Evening journal., 1914-07-09
New News Of Yesterday
The FayOrite Book of the
Lumberman
ny Holland.

Frederic Mariner, the principal of a
large conservatory OF music, whose name
is well known TO musicians all over the
United States, is native of the State
of Maine and during carly manhood he
made a special study of the characteris
tic features of what for many years was
Names chief industry-the cutting and
saving of lumber. Mr. Mariner has a
summer home charmingly situated upon
the banks OF the Penobscot few miles
below Bangor His professional work,
as well as his professional inclination,
brought him in touch with the lumber
men OF Maine and gave him thorough
understanding of their manner of life,
their remarkable development of the
democratic spirit, their energy and their
content with the rigors of winter life in
the wilds of Upper Maine.
Mr.. Mariner narrated TO me some
years ago some of his experiences with
the lumbermcn and told me some highly
interesting anecdotes associated with
these hardy winter workers in the Maine
woods.
One incident which came within Mr.
Mariners personal observation seemed
TO me especially interesting, ms it did
also to him.
"rhesc mmbermcn who 90 into Upper
Maine late in the iall and who are oc-
cupicd all the winter with cutting the
pines and the spruce trees and bringing
the logs TO the rivers so that they may
be Aoatcd down TO Bangor as soon as
the ice breaks, are really men of good
deal of cultivation said Mr. Mariner.
81 have been into their camps in the
summer season. when the men are all
away. the camp usually consisting of a
large log cabin, and have found there
newspapers, magazines, occasionally a
Bible. sometimes Shakespeare, and once
in a while a much handled pack of cards.
But the strangcst feature of the mm-
bcrman's camp, so far as anything that
suggests intellectual employment is con
cerncd. is the fact that almost invar-
iably YOU will find in every one OF these
camps a certain book have not been
I'M the woods in recent years, but
know that at the time when ! was
more familiar with the camps than
am now you were certain always to lind
one OF two good copies of this particular
book"
Mr.. Mariner asked me if I could guess
] WNhi Nlt hNNh WoNs N'hthA'N W N"hi
Robinson Crusoe" or some one ol
Scott's or Dickens tales, but he shook
his head 10 indicate that my guess was
wrong. At last he said
"The book is Thoreau's Maine Woods.
( II seems to me TO have been a very
great achievement 10 be able TO write
OF life in Upper Maine, of the logging
camps, and of the streams and lakes
and OF Mount Katahdin in such man
/ nor as 10 fascinatc these rough bul
! kindly and hardy backwoodsmen ol
Maine. I was told that they sometimes
I said that when they read this book they
could actually catch the fragrance o
/ the pines. and that the writer had tolo
his story exactly in sympathy Will
/ their own experience.
81 wish Thoreau could have know
/ this. The book was not published unit
wear or two after mis- death, although
I believe one or two chapters appeared
in one OF the magazines before he died
tie would have been reioiced could h'
have known that he .had so written o
the Maine woods as 20 make his bool
the companion OF every logger and thu
one standard authority, with the excep
tion of the Bible to be found in ever,
Maine logging camp
Copyright 1914. by +. J. Edwards. Al
rights reserved
Tomorrow Nlr Edwards will tell o
"The Home of n Famous Banjo Player