The Republican journal., 1897-07-22
From the Seashore.
Northern Christian Advocate. I

told that fogs have been remarkably pre-
valent and persistent this season. But
the fog is now lifting and the wonderful
bay before us is very beautiful. The fog
is depressing when it is stagnant, dense
and impenetrable, but when it begins to
move, taking thousands of elusive and in
descmbable forms of beauty, or when it
becomes translucent and is a shimmering
garment of light to the islands and noun
tains which it glories while half conceal
ing half revealing them, it is marvelously
lovely. Sometimes it seems to lift the is
lands into the sky. Sometimes it floats
along the mountain sides like a waving
ribbon of gossamer, curling in and out
among the trees and cliffs; sometimes it
lies along their slopes horizontal bar Of
silver. Sometimes it entirely hides the
hull of a passing vessel, while the sum-
mits of her masts and the upper portions
OF her sails shine i'll the sunbeams.
1t was on bright morning, not foggy
one that we climbed Mt. Megunticook,
the Hottest of the Camden mountains.
Megunticook rises about fifteen hundred
feet above the bay, whose waters seem al
most beneath one when he is on the sum-
nit One of the most lovely OF forest
pathways, starting from the highway a
44ltlt NGSl VI tllS oldLt1l ltSldtINC hlcN Il
as Norumbega, leads windingly distance
of thIee miles to the rock platform at the
top, The way is carpeted with great
variety of wild flowers, its vistas are sur
passingly beautiful and at some OF its lof-
TEST tuTnings glimpses of the island
spangled bay are visible. The extent and
beauty of the view when the summit has
been gained is startling.
Tho ipdaptaI coast iS 1iSDIava6 from,
the mouth of the kennebec to Fort Point
on the Penobscot, and in the south the
Mt. Desert mountains rise, looking almost
as brightly blue as the island of Capri APP
pears from Nesuvius. The field OF vision
includes not less than half hundred har-
bors and four times as many islands. In
the broader expanse of the bay and
threading the innumerable channels
among the islands are fishing vessels,
yachts, steamers, coasting vessels, many
OF them three or four masted, and in
ward OF outward bound ships. The love
ly harbor of Camden seems SO near that
a we'll flung stone would fall into it.
Turning to the right we look still more
directly down to Lake Megunticook,
which lies at the back of the mountain,
whose cliffs rise perpendicularly from it.
When one is in Camden village, OF even in
the harbor, Mt. Battle seems almost as
lofty as Mt. Megunticook but now we
look down hundreds of feet to the sum-
NIT of Mt. Battle, which has this season
been crowned with a small hotel and an
observatory Mt. Battle is very precipi
tous on all sides, and is very pictur
esque when viewed from every point but
this superior elevation.
l have been on many mountains but the
view from Mt. Megunticook is equal to
that obtainable from even the most ia
nous of them, and is far more beautiful
and wonderful than that obtainable from
the Hottest of the Adirondacks on White
Mountains.
Penobscot Bay from Owls Head to Mt.
Desert is a paradise for all lovers of boat
ing and sailing. No other part of the
Atlantic coast is comparable with it in
this respect. Islands are as numerous
here as in the most picturesque part OF
the st. Lawrence, but the channels be-
tween them are deep and safe. The
Camden aud Mt. Desert mountains, Mt.
Waldo and Blue Hill rise boldly from the
SEA and give more than a touch of gran
deur to the captivating beauty of the
scene.
1t was my good fortune to spend two or
three days in Bath, including Sunday and
Monday, July / and ). Bath this year
had a very notable celebration of the an
niversary Of our national independence,
combining with it the celebration of the
first half century OF Bath existence as a
city. Though Bath did not become a city
till 1877, its recorded history runs back
to lGt}5, when the famous French explorer,
Chalnplain, assembled the kennebec to the
present site of the city and for the first
time European feet pressed its soil Two
years later the English founded the ILL
fated POpham colony at the mouth of the
river. Bath itself first began to be settled
in 1861, the land being purchased of the
famous Indian chief known as Robin
Hood, name perpetuated not only in
local history and romance, but also in the
name OF a cove few miles away. The
citizens of Bath played glorious part in
tie French and Indian and Revolutionary
wars, as well as in the war of 1912 and
the war for the Union. Since 1743, when
its first vessel was launched, Bath has
built more wooden ships than any other
place IN America, including the Roanoke
OF ., 4O0 IONS, the largest wooden vessel
aHoat. The commerce of Bath suffered
severely during the last war with England
and still more severely during the Civil
War. During the last thirty years it's
ship building has to considerable extent
declined, owing to the carrying of Ameri-
can commerce in foreign bottoms; but
Bath still builds more wooden ships than
any other place on the Atlantic seaboard,
and has plant from which several steel
ships for our new navy have been turned
out. one of which is the famous ram ka-
tahdin. Bath has always been a very
wealthy place in proportion to its popu-
lation, its location is very beautiful and
most salubrioas, its harbor is sufficiently
capacious for all the navies of the world
and is absolutely safe, and now, as in the
past, it has goodly number of citizens
whose names are familiar throughout the
nation. 1t gave to the State of Maine it's
first governor, William King, and to the
Democratic party its last years nominee
for the vice presidency, Arthur Sewall.
The celebration of its jubilee as city
was on grand scale, and multitudes of
people, some of whom had come hun
dreds of miles to enjoy it, were present.
The day was perfect in its beauty, and
bright and happy crowds We're every
where. The program provided a great
variety of attractions, and it was fulfilled
to the letter. The Grafton was delivered
by Judge Putnam of the United States
Court of Appeals, son of DR.. Israel Put
nam, the city's first mayor.
The most prominent position in the pro-