Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1881-09-05
LETTER FROM THE ADIRON-
DACKS.
MEACHAM LAKE, n. Y,
Aug. %, 1881.

write you little in regard to this won
derful Adirondack region, or what part
of it | have had the pleasure of visiting.
One of the two routes by which to reach
some of the principal hotels from Ma
lone, N. Y, (for at this place you leave
the railway is by stage to Duane, Loon
Lake, and thence to Merrillsville, Paul
Smiths, Saranac, and then around to
Ausable, which is another inlet to the
woods, and which is the terminus Of the
railroad from Plattsburgh. Or, if you
wish to visit Meacham Lake and the
chain of ponds that lie along the route
from Meacham Lake to Paul Smiths,
you will have to hire livery convey
ance, as did your subscriber, and 60
twenty-five miles south from Malone to
Meacham Lake, which is one of the most
important of the Chateaugay waters. 1t
is about three miles long and from one
and one-half to two miles wide. 1t is
bounded on nearly all sides by noun
tains and has three handsome sand
beaches which form one-half of its cir
cumference, and add to its attractive
ness. When to the northeast rises De-
har mountain, BOIL feet high, from
whose summit you can count twenty-six
lakes and ponds, while due south, ST.
Regis mountain shows its blue summit
in the air, and numberless noted pima
cles covered with forests from base to
crown divert and charm the vision. Its
shores are clothed in primeval splendor,
and no signs of civilization or cultivation
are manifest except at its northern ex-
tremity, where the Meacham Lake
House stands with no other habitatlon
within five miles. Mr.. A. R. Fuller,
the gentlemanly proprietor of this house,
never fails to give you meal of the
'speckled beauties" that abound in the
lake and near by streams, or venison
steak. Deer are always to be had by a
little patience and the loss of perhaps a
few nights sleep. The soil is simply
white sand, with thin covering of dead
leaves and rotten wood. In fact, the
land all through this region is SO poor
that two-thirds eff the timber dries up
and never comes to maturity, and, |
should Judge, that it would take hun
dred acres to keep one COW, provided she
did not starve in going from one bunch
of grass to another. Almost every kind
of timber grows here that is found in
Orleans County, but the pine predomi-
mates. There are, in and about these
mountains, one hundred and seventy five
hotels and sporting houses, which charge
from one to three dollars per day for
board, according to style and location.
About each one you will find from three
to fifty guides ready to furnish you with
boats and guide you to any part of the
wilderness for three dollars day and
board, although for the season you can
hire them much cheaper. 1t is estimat-
ed that every deer killed here by sports
men costs $40. and the fish several
cents apiece. But still, if you wish to
camp out, you can live as cheaply here
as at home, and have more comforts than
can be found at the average sporting
house. And if you take the responsible.
ity of guiding yourself and rowing your
own boat, you can get plenty of trout
and small game, but to kill deer you
must employ guide or be an experienc.
ed hand yourself. Your subscriber and
family have been in camp about six
weeks, and although the weather has
been bad, some of the time, we have suf.
fered no Inconvenience and have been as
warm and comfortable as we should have
been at home. Our camp consists of q
duck cloth tent, ten by twelve feet, with
fly and bark dining room and kitch
en- combined seven by nine feet. Both
have floors, and the tent is carpeted
with burlap, and a few tapestry mats
make very comfortable floor. In one
corner stands cottage bedstead with 9
spring bed and mattress which the ho
tel keeper kindly loaned us; In the 9th
er corner is a pole bed for the little
camper, while in another corner are two
trunks covered with shawls etc., to serve
as lounge, and the fourth corner con-
tains a pole coat and hat rack, which ii
novelty in rustic furniture. At the
right of this we have a rustic table
made of spruce poles, while overhead
hang the gun and fishing rods, and
these, with three folding chairs. make
up the furniture of the tent. We have
board step at the front about three
inches lower than the tent floor, anC
from that leads board walk three fee
long to the bark kitchen, where we have
table made of an inverted box with
pole legs, some shelves and small
sheet-iron camp-stove. Back of this We
keep our wood and at the right and neal
by is the water pail, so. as far as con
venience is concerned there is no house
in town that is SO convenient, or wher,
work can be done as easily. Our CAM
stands about eighteen feet above anl