The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1892-06-15

tor. This would hardly be worth noting
but for fashion now too common of
employing the faculty of imagination in
genealogical work, where it is sadly out
of place. The name Poor may have been
derived from de la Poer, as claimed, or
it may have been derived from several
other sources. The first portion of Miss
Poor's book is devoted to her father
part in the construction of the Atlantic
and ST. Lawrence r. R. This was Mr..
Poor's great work, and to him more than
any othey man its accomplishment is
due. His enthusiasm was infectious,
and inspired men of colder natures to
push forward on the lines he had pro-
jected.
With respect to his connection with
the Grand Trunk Railway, the author
quotes from the speech of contempora-
ry: John A. Poor was the bold man
that struck out for policy adverse to
the policy of Massachusetts, in railroad
matters. He struck out for the English
broad gauge, for the very purpose of not
having such a connection as would en-
able Boston to control the railroads of
Maine through her narrow gauge system.
He fought as the lion fights for her
whelps, in this cause of gauges, and so
far as the Provinces and Maine were con-
cerned he triumphed for season; and
the triumph was progressive one, and
glorious one. Your Grand frank Rail
way was built under that triumph in hos
tllity to Massachusetts and especially to
Boston. Boston fought that, not so
much because they cared for having a
railroad, but they did not want rail
road that should break the gauge and
throw an impeachment in the current of
business to their own centre. They
fought it but they failed and the Grand
Trunk was laid" In Boston it was
called "John A. Poor's gauge.
Mr. Poor's enterprise in establishing
the Estate of Maine" newspaper in order
to reach the public mind and to give an
exposition of his plans of rail-extension
is described, and his labors in behalf of
the European and North American Rail-
way disclosed at length. This is an in
teresting chapter, and no less so is that
devoted to the North Eastern Boundary
and the Trans-continental Railway; but
the brief space accorded to this review
will not permit their discussion here:
besides they should be read in full to be
properly comprehended. Passing over
this most important work of Mr.. Poor
we come to his interest in Maine History
in which he was as active as in his other
labors, in fact, John A. Poor could not
enter into any work without throwing
his whole soul into it. His connection
with the Fort Popham celebration and
the memorial volume which he was in
strumental in publishing will not soon
be forgotten. His example gave new
impulse to historic study in Maine, which
has lsince gathered force. The writer
has often had occasion to remark how
delighted John A. Poor and some of his
enthusiastic friends and co-laborers
would have been to examine the i'm
portant documents which have since
come to light relating to Maine History.
and which would have illustrated their
own labors and corrected some of their
minor errors, but Time bears it's fruits
for all and these men doubtless gathered
their share. J.P
*Edited by Laura Elizabeth Poor. "a. p.
Putnam's Sons: London and New York; Port
land: Loring, Short & Harmon, 1922
Plays for Amateurs. By Gustav Kob-
be. New York: Harvey Roorbach;
From the Publishers.) This collection
of five short plays brightly written, in
genius in plot and admirably adapted
to the amateur stage, combining all the
dramatic requisites with literary merit.
Three of them, Wanted Nurse. Two
Bellies to Beau, and The Jealous Hus-
band, are delightful 'curtain raisers:',
The Memory of a Song is charming
lyric comedy in two acts; while a laugh
able mistake forms the handspring of the
two act comedy Loving, Yet Hating
With the exception of one scene in The
Jealous Husband, these plays are entirely
original.
Old Wine: New Bottles Some Ele-
mentary Doctrines in Modern Form. By
Amory FL. Bradford, D. D., author of
Spirit and Life. (New York: Fords,
Howard 6 Hurlbert. From the publish
ers. The contents of this little book
consist of four discourses, on The Living
God, The Holy Trinity, What is Left of
the Bible, and The Immortal Life. The
sermons were delivered during Lent and
on Easter Sunday, 1892, the topics Sc
lected as being essential-or, as Dr..
Bradford phrases it, elemental-in Chris
tianity. This preacher is one of the men
Of the day, in that he does not insist on
the old bottles of formulation which are
being so sadly rent by the new spirit of
inquiry, but rather prefers to conserve
what he thinks to be the beliefs neces-