Daily Kennebec journal., 1897-09-02

is question of considerable Importance,
though, naturally, one to which very
definite answer cannot well be given. The
ma jorty of summer visitors, of course,
come and go without making any marked
impression upon the community; but
since they spend a good deal of money.
they are more or less cordially welcomed.
/ am inclined to think, however, that
anything like a general recognition of the
social worth of the summer element Is
not yet very pronounced.
Most communities in Maine are small.
with many rural habits and characleris-
tics, but little wealth. AS a whole. the
disposition to provide especially for the
needs on desires of visitors is not strong,
even where the chief part of the income
is derived from that GLASS; the assump-
ton seems to be. rather. that the visitors
are sure to come anyway, and that the
less there is expended for their gratifica-
ton, the greater will be the profit from
despoiling them.
There are notable exceptions. of course
communities which have been wise
enough to spend literally for their guests.
and have reaped rich reward. not of
money alone. but of goodwill and social
enrichment. In not a few places, also.
summer residents have contributed liber-
ally to local public objects. The State
authorities. too. are making. In the in
terest of SportSmen, energetic efforts to
preserve the game. and have put in oper-
alton this year novel system of licen-
sing guides.
Outside of transportation interests.
however, q few energetic communities
and select resorts and. in fish and game
matters. the State itself, the summer Wis
tor in Maine is commonly looked upon
as primarily IA source of financial profit.
and. consequently. a most desirable addi-
ton to the town or village, but, In other
respects, as a person to whom the COM
munity is under no special obligation, for
whose satisfaction no very strenuous ef-
IN ha forth md from w hp
little can be learned.
To people generally. the financial side
of the question is probably of most prac-
teal Importance. That a very large
amount of money is expended annually
in the State by non-residents is evident;
and. while the amount can hardly be de-
termined with precision. it is undoubted
iy much greater than most persons sup
pose. In 1893 the commissioner of indus
trial and labor statistics estimated 1.-The
pecuniary results to the State" from It's
summer-resort business at not less than
SIC. 900 600 annually.
The figure seems enormous, yet some
good judges pronounced the estimate too
small. OF this total it was estimated that
S3.OCO.O0O was spent at hotels and boarding
houses. $l.00OO00 for farm produce. and
$1,000 for services of guides. Each of
these items would have to be consider
ably increased. Taking communities as a
whole. the receipts from summer busi-
ness are very evenly distributed, and rep
iuxuries of life for. with the exception
of Bar Harbor, it should be remembered,
there is little expenditure that can be
called lavish. most of the summer visi-
tors being persons of moderate means,
who seek vacations without display.
The future of Maine as a summer re-
sort is matter of vital consequence to
the people of the State. There can be no
ness is already nearly. if not quite. the
leading industry in Maine; and there
seems to be good reason for thinking that
its rank, In this respect, will be main
thirds of the area of the State is still
comparatively unsettled the thickly set
tied portion. and the resort of most of
the summer population, lies to the south
and west. south of line drawn from Ma
chias to Lake Umbagog.
The great region to the north, though
holding in some sections, as in parts of
the AroostOok county. considerable
population. is still. in the main. a land of
forests. lakes, and streams. Its devel-
Opment waits upon the railroad; for. next
to natural beauty and resource, ii is the
railroad that makes summer resort.
Railroad facilities, however. both in
mileage and in equipment. are increasing.
In the southern and western sections
summer visitors have become an estab-
lished institution. They have apprOpri-
coast as far east as Mount Desert; de-
sirable building sites are already scarce,
and command good price.
About the fishing grounds, too, land is
being rapidly bought up, and permanent
camps established; for here, as by the
sea, pleasure and sport are Enthusiastically
tending to become practicable only for
the well-to-do. In the country, away
from the shore and the lakes. signs of
again, old farms are being rejuvenated,
old houses made over, cottages erected at
vantage points. Other indirect results OF
a practical nature are an increased atten-
ton to market gardening, extensions OF
electric railroads, and growing demand
for good country roads.
In these various respects, at least. sum-
mer business has brought prosperity. 1t
seems inevitable. however. that the near
future must" witness a sharp advance IN
the cost of living, and that the reign OF
low prices. which heretofore has drawn
many TO the State. cannot long continue;
measure and in some localities. begun to
come about. Such a social transforna-
ton viii not, of course, work Itself out
rapidly and some of its consequences are
hardly to be deplored.
Year by year. however, the pressure OF
summer population Is forcing the advance
line further and further into the forest.
and eastward along the coast: and so
long as two-thirds of the State. uniim-
tied in resources, Is vet unexploited,
Maine is likely to remain. beyond dispute.
the pleasure ground par excellence or the
United States.
1t is scarcely safe to use the beautiful
and most decorative goldenrod very free
ly in the vases about the house. There