The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-09-09
SECOND SECTION
End OFAHOTEL ONCE FAMOUS.
RODICKS AT BAR HARBOR ABOUT
TO BE TORN DOWN.

Hogan Wbem NOtOABcn "oHO AuAA''
Ran HARBoR, Me-, Sept. s.-visitors and
Ost,ves united this week In paying a final
and farewell visit to the famous old Rodick
House. whose contents have been passing
under the hammer OF the a~uctioneer. So
~,o,v Young, old and middle aged, assembled
Tho steps Of the hotel, which was the
entire Of Bar Harbor life in the old days,
and wandered through the halls OF the old
Iuildinr whose doors had not been open
for ten years, jostling the bargain seekers.
The demolition OF the old house will begin
a. soon as the au%ctioneer is through.
The summer colony attended for the pur-
nose Of seeing what it might in the old
min All sorts OF things have come to
light.
In one room hung a bathing suit, sandals,
can and everything just as left by the last
guest ten years ago or more, when the
hotel was closed for good. In another
was a striped blazer Of loud colors, such as
was the craze at the summer resorts some
twenty wears ago. Old dance programmes,
old trinkets and ribbons Of bellies Of those
laws have all come to light. In one room
was "A heap Of old bottles, some two or three
hundred, Of all brands, a remembrance OF
the days when the prohibitory laws were
not SO sternly enforced in Maine, and in
Rar Harbor in particular, as they are In
these days.
II il with mingled feelings that Bal Har-
bor. from cottager to resident the year
round. sees the historic old structure go
into the hands Of the wreokers. The Rodick
House was Names pioneer hotel, and from
II sprang the entire summer resort industry
which forms so large a part Of Names
buriness at the present day. The demoli-
lion of the old ruin marks the passing OF a
landmark.
The Rodick House was Bar Harbor's
foremost hotel in the old days. Early In
the '4Os and SOS David Rodick N his Sons
kent a boarding house for the accommoda-
ton Of the artists and tourists who came
10 view the beauties Of the then little known
Mount Desert and to spend their ummers
painting the wild scenery Of the island.
In the course OF years, as the numbers
NJ tourists increased, a modest little frame
structure arose in what is now Main street.
A business ~prospered and the tide Of sum-
mer travel set to Maine in the '7Os addition
after addition was built, until in 1881 the
mammoth Rodick House as it stands was
built.
Il was a great achievement for those
days. 1t was the largest hotel In Maine,
If not in New England. People came from
miles around just to see it. The house con-
tanned some five hundred rooms.
From its position and its size the big
Rodjck House was the centre OF the resorts
social life and activity: us Pariors were
cities. The spacious Office was known as
the Fish Pond, by reason OF the many
brilliant catches made here by fair matrt-
monial anglers. =,
fellowship and did not mind little discom-
forts. In the first days Of running the big
hotel things were rather primitive. The
rising bell rang at $50 and breakfast was
served at !. One complaining city guest
wal. you came here for . change, didn't
you? Now you've got it.
To another who saroastically asked the
landlord who taught him TO keep q hotel
the rejoinder was:
sThe Lord Almighty
A complaint hat the butter was inferior
70 that Of the previous year brought OUT
the reply:
'0h, no: that's impossible
Another unsophisticated New Yorker
asked what kind Of griddle cakes were those
mentioned on the bill OF fare. .,
Wal, l call 'em fust rate calmly said the
table girl. -,
General complaint was made Of the fried
meats supplied and the housekeeper testify
Fried fresh beef's good 'nuf1 for me an
the cap'n, an / guess it's good 'nuff for
them starched up city folks. We've allus
eat it that way, an them city folks amt
no healthier'n we be-"
Another guest said:
Mr.. Landlord, l shall put my boots out
side nv door tonight"
And the hearty old innkeeper roared out:
All right. sir; you'll find 'em there in the
mornin'. We're all honest folks down
here.S
The years passed and witnessed the grad
ual change of Bar Harbor from a hotel
colony to a cottage resort. The years saw
the gradual decline OF the hotel business
and the increasing influence OF the cottages.
One after another old hotels went to the
wall.
At last, in the early '0Os, Fountain, Serenus
and Edward Rodick, the sons OF David
Rodick, who had died some time before,
decided to close the big building. Il was
leased a few years later to Albert W. Bee, a
Boston merchant, but 1t failed to attract.
At one time for nearly a month the hotel
ran in splendor with its fun stan OF chefs,
cha~mbermaids, table girls, beLboys, clerks,
buttons and all the other ~tunotionar1es
with Just two guests in the house, a man
and his wife, who enjoyed their stay in the
huge building, conscious OF being monarchs
Of all they surveyed, with an army OF SER
wants TO execute their slightest wish. Then
the old house was boarded up Tor good.
The other hotels were torn down or put
70 other uses, but still the Rodick House re-
NAMED. 1t stood on a plot some eight
hundred feet square, in the very heart OF
Bar Harbor's business section and OF great
value. Gradually stores have closed W
around il and it's front entrance is blockaded
with a row Of cobbler shops, tailors' rooms
and fruit stands, yet it has still stood alone
a relic in the midst Of the life and hustle
of the resort.
Its windows are broken and battered
by many storms. Year after year Of wind
and weather has robbed it Of it's paint unit
the bare weatherstained boards stand
out boldly. Its foundations have crumblec
on one side and its walls have nearly caveC
in.
Somewhere within its gloomy recesset
Tor the last ten years has lived Fountain
Rodick, the last of his line. Sometimes
belated wanderer will see a faint light higl
UP in some OF the rooms OF the old house
and then he may know that the last OF tn
Rodicks. the wealthiest and most powerful
family on Mount Desert, is hard at hi
paStime Of painting in oils.
ma 49,