the audience had ceased to
hope for anything except to get out. The
speaker then rallied and gave the audience an
other great, and this time happy, disappoint-
ment. Bar Harbor on Mt Desert apparently
tries the same artifice. For those who think
to find the eulogy of poem and story and letter
verified at sight, meet with rude dsappoint-
ment when they step on the steamer landing
For row of old shanties will DO the first bit of
scenery to welcome you to famous Bar Harbor
on Mt. Desert. The hotels are reached through
a wretched little village street where sheds
and shanties are too many and too prominent.
The charm of this heart-shaped island, the
beauty and grandeur of hill and gorge, Of
ocean and lake and inlet have not yet been
fully told, but will not be their spokesman.
Hotels and boarding houses have no cause to
complain and are getting ready for the crush"
of August, while the energetic correspondent
of the american Queen is sharpening his
wits an his pencil SO as TO iot down "society"
notes.
Collins Portland Band entertained the pas
sengers on the City of Richmond on the trip of
last Saturday, and gave an alleged sacred con-
cert at Bar Harbor ON Sunday. The sacred
ness, take it, must have resided in the piety
of the performers rather than in the character
of the music.
by DAYLIGHT from MT. DESERT TO PORT.
LAND.
went from Portland to Bar Harbor by
moonlight and Starlight came from Bar Har-
Dor to Portland by sunlight 1t is pleasure
to do the one and joy not to leave tho other
undone. The newsboy sold but few books and
papers; not because we were Indifferent as to
what other folks were saying and seeing but