The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1884-09-17

Summer Day. in Old Castine.

''Ob, the old place amt what it used 10 be, !"
dreamily huns primeval fisherman through
his nose, as he views a throug of Broadway
dressed visitors lounging upon the piazza OF a
so called "Queen Anne" cottage. And the sa-
line relic Of by-eone generations is right. Cas-
tine has undergone wondrous changes during
the past few years It used 10 be fishing
town; but now the landlady deals out only salt
mackerel from the New York market, aud des-
sicatei cod. II used to be a great place for
shipping: but in these days the Portland
steamer, one tug and various barnacle bebur-
dened scows are the most conspicuous part OF
the marine. 1t used to be all the year round
a thriving, prosperous, hut eminently decorous
town; but now in summer it is the tramping
ground Of the riu;ous summer boarder, and in
winter it is only trife less desolate than Lady
Franklin Bay One thing however, remains
unchanged: the fogs. And Castine fog is a
fog indeed. Ii comes to stay, sometimes for
weeks, shutting out the rays Of the sun, moon
and stars as effectively as mighty lid of white
China. Ii is pervasive toe; very much so. 1t
makes the bay and sea dim gray gull, above,
below. 1t makes the streets dim at monday,
and the big elms loom through it like giant
specters 1t makes its way indoors, and your
friend across the room looks shadowy. II dims
the luster of glossy collars and cuffs and makes
wild havoc with crimps and frizzes. But 1t
has its good traits too, for it gives the ladies
Of Castine softness and purity Of complexion
rivalling that seen in the Channel Isles OF
England, and to the lawns and trees it gives
depth of lustrous green that can scarcely be
imagined in places where the grass and leaves
are scorched and blistered half the time.
But then Castine isn't perpetually ina fog.
Thnro ara MANY emmy rlpuiless DAYS And
then there is a view Of Penobscot Bay and
its multitudinous islands that is indescribably
beautiful The town too, is a fine sight, with
its houses more than century old, and its
streets over-arched with elms that were lusty
trees Sin the good old colony times when We
were under the King"
There are some well-preseryed old customs
prevalent in Castine, and al least one Of them
has caught even the iconoclastic summer
boarder in its snares. This is the hay-rack
party, Of which the straw ride Of New York
and New Jersey is but a feeble and unavailing
Imitation. The needful ingredients OF the hay
rack party are a wagon Of the oldest most lun-
bering type, surmounted by rack or rigging
that looks like an international convention Of
exaggerated picket fences, yoke Of oxen, the
slower the better; farmers boy to drive them
with nail-iipped goad, lot Of hay, and any
quantity Of young people Of assorted sexes,
Put the hay in the rack until it is half full, and
the young people atop, yoke the oxen to the
wagon, bid the boy WELD his quad, and of
goes the party. The rustic equippage Siih
its hilarious occupants moves on as slow and
stately as as the Lord Mayors gilded coach:
through the elm-embowered streets, along the
winding country road with its stone fences and
apple trees by the wayside. the air fragrant
with the breath Of new mown hay. Far out in
the country, when the evening stars are twink
ling, au old stone farmhouse that has endured
many an Indian siege, is reached. 1t stands
in garden of hollybOcks and peoples and is
half covered with honeysuckles and roses. In
troop the hay-rack riders into the big kitchen,
with the beams Of the floor above so low that
the heads of the tallest involuntarily droop.
Here, by the light of a score of candles, chick
ems, and cider that is equal to champagne, are
discussed. Then table and chairs are run to
the wall, three rustic hddlers mount the table,
and the Virginia reel wakes fast and furious.
So goes the evening, until midnight finds rack
and oxen in waiting for noisy return to the
town that has been sleeping the sleep of the
just for the past three hours. And the good
man Of the house awakes one ear to hear the
chorus Of "a rig and-s-Jg and away we so,
and opens the corner Of his mouth 10 say;
"Pnscilly. tell We won't have them air
noisy city folks here no more naow, burned If
will. Jest hear the rumpus they're raisin'
a, this time o night"
Aud the good wife replies:
ezekiel, yell have ZEN here if they don't
come home till daylight, longs they pay ten
dollars week each for the little attic bedroom
and some garden-sass."
And Priscilla's counsel always prevails.