The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1889-07-08
MAINE TOWNS.
How the Fourth was Celebrated at
Southwest Harbor.
Graduating Exercises Of the Pen, :
broke High School.
South West Aarbor.

Ihe glorious Fourth has come and gone.
ana ioggy, drizzly, cherries day il was.
For three or four days it had been threaten
tng storm. and on Wednesday it cane BY
thursday morning the rain had ceased fall
ing with the exception of an occasional
shower, but genuine Mt. Desert fog took
Its place, and all things were invisible
Quite elaborate preparations had been made
at this place and at West fremont for the
celebration of the national holiday, but the
programmes could only be partially carried
out There was to be game of base ball
between local nine and team from Seal
Harbor, but owing to the weather the Seal
Harbor nine did not appear. The fog was so
chick that all races, boat, tub, sack, &C., had
20 be abandoned. The small boy, however,
mad his programme, and he carried it out in
spite OF the weather He burned gunpowder
all day from early dawn, and finished up
with fireworks in the evening. He toiled
manfully to publish to the world that the
fourth OF July had come, and on the whole
ne succeeded. All honor to him.
The hot days of last week have begun to
MI the hotels. Every boat now brings con-
siderable company, and the landlord smiles.
Buckboards laden with jolly crews drive
about the mountain roads, and knicker-
bockers go about the Streets"
AS usual the Sunday boat is industriously
attending to business wholly unmindful of
che ten commandments and the Revised
Statutes. Last Sunday just as the church
bells were calling people to worship, large
boat entered the harbor, and its whistling
mingling with the Ginning Of the bells made
rIa.. fA.w
Portland, in spasm of virtue, enforced the
Sunday laws against BARRIERS; it Is a pity
those same laws were not enforced against
the running of steamers on the Sabbath, or
that the laws were not expunged from tho
nor pleasure warrants this wanton desecra-
tion Of the Sabbath.
Five or six years ago somebody wrote an
article Tor the Congregationalist describing
a visit to Mount Desert, in which the writer
stated that there were emily three or four
churches on the island and that religious
services, when by chance there were any,
were held in the schoolh0uses. The Article
was grossly inaccurate, and gave to the
was in condition of standardization. Since
1he date OF that article seven or eight new
churches have been built on this island,
three OF them in fremont alone. All are
elegant buildings and would ornament
places Of much greater pretensions. 1t is
evident II the people are building churches
at the rate. of one year they cannot be
greatly behind the rest of the world in reli-
gious interest.
Probably in no respect has Mount Desert
made greater improvements during the last
ten years than in her highways. The con-
ditlons are exceedingly unfavorable to road
making. The surface is very uneven, and
almost every foot of the way is covered
with natural pavement To build a good
carriage way here means the expenditure of
a sum which would build three or four times
the same distance in Cumberland county.
Nevertheless the people early realized the
fact that If they would attract summer COM
pany they must have good roads, and they
set bravely to work to make them, until to
day there are excellent carriage roads cross
the island in every direction. In the vicinity
of the larger resorts, Bar Harbor, N. e. Har-
Dor and South West Harbor, the roads are
hardly excelled by any in the State. E.