The Portland daily press., 1897-12-28

is the case where our rivers rock set and
rock bound imperil the plant of the
manufacturer who has builded his house
| upon q rock. - The thief that cometh by
night with storm and freshet but rarely
steals the reward of invested capital.
| Our magnificent forests are the safety
valve for our water power. The area of
the state is some 49, Gao square miles. The
| forest surface is 81 200 square miles, and
of this 5000 square miles are primeval
| woods located at the head OF our river
| systems. Some one has shown that the
states of Connecticut, Delaware and
| Rhode Island could be lost in these
Northern forests and a belated traveller
need a guide and compass to find his
way through the margin of wilderness
still left. The pine has gone, the spruce
| is fast disappearing, but the time will
never come when about these headwaters'
dense woods will not delight the sports
man and play their part in the economy
| OF nature. 10 cut one wood is but to-
| make room for the growth of another.
Even behind the ranges of fire comes the
courageous hard wood growth. As mats
| ter of climatic influence, those Of us that
revel in the woods of Maine know that as
many leaves as ever, still reach out their
arms to contribute their share of work
as in the days of old when the lofty pines
| ignored the humber trees beneath its
shade. Trees will grow and trees will
die, century in and century out, genera
tions to come will find in our northern
forests the same spongy, messy growth
beneath the trees conserving as of old the
waters of the earth.
II the forests are the safety valves sthe
wonderful lake system of Maine is the fly
wheel that controls the output of power.
Vast storage basins, they yield readily
to the hand of man. Excluding the
peculiar lagoon and bayous systems of
Florida, Texas and North Carolina, Maine
has more lake surface than any state in
| the Union except Minnesota. No district
| on the globe OF equal area can equal it.
Connected with our rivers there arc 1920
lakes with water surface Of 3l45 square
miles or about one tenth of our total
area. Situated largely at the head of the
rivers they stand at the point of greatest
| conservation of force. AS to their eleva-
| ton, mark Moosehead, monarch of them
all, 1923 feet above the sea, and the
Rangeleys, 1911 feet above the sbb and
flow of the tide. Mind you, the Mississippi
drops but 1875 feet and from Lake Supe-
rior to the St. Lawrence is but $50 feet
Such is hasty review of the natural
conditions that point out unerringly the
globe can duplicate these conditions.
These figures and suggestions are by no
means original All are sdrawn, however,
from sources of high authority and are to
be reliedEupon as accurate and mot mis-
leading. Gentlemen of my profession Dor
rowswith q lavish hand.
Upon our coast we have harbors where
could ride the navies of the world. Our
scanty soil cannot compete with the rich
exuberance of the West; it can, however,
feed at % greater profit the operatives in
a market nearer by. Shipbuilding has
bowed it's head to the sway OF steam. The
cutting of spruce must year by year d.
| ,rrh knrV1 IA If1ta ~
harness steam. In the grandeur of our
water power and its ultimate develop
ment, is the hope of the commerce of Port
land, the diaries of the kennebec, the
orchards Of Franklin, and the rolling
farms of fertile ArOostook. 1t is a resource
that can never fail and never change.
The death of one rainfall is the birth of
another. In nature, force is never lost.
The energy of that lifts the vapor from
the sea is developed in the click of the
shuttle in the distant mill. SO long as
Katahdin stands with lordly mien to
catch soft kisses from the southern breeze,
SO long will Maine turn with confidence
to future rich in the promise of wide
diffusion of the comforts Of life.
The gospel of Maine needs more preach
ers. 1t is high time to open up the camp
meeting and let the exhorters hold forth.
It is q good text. Even the clergy might
preach it-at least on holidays. Time was
when her people apologized for Maine.
Time was. said. Today, the citizen of
no state can be more proud of the stand
ing of his commonwealth, not alone in
politics. That goes without saying.
Not alone in civilization, for the civiliza-
ton of Maine is today the best type of
clean handed, God-fearing American
manhood. Measuring life by the coarser
rules, we are today, as a state and ms
whole, better fed, better clothed and bet
fer housed than the average of 3ny 1cople
on the globe.
Since the panic of 3d. the drum Of pro-
gress has ceased to beat. We are net