Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1890-09-23
nnIn AND GUN.

This u "ths nome ~ NV ahtfNVlHs
within the sound ~ thu roar ~ Rum
ford rall.-ii,e miles dlstant-my father
va. horn IN lS1i. Here In the beginning
of thI. century my grandparents came
from New llamp.hlrc aud settled along
th. swift River where many ~ the de-
.c-ndants IT'LL live. Then Western
Maine wa. almost a wilderness. Wy
grandpa, stephen Juiklns, was over siN
fe.t tall, aud on hl. broAi shoulder
they were two feet across by actual
,nsa.urrment-wsrc borne the burdens ot
a frontier life and :hc care II family of
ten Children. so soon to D. transferred Ia
the slight shoulders ~ NV grandma, by
hI. death. Mary bunker. hi. wife, came
of ih. .turdy stock for which that family
and all of our Nev England anc"siry
are noted. And, asa boy, well reincti'
ber that till fnc old face, aud the slight
form bent by the toll 81 over eighty
wears. These two grandparents "rcst
In peace In IN. oh family graveyard
near their old home by the swiftly How
Ing stream whose rapid rice Ia the spring
ani fall months, sweeping all before ",
flitlngly give. u the name of ">wift.
Tho.e old settlers dii not drram 81
pr,ciou. metal. hidden In that stream.
They were too busy Ia their efforts to
keep the p1t boiling and brad w
their mouths, "a have any time Ia pruss
pect With pick sud pan among the rocks
and sand along the river. Hut pcrhaPc
they might have tric,i, and at least have
dug out Que of the ''poi-hole.' In the
rocks, hal they even Imagined such
thing q. gold va. being washed doNn
by al. thou.and. of dollars worth along
the hr,i II the .tr-am' Bui 80 it wa..
To-day u hl. been discovered, and Ne
are to reap the reward, and when the
head .ourc. 10 that golden iool !. found
aud the harvest u fully ripe, the laborers
will not be few Who will want Ia work
In that vineyard Gold Ia. been the
world. greatest blessing and the In
ordinate love IL IL u. greatest curse.
Tho.e who arr trying to ct II here. now,
ar. al.o going Ia try to make a good use
of II, a. long a. they have "
~Goli. soli. geh seti..
nnght and yslips hari Ani rokis
Tasy b. syt bot nat b hoti'-aiong the
ssifi River.
yc., right here among our own ma
tive hill. ~ oxford County In the rough
and rugged valley of the swift River
gold !. found
Mr.. Norcro.s, veteran California
miner. 81 the vintage of ~, was the
tlr.t Ia flnd gold here, and he finnly l.'-
lI.ye. big veins of II will soon be struck
Al Coo. bridge In Byron IL a CANYON
some nfty feet In width, and 10 fcet
deep, cut through solid rock by the
river. Her. gold I. plenty. and large
sluIce way. are being made to run the
.and aud gravel through. Ia the placer
mining much money u made even With a
pan Ia pay gravel, anil a. soon ~ opera
lion. are fairly begun heavy mashlng
machinery viii H. act up Ia grind the
ore, while the gold will be- separated
from the rocks by the mo.t improSed
methods. Men are also working In the
eastern branches of the main course
busy hunting for rich streak. The
United state. Assay Office la New York
pronounce. thI. gold 90 parts In 100
line, aud worth slg an ounce.
Turning our attention from gold To
.omcthlng a. good a. gold ". called ON
our old friend 4. -. Reed, ESD, the
.Gum King" lie Il interested In both
branche. of mining bat can mine much
good gold from the gum trees. lie iad
In one lot twenty ton. of spruce gum
lie .elI. little of IL out of New England,
n being mostly con.umel-chcwed
mean-by Boston aud State Of Maine
girls, spruc. gum I. -ah Ia be- good
pr..eryer of the teeth, aud the habit of
gum chewing az hard to break as that of
tobacco. Mr.. Reed aud hi. men gather
the gum from the tree-, and then tap
them with an axe, which cause. the .1p
10 How out where II drie. and har,iens
on the bark, and Ia i've year. u ripe to
pick. lie IA. 10000 such trees within
| iO miles.
Nv the way, the "sprnce Tree stats"
4. more appropriate 90 Maine to-day than
the .pine Tree state" Although there
are million. of pine It'll standing. the
hest days of that tree, IN a commercial
sense. have long departed, and the spruce,
prolific aud hardy. !. the m,lnstay oi
the lumber trade. Another tree that has
come Into great Importance !. the poplar.
Along the swift aud other stream. We
.aw hundreds of cord. of II waiting the
rl.e of water to foat them down to the
pulp mills, Ia be fln,lly made Into pa
i@r' Lot. of lots that were not worth
the taxes. q short time since, now pay
sIOO for the poplar ON the land. alone.
Few appreciate the yastness of Maincs
timber wealth. Her forests are rich In
pIpe, spruce, hemlock, oak, msple, birch,,
beech, poplar. elm, ash, etc, and al
though y0,OoO. 900 feet of logs are cut
annually yet nearly oue-hslf Of the state
/. covered by the original forest whose
dark depths never echoed the woodman's
axe. Despite the axe, fire and storm
our great northern wilderness still
stretches to the far away bonier. OF
Canada, In . glorioas sea of waving
green. 'EuGrNE u. JrDNiSs.
A BEN TlLlMAN CAT.
Samuel cclgsn, an ambition: ii:,. Office Office