The Washington times., 1901-08-05
NAMES old Home WEEK.
Interest in the Governors Invita-
tiOn Not General.

The Celebration Instituted Last Year
and the New Hampshire Affair I'm
Itnt-aLEnrIy Enthu~inxm Died Out
The Jubilee Begins ON August 10.
BANGOR, Me- Aug 4.-Oid Home
Week. social and holiday time which
Maine instituted last year. having bor-
rowed the idea from New Hampshire.
seems this year to have suffered some
thing of a blight, If not an actual frost
There will be observances of one kind or
another In about score of cities and
towns, but no such elaborage celebrations
as in 1870. and in general one sees and
hears much less of the new holiday than
in its first year.
When the idea of Old Home Week was
first discussed in Maine there seemed to
be in certain quarters good deal of en-
| thusiasm for II. and it was not long until
| definite action was taken toward carry
| ing out the plan for a general merry
making among the people and whole
| sale welcoming back to the State of all
| those who in years past had emigrated to
| other parts of the country and had pros
| pered sufficiently to enable them to revisit
| their old homes. The newspapers lent
cordial aid to the plans. and. naturally
enough. the transportation companies
went into the project with great earnest
ness. 1t was declared that countless thou
san nds of the "exileS of Maine would
come back gladly to visit relatives and
friends. to eat custard pies and baked
| beans and such things: that not only pri-
vate hospitality would be taxed, but that
the hotels would reap harvest, and that
generally it would be tremendous suc-
cess, socially. sentimentaIly and finan-
ciaily
These expectations were scarcely real
lied: in fact. while the week last year
doubtless was time of great enjoyment
for many persons living in Maine. and
the occasion one joyfuliy improved by
some of those who had moved away in
former years, it must be said that there
! was no great rush of absent Maine people
to their old homes in response 20 the
| handsomely engraved Invitations sent out
| by the Governor. Some hundreds of per
| sonS living in Massachusetts and other
nearby States came to Portland, where
| celebration was carried out, the army.
| the navy. all the firefnen In the State, and
| a display of fireworks being among the
| attractions; but these people came for
| day two only, did not get outside of
| the city of Portland, and it is safe to say
| 95 per cent of them would have come to
| the celebration at the low fares offered
on any other day. They were not in
| fiuenced in the least by the ''old home
| sentiment.
| In Bangor last year the city and the
| people spent a lot of money for sports,
floral parade, reception. etc, but the at
! tendance OF outsiders was less than would
be attracted by ordinary circus. In
fact, the whole affair. while not entirely
T.. 10
| bration, seemed to be decidedly lacking
in that friendly and social atmosphere
which it had been expected would every
where prevail. Some few people did
come, it Is true, from distant points in
the West that week, but no more than
have always come at one time or another
in the course of a summer. Incidentally
it may be remarked that firemens
muster on the following day drew four
times as many visitors to the city as did
the .'old home" celebration.
While. from sentimental point of view,
the "Old Home Week" idea is beautiful,
the fact seems to be apparent that not
many people residing at a distance can
afford to come to their old homes away
down East, and that those who can afford
the trip prefer to come at whatever time
may suit their own convenience, and will
not be governed by the wishes and plans
of celebration committees. even with the
inducement of a reduction in railroad
are now in Maine on their annual visits,
and more will come as the summer ad-
vances
However. plans have been made for this
years Old Home Week. and August 10
to Il is the appointed time The follow
ing places will have observances of one
kind or another: Rockland. Belfast. Buck
field Caribou Castine, Clinton, Dexter,
Lebanon, Leeds. Litchfield, Portland.
Searsport, Standish. and Watervilie. Last
year the chief observance. or the central
f1nVN n fgh
had the State Day. This year the honor
of having the State Day celebration went
begging; Augusta declined TO take 1t up.
and so did Bath, where the city coun-
ell refused to appropriate dollar for the
purpose. Finally 1t was arranged 10
have this principal observance in Rock
land on August 13. and the programme
will include horse racing. hremen mus
| ter. and visit from the United States
despatch boat Dolphin In Portland on
August 10 there will be some sort OF oD-
servance, and as Portland usually does
things we'll 1t is expected that a large
number OF people from western Maine
will attend Among the guests who W.
probably be present are John ~ Long
Secretary of the Navy. ana dnomas ,,iIi nj
not observe the occasion in any way pup-
licIy. interest in Old Home Week having
apparently entirely subsidized here
Last year thirty thousand of the Gov
ernors Invitations were printed. and these
were not sufficient to supply the demand.
This year twenty thousand have been
printed and eight thousand still remain
uncalled for. Following is the invitation:
state of Maine.
Executive Department
Who has net felt how sadly sweet
The dream OF home, the dream Of home,
Steals DER the heart. too soon, too teet,
when far Ger Land we roamI
The setting apart of a week each sum-
u1er known as Old Home Week. which is
given up to the entertainment of relatives
and friends who come back to visit the
old home is a most beautiful custom. and
has so generally received the approval OF
the people of the State that IL seems likely
To become an established Institution The
week from August 10 to II, inclusive. has
been designated this year as OLD Home
Week in Maine. and in behalf Of the State
desire to extend an earnest and cordial
invitation to every son and daughter of
Maine, IS well as to their families and
friends to visit the State at that time.
and they may be assured that they VIII
be greeted with heartfelt giadness and a
sincere welcome. and Will be amply repaid
for visit to the old home. whose memory
must always be dear while life lasts.
John F. HILL.
Governor OF Maine"
SUMMER RESORTS.