The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1908-10-29
Fires in the Adirondacks.

Visit to E. W. Knowlton at His Home
in Malone, N. Y, and His Camp on
Lake Litus.
To THE EDITOR OF THE JOURNAL: 1t
needs better writer than l am to de-
scribe visit, just finished, with one OF
your former citizens, Mr.. E. w. Knowl-
ton, now of Malone, N. Y, and an own
cousin to myself. Mr.. Knowlton is in
the jewelry business here, and besides
loving wife, has charming daughter,
Gladys, just past seventeen; and to make
this story complete l must tell you that
Mr.. Knowlton has been very successful
in accommodating the good things OF this
world, for besides fine business he and
his wife own two business blocks on the
main street in the best location. Their
home is a brick house of IS rooms with
one acre of land with fruit, and they
have a camp at Lake Litus in the Adj
rondacks, 25-foot naphtha launch that
carries twenty-five people, boat house
and stable at the lake, and stable with
a good team in it at the home place. AS
l was to finish my visit there today he
had to take me up to the camp yester-
day and treat me to mountain dinner,
which he and Gladys prepared, and if
you ever had dinner in the Adiron-
dacks after a fifteen mile ride behind a
good pair, and after sail up the lake
into the very heart of the mountains, you
can tell without my telling you how that
camp dinner tasted. At 5 p. m. they
started in to get lunch, but were stop
ped by a phone message that every
escape from the woods was then cut off
by fire. The heavy wind blowing all day
had driven the fire over the safety bounds
and it was closing in upon us at the lake.
We then decided to postpone lunch and
see what the chances were of getting out
of the forest, and Immediately boarded
the launch and started down the lake. |
We arrived at the stable and boat house
none to soon and joined the bucket bri
gade to help save the stable, horses and
boat house. At p. M, with blazing
trees all around, the sky red with fire,
and smoke thick as dense fog, we
prepared to make fight for life through
the blazing forests to the home in Ma
lone, and with the aid of hundred men
with buckets all along the road, and by
waiting until the fury of the burning
brush heaps was past, we succeeded in
getting beyond the fire, with grave
doubts as to what would be the fate of
the camp and other property left behind.
Mr.. Knowlton has had one camp burn
ed. This new one contains seven rooms
and has all the accommodations of city
cottage and is five times as comfortable.
1t has large stone fire place, fine Sleep
ing rooms and wide veranda. There is
room for nine in family. This camp is
on the east side of Lake Litus, about half
way up the lake. Mr. Knowlton's daugh-
ter can run the launch and cook fine
dinner.
l wish was able to picture the scene
so that you could see it as we dld-the
burning mountains that are so dry the
fire burns into the soil in places eight
inches and will continue to burn until a
three days heavy rain comes. The fires
extend along the Rutland R. R. north
from Malone for more than fifty miles
in all the woods on both sides, with no
q
J. K. BROWN,
of Main St. Park, Maiden, Mass, when
at home.