Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1908-07-10
A Morning Voyage Down
the KennebeC.
John Quill Takes a Day Off
to Enjoy lis Pleasures.
The Beautiful Pathway That Leads
to the Ocean.

| anu cover tIe Deduly Spots at TIE sea-
shore with discarded lunch baskets
and fragments of ham sandwiches,
| love TO take Il day off and sail down
| the old Kcnnebec on tour of dScov-
cry, ard long before the warning whis-
tie is blown and the captains al
aboard is given from the pilot house
[ am on the wharf headed for the gang
| plank. Once on board | throw dull
care to the wind and give myself up 'tC
a days pleasure, with Il good com
| Portable seat up forward near the pilot
house Where l can Watcn the captain
make the wheel so round and with d
| copy of the kcnnebec Journal, the
paper that covers Kennebec County
and Eastern Maine like the dew, what
more can l ask for?
| There are rivers and rivers, but only
| one kennebec, Staid old maiden that
| travels in the even tenor of her way
L have traVerSed the waterways of old
| New England and in fact two-thirds
| across the continent, from the AllegaSf
| to Rio Grande, across the Great Lakes
| Of the Inland sea, listened to the shin
| dey Of the roustdbouts as they break
out the cargo by the light of a pitch
torch on the Mississippi steamers,
| heard the dip of the paddle on every
stream from Kineo to the ocean and
have yet to see a more beautiful sheet
of water than the old Kennebec.
| You always know where to find her
| Unlike the Western rivers, that trace
their source back to the foothills, and
where pint of rain water judiciously
distributed causes Il sudden rise and
| Of ,t,.I,
and miles and where a clairvoyant has
| to be consulted to find the channel, the
! Kennebec has got over her freakish
days. Married to the Androscoggln at
| Merrymeeting bay, she had raised
several small rivers and streams and
settled down and behaves like a ma
| ture matron with a family. Some
| clever writer in EARNING of the rivers
of the West, said that in every glass of
| Mississippi river water, and it is equal
| ly true of other Western rivers. there
was at least q peck of real estate, and
the water in the river was so thick it
| cracked i'll working it's way around the
| bends, and that old residents claimed
to have made grind stones in the early
days by running it through a big pipe
| and cutting it into flat disks with a
| hand saw as it came out. l think this
may be tribe exaggerated; at least
| the reader can take it cum grano sails.
| Starting from the Capital City at the
| head Of navigation in the early morn
| ing we swing out into the stream, pick
| our way among the small craft COM
prising the mosquito fleet just off the
| club house landing, and shape our
| course for down river. Just opposite
or Il trifle below is the new addition to
| the home for the unfortunates former
| ly the old U. s. Arsenal, but now,
| through the foresight and untirIng eff
forts of Congressman Burleigh, State
property. Just beyond are the i'm
mense buildings aud acres of tillage
g.ound and farming land comprising
the hospital property. Opposite on the
starboard shore is the home of the
celebrated Crawford shoe. the Eaton
shoe factory that every Augustan
points " it'll Il just pride. a monulnen.
of what can he done when the men of
| the hour put their shoulders to the
wheel.
Just below are The government dredg-
| ers, dredging ont q channel that yes
sells of larger draft may come to Au-
gusta and make the Capital city bust
| er, bigger and brighter city. HalloWell
| once the shire town, shipping mark,
a trading post for farmers and fisher
men has lost some of its old time pres
tige. It's chief industry now is its
granite works famous the world over,
and Maine can point with just pride
to some building or buildings, public or
private, that have been heWn from the
| rough granite at these famous works.
Opposite for half mile or more boolns
are stretched and the raftSmen are
gathering and sorting logs as they
come down from the waters of the up
per k,~1nchec. 1t is Il busy scene, n
little city in itself and represents the
combined capital of mill owners and
| riVermcn.
At Gardiner we take on another as
signment of pleasure seekers, like my
self bound for down river. Passing
through the draw of the iron bridge,
that spans the kennebec, and connects
Gardiner with her eastern neighbors,
we follow the channel down past the
| "Oaklands" Gardeners show place, to
the broad expanse of water below.
| Here the river WidenS out considerably
like q lsig bay The high evergreen
shores extending back to the Sky line,
a little clearing here and there with
we'll kept farm buildings peeping
through the trees, spell out prosperity
and paint a picture pleasing to the eye.
1t is a pastoral scene in its emerald
setting. There are no marsh lands. no
swale places that divert from the beau
ty of the scene. The lawns and farm
lands have been swept by nature $
broom and stand out like carpets of
green with inlaid figures of brighter
colors. Along the water front, more
especially on the eastern shore, are
large barn like structures that house
| Names winter product, her ice crop
Out in lnid-stream are barges and q
few unsainly old turtle backs waiting
to be loaded, a gentle reminder of the
ice years back in the SOS and sos.
On the Dresden shore high up
among the trees. the old court house
is pointed out to us. This building
was erected by the Plymouth Colony
in the musty past and used many
years as a county seat and it was
! hnra that orr fOrefatherS pIead guilty