Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1901-06-10
A GREAT ARMY.
Over $50, 900 Visitors Annually
Come Into State of Maine.
q 'rcat Factor in States Prosperity
and Brilliant Future.
inc Nations Play Ground and Mecca FIR
vacationists from All Parts.

| 'hat Tatncf surprised me- said II Il
bowditch to a Journal man. Saturday
| IL was statement in cold tyne of
/ the number of tourists and sportsmen
| mat annually visit the old Pine Tree
state. The statement was made. 7
| think. some time ago by Col. T. T..
boothby. now mayor of Portland. the
GENIAL and efficient general ticket and
| passenger agent of the Maine Central
railroad. gentleman well qualified to
speak on the subject. having made
touriStS statistics a study in his off,
clal capacity for a number of years.
III the colonel is quoted correctly of
which l have no doubt. he estimates
that 5ao.oo0 people visit the State an
nually and the number is constantly
increasing.
When one comes to stop and conSid-
er what 100000 visitors mean to the
State, the statement is remarkable 7
VIII venture to say that there are very
| tcw II any states in the Union that can
truthfully claim a tourist population
OIL over quarter of a million. 1t goes
without saying that our State is the
vacation state of the Union. the ma
ticn playground. yet when one comes
TO consider that $50 600 people. equal to
over one half the population of the en-
tire State seek health and rccrcatio
within its borders every l. months. the
statement as l say seems almost in
credible. Yet facts and figures bear the
colonel out in his statement.
This great army of pleasure seek
crs, it is estimated. leave from So. 600. 900
TO Sl20oo,0o0 annually in the State
This vast amount is distributed all the
way from Quebec Junction to Vance
boro and from Kittcry to Quoddy
Head. Every little fishing hamlet on
Names ragged coast feels the influx
of summer visitors and in the winter
and fall mountain and inland resorts
feel the effects Of this vast army. But
Maine has room for them all.
The gross area of the State is given
as tri:ie over $4,000 square miles with
land surface of approximately Sc. 900
and the balance some 5000 square
miles of water. Her miles and miles OF
| unbrokcn forests estimated at 13,0G0,-
| eco acres of timberland, her great lakes
| some 1900 in all, with an area of $500
| equare miles; her magnificent rivers
| and streams bring Mainc's water sur
| face up to some 300 square miles in
the aggregate. Her magnificent coast
| lines with it's bays and inlets affords
| the sportsman and pleasure seeker
ample opportunity to crafty their va
ried tastes and roam where fancy
leads.
| Up in the Rangeley or Moosehead
regions or along the line of the famous
3. & a. Railroad. where the big game
abound, the sportsman can find deer.
moose, caribou and smaller game in
abundance. Her lakes and streams are
teeminS with speckled beauties all
| waiting for the rod and line.
There is scarcely a person in the
State but derives some benefit. either
directly or indirectly. from its vast
army. The farmer finds a market for
his produce nearer home: the merchant
finds an output for his goods: the
guide finds his knowledge of woOdcraft
in demand: the hotels. boarding house
keepers and owners of cosy camps all
receive their proportionate share OF
these millions. Tie farmers boys of
tho line of transportation companies
find a new industry opened up to them
i'm forming a transportation company
of their own from the railroad station
to some settlement remote frcm the
road or along Names waterways
where the yacht pennant flies, the
yachtIncn and fishermen maintain little
homes of their own from the millions
annually distributed in the State by
$50. coo visitors.
"The mana cement of Names great
| trunk lines could not give us the mag
nificent train service second to none
that it does il it were not for the Soo'
coo tourists and sportsmen who an
nlally find a home for some part OF tho
year within our borders.
IF these 350, 900 people should decide
to visit the State at one time 1t mlSh'
tax even the capacity of Names Sret.'
trunk line, the Maine Central Railroad
| to find transportation for them. fol
$50 eco people means body over 81.
times larger than the standing army u
tho United States and it would require
n solid vcstibule train of some 1000 cars
tand with engines and baggage cars 1
: wouli make one continuous trdii
reaching from Portland to Burnham U
accommodate them. But the lhlluN
gradual From the opening up III ,h'
sprnr when Maine throws OIL he'
winter gard through tIlc io' gu"
terinc months of the summer, comes
the summer tourist to recuperate
While half the population OF the Woii'
&c sweltering to enjoy the cool, delisi'
, ful playground along our coast .
among the hills of old New EnSianu
and in the fall and winter months III
sports,nen with rod and gun turn 'iie'
faces toward Maine and her game re
serves. One naturally asks: w nat ia
turned the tide of travel to"ai
,Iaineo And who is responsible ior d
the good fortune that is knocking d
her door,
THE answer is. the naturai resoolos
Of the State. good climate, masii'i'e'
coast line, resplendant with MAJ" "
geometry. mountains unsurpassed ~
Grandeur and beauty. the Whoie "a
admirably adapted for a natural pa.
IA ground. The press both in ana ou'
Tho State, whose columns nave s"'
tho praises of Maine and her Nas' -
sources and given the publlcity ~ ~
watering and pleasure resorts S'e
richly deserved. The spOrtsmeh "'ic'
in Roston and New York every 10
,re no small factors in turning ="
great army of pleasure seekers ~" .,
Maine. The several boards OF traue :
r,,;,, with the State board HI