The Republican journal., 1886-02-25
Up-River Scenes.

Mr.. +. X. Smith, OF Bangor, publisher of the
Up-River News, recently made "Trip up the
Penobscot. OF his visit to the lumber camp of
Mr.. }. ). Warren in No. . he says:
This being our first visit to lumber camp
all was new and novel to our eyes il place OF
the chilly log hut We expected to find We We're
ushcred INTO as warm house a. TWO stoves
could make a substantial log building, well
chinked with moss. The glass windows made
ii as cheerful as any house, while the bal>amc
odor of the beds reminded us of the present
craze of city ladies for fir pillows; here the
men not Only have fir pillows but whole beds
of it, ranged one above the other; each capable
of holding 10 men in good old field" fashion.
We are introduced to the hoil>ekeeper and hir-
ed girl, who was none other than that veteran
Jones Waire, artist cook, blacksmith and me-
chanic. The dinner was excellent, baked beans
never tasted better, the biscuit could not have
been eXceed in any hotel and the noIasses-
sweetened tea served III tin clippers was as de
licous without its cream as any English Break
fast we have qualified from the finest gold band
china. After the gingerbread, dried apple
sauce and pie had disappeared we took pleas
ure IN examining the very historic and anus
inc pictures the work of the cook. that adorn-
ed the walls of the dining-room. Among other
articles that MI. Nairc has manufactured from
the raw material with the aid of a hammer
only, We We're shown Il very strong bear trap,
and from an old file he has made Il tirst-class
razor that is used by the camp barber on all
occasions; ne also has made from an old raSp Il
good draWShave, his most difficult piece of
work being a swivel. Anything wanted is
made on the premises, all that is required be-
in9 wood and iron. Another branch of his art
is making rug patterns. Before we left we
could not help noting the happy manner in
which the eat Tom and dog Niger played to-
gether. Nothing could be more harmonious
than their trust and confidence. awake or
asleep, locked i'll each others paws.
OF mid-winter travel up-rivcr he says
Talk about your Trans-Alpine roads, We
have Travelled over the steppes of Siberia,
swetercd across the sands of Africa, WrestIed
with the lungles of India, slcdged ii across the
ice plains of Greenland, crossed the Atlantic i'll
an open boat, journeyed to the sun i'll balloon,
visited the centre Of the earth with Jules Verne
all i'll our mind-but never, no never, did we
expect to suffer as we did on that last 9 miles
to Lincoln Village. To add to the misery Of
| the 2S-belowZero air, there was no road for the
poor horse, and half blinded by the flying
snow and with only one leg in the track at d
time, she had a sorry time of it, up hill and
down, through snow banks up to her breast
now tumbling into IA hole in the crust a foot
deep or breaking one twice as deep. We gol
along till it seemed we had gone at least |;
miles, when we were informed by a lady, at
whose house we felt bound to enquire if W,
were yet in the State of Maine. that it was
only four miles further to the Village. We
| thought of the Selectmen of Burlington agar
and wished they had been obliged to walk aheaC
with lantern and show our horse the way
We guess they would have guide-posts as thicl
as telegraph poles after that Well all thing:
come to an end and so did that ride. We neve
were 50 pleased to see lights in houses before
We had actually got out of the woods, and no
| long after that we were in the house of thu
| Woods, but this time of an entirely diferen
grain from the woods we had so recently left
The roaring, open fire of the Lincoln Hous
looked good enough to hug and we were no
slow in forming its acquaintance. After max
ing few hasty calls on our friends, we wer,
only too glad to be shown to No. TO- and wer
agreeably surprised to find good, warm room
the air-tight stove doing its level best to ge
ahead of Jack Frost. We can testify that
wire mattress never held man who appreca
ted good bed better than we did. We sool
forgot our troubles. What we saw next da
and the rest of our trip we must defer till ano
Their issue. FRANK X. SMITH.