Casco Bay breeze. [volume] (South Harpswell, Me.) 1901-1917, 1913-08-14

liedrt tnlS Is something that cannot
be overlooked, and while it may moi
be noticeable to any degree as yet
1t would surely seem wise to try and
ind something to put the fame OF
this place upon the upward clint
again.
In looking for remedy for any evil
the first thing one looks for is the
cause of that evil-Let us apply this
to the present situation here. We
come face to face with the fact that
the accommodations for visitors in
Casco Bay are, to put it plainly, poor;
and by this we do not mean at all
to make any detraction upon the
hotels and boarding houses that are
at present doing business here. On
the contrary, they are fully the equal
of similar hotels and boarding houses
throughout the country. The point
of the whole matter is that we want
something further in this line if we
are to make of Casco Bay the sum-
mer place 1t can and should be made.
AT practically all the larger islands
or the bay, there is an immediate
heed of hotels costing from $25 900
to $4,000 or $4,000 each, which
should be made equal in their ap-
mer places. The houses now in the
bay that anywhere nearly approach
this type may be counted upon one
hand. When a person comes to
place to spend his vacation, he or
she wants something besides three
square meals day, and nothing to do
but loaf the rest of the time. A diet
OF this is alright as far as it goes, but
1 d0QCn'f
distance it covers. Resting is a fine
thing for a few days, but after that
1t gets monotonous. Now, most of
the boarding houses around the bay
can offer their guests little more than
these same three square meals a day
with rest interspersed. That is why
people come here for a while. and
then pack their trunks and buy tick
cts to the mountains or the extreme
northern part of the state, where
they can play at golf and tennis, and
dance. That is also why it is abso-
lutely necessary that large hotels of
the latest design, with spacious lob
bies and the most modern improve
ments, and affording abundant oppor-
tunity for the amusement of their
guests, should be instituted Through
out the bay.
1t is foolish to talk of the difficult
ties that beset the path of anyone at
tempting to carry through a scheme
like this. Of course, there are diff.
culties in the way. They rise up to
meet any good scheme. But in this
case they are easy to meet, and when
placed opposite to the advantages
such an undertaking would bring,
they dwindle away rapidly. There are
desirable sites all through the bay
where suitable land could be pur-
chased, so that there is nothing to
fear on this score. That first-class
hotel would be a financial success is
a certainty; it is a well-known fact
that the larger houses here are the
ones making the most money. That
these present hotels would be injured
by the construction of these large
houses is not a thing to be feared
very much. Indeed, it is more than
likely that their business would be
Increased, owing to the increased
traffic that the new houses would at
tract. Think, also, what such a thing
would mean to Portland from a trad
Ing standpoint. Practically everyone
down the bay does their buying and
selling in Portland, SO that an in
creased summer traffic would much
enlarge the Importance of the city as
commercial center. Such a scheme
as has been roughly outlined above
Is, then, what is now the greatest
need of Casco Bay. The place Is at
turning point in its career. Shall
1t continue to rise to the place 1t de-
serves among American seaside re-
sorts, or shall it remain at the same
level to which it has attained, fluc-
tuating up and down a little each
year, but never going far either way?