The Portland daily press., 1896-03-23
THE NOTCH IN WINTER.
A Delightful Trip to the White Noun.
tainS Saturday.

More Beautiful Than in Summertime Re-
cent Freshets Up There-The Big Dogs at
| Fabyans.
1t is always interesting to visit
popular and populous place out of season,
when it is not popular or populous. LII
is not always pleasant to do so. Ii you
return to your college during vaoatloh OF
remain after the term Is closed. the
| empty dormitories and deserted campus
are more than melancholy; they are
| haunted.
1t might seem that the deserted sum-
mer resorts Of the White mountains IN
winter would be haunted too, to one who
knew and loved them in summer. But
there Is too much grandeur and too much
beauty I'D there in winter to admit of
anything but admiration and delight;
at least during a brief visit. Nature is
too engrossing, too inspiring for lone
someness, though solitude and desertion
are everywhere.
Last Saturday was one OF the choice
days of the season. The sky was never
brighter or the air clearer than when the
s. As u. m. train on the mountain divis-
ion left the Union station.
There is fascination about that ride
upon the mountain division that the 9TH
or railroad rides in Maine, delightful as
| they are, do not possess and that every
Portlander knows and loves.
| A feature Of that fascination is Sebago
Lake. Whether sparkling waves or
cleaning ice prevail, it is always beauti-
full when the train comes out upon its
shore. You feel as if you had co me to a
great window and were looking out upon
| the world.
Saturday, the cleaning ice had blem-
| ish upon it's beauty. A "crank" was
| riding bicycle upon 1t and we were not
sorry that his progress was slow and I'M
certain. as it deserved to be. He was a
good distance away and was making for
the shore as if he realized that he was
riding hobby to death. He looked SO
cold that he made one shiver, just as a
carriage does in the snow. He looked SO
unstable that he made us feel apprehen-
Sltd, LII buOIb, uo was q UlCultcus
Hiram Falls is the next fascinating fea-
ture, and the glorious mountains begin
to come, ever increasing in size and
grandeur and nearness till at last
we are in their very midst, nestling
closely and safely to the side Of the fierce
and stupendous Wiley, unmindful OF it's
murderous past and face to face with the
awful presence of the mighty Webster.
He is SCARED and scratched and ragged
and naked no longer. He is robed in
white; not plain white gown, but an
ella porate garment ador ned with marvel
lous jewels in the shape of icicles as big
as trees and whole cascades and water
falls and rushing torrents of solid crys-
tai This grim and ugly and gigantic
and battle SCARED old warrior has become
beautiful It is possible for him to smile
in the winter sunlight. He can only
frown in summer. What contrary old
fellow he is, displaying only his naked
ugliness to the summer crowds and
adjoining himself in such magnificent
yestments in the solitude Of winter
AS we reached the notch itself we
stopped just outside the narrow passage,
two freight trains to make room for us
OF. the siding at Crawford's. Down be-
low us we could see the roadway over
which so many merry coaching parties
roll in the summer and over which in
the winters of long ago the red pungs o f
| II. Y. For %hc,~
! to Portland. Since the railroad seldom,
| if ever, has any man disputed the SUI
preme sovereignty Of winter along that
deserted way. We could see the great
drifts piled upon it and the frozen oata-
raots flowing across it. At Crawford
there was some sign of life. Mr.. Merrill,
the proprietor is living there with some
of his servants. At Fabyan's we felt
as If entering city. There was quite
crowd on the platform. There are more
people there than usual becnus Sc extern.
sive alterations are being made in the big
hotel. New steam heating apparatus
and new sanitary arrangements are be-
ing put in, and other changes are being
made. We stopped for dinner at the An
mex A big Newfoundland, one of the
long silky haired beauties, now so rarely
seen greeted us on the piazza. In the
hall was a still larger dog, with thick
curly hair, brownish black in color.
His clever. intelligent face was muzzled.
He was ST. Bernard, not the common,
long, yellow haired kind, nor the close
haired kind, but the other kind that is
| rarely seen in this country and that is
especially useful in Infringing relief to
travellers in the Alps. This dogs sire
was imported from Switzerland by Mr..
Oscar Barron of the Fabyan house. He
was muzzled because of his having bitten
a railroad man, for all of whom he has
had an antipathy since one of them
threw q large srockI and.severely injured
| him.
| In the hotel office was a third and still
larger dog. He was mastiff of gigan.
tic proportion. His weight is 1876 pounds.
He is clever enough with guests but The
other dogs never enter that office, not
even the large ST. Bernard. Fabyan is
the bip mastiff's name. 1t is his delight