Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1917-07-31
An Hrcursaoa whlch Care Baclr.

An Excufsioa WhlcA Care Daclr.
One Of the Instances whore best lai
plans ssgang agles'' was- the annui
IpicnIc Of the Pathflnders, under who
name the Glass OF Mrs. George r. nofto
In the Univsrsalist Sunday School
: Organised. The date Of this affair Va
|, cot two or three weeks ahead ~ Tue
] day, July "a, and the day wssso Be spsn
, In An automobile trip to tho foot q
Pleasant Mountain in Denmark, and
hike up tho mountain.
81 A start almost on schedule WAS mad
I Q little after 5 O'Clock In the morning
The boys were accompanied BY Mr.. an'
Mrs. Norton, George r. Farnum, AM
J Mr.. and Mrs. Arthur e. Forbes, Nj
Morton and Mr.. Farnum driving th
. two cars. The boys who went wer
, Henry Morton, Lester Cushman, Lesli
Marston, Howard Jackson, Ralph Maxim
} Llewellyn RUSSELL. Maynard Record
Lawrence Thurlow, Howard Aldrioh
, and Gordon Powers.
II A good camping spot whore breakfas
was to be eaten at tho foot of thu
mountain was known, and there wa
good prospect OF reaching II ct season
!, able hour. The route lay through
Norway Lake, thence through Eas
Waterford, Waterford Flat so-called
ISouth Waterford, Harrison, NORTH
Bridgton, Bridgton Center. A few milel
beyond Bridgton, on the state road (
Fryeburg, We were to turn to the left
and skirting the north end Of Pleasant
Mountain, come to tho foot of The
carriags road which once led TO . hotel
on the summit. The hotel has long
since gone, also the carriage road - faI
as carriages are concerned, but It makes
good trail for foot passengers.
1t 10 . delightful ride, especially In
the cool OF the morning, when We are
practising daylight saving" In the
right way, without making the clock lie,
or cause any confusion. Almost all
Maine is beautiful In the summer, only
some of It 10 more 30. Our road lies
through villages and woods, and along
side numerous lakes and ponds, on the
shores of which are many summer
homes and boys and girls camps.
Later In the day We came upon . whole
roadful of girls from one Of these camps,
looking very summerish.
And then, with our prospective camp
ground at the foot Of the mountain per-
haps Eve miles away, We went mp
against It," After We had crossed
Moose Pond and gone mp grade which
was being repaired and was pretty soft,
we came upon fence across the road,
and sign board pointing along q road
to the right, and marked Lowell and
Fryeburg.
"Can't get through" was the brief
and definite answer to our inquiries %
to what there was In the road ahead. We
we're also assured that 1t was worth
while to 90 on far enough to see the
"first washout," though 1t couldn't hold
q candle to the one half or three quarters
of mile beyond.
We went and looked and It was really
worth while. 1t doesn't seem possible
that water could come out of the sky
fast enough to do what 1t had done
there. On Saturday, the 21st Of July,
there were some fearful showers In that
part of the state, and right there In West
Bridgtou, which is what the settlement
on that low ridge 10 called, there must
have been something that could have
been only family described by the term
cloudburst. A little brook which one
can Jump across almost anywhere comes
down from the bills. When the water
poured down the brook became
mighty stream. 1t filled the road until
Il quilted q stretch of 1t three feet deep
and made it impossible except on foot.
At the foot of the ridge the road crosses
the brook. The water literally piled up
against the bridge until 1t forced the
whole structure into wrecksge with an
ex plosion which was heard In the houses
some distance away, though no one
could see anything through the cloud OF
rain. The abutments and much of the
earth behind them were carried away,
and where there was q bridge there Is
now q pile of rocks and timbers.
About four. rods below this bridge, on
the bank of the brook, lies . square
coruered stone which weighs hundreds
of pounds. This was In the abutment
of the bridge, and was forced down
stream by the water. A meadow above
is strewn with stones, many Of them as
large as mans head, swept out OF the
bed of the brook.
Anyone who doesn't know what
little brook can do when 1t gets on .
rampage should see this place, though
we were assured that this was nothing
to what the other washout WAS. And
one wouldn't think to look Ut the
country, that this brook would ever get
more than bank full.
After We had inspected tho washout,
we went back near tho shore OF Moose
Pond to eat our breakfast, which by
this time was overdue. The boys wanted
to 90 swimming, but 1t wasn'ta good
place there and they had to wait. In Q
shady place beside the road Q fire was
built, and bacon, potatoes and eggs we're
soon frying. Also, until the smudge
got to working, We were enjoying the
company of how many thonsands OF
mosquitoes no one would dare to guess.
If Won have never eaten Q breakfast
out doors, with the bacon sizzling over
the camp fire, and hunger sharpen
ed BY q little waiting-why, you're
not real camper. and you have
missed something that life might have
for Won. And that's about all We need
to cay about the breakfast.
Az soon AZ the boys got filed up,
they got into the autos and were ready
to start, because they knew there was .
place somewhere to 60 10 swimming,
and they wanted to get there. but they
had to wait until things were cleaned up
and packed up. :.
Now We might have gone to Pleasant
Mountain, by making detour around .
circle of some fifteen miles. But IL was
decided that the best thing to do was to
Start for homo about ten o'clock. Be-
sides, tho boys wanted to 60 In swim
ming.
ridge roads between Bridgton and
Hsrrison-a beautiful scenic route. At
Harrison we stopped for short call on
friends. The boys wanted to 90 swim
ming. but we were 90 far from the
water that they waited. :.
As mentioned above, the boys wanted
to 90 swimming, and they scanned the
shore of Bear Pond with eager eyes
looking for sandy beach, but none
appeared. However, on Keoka Lake In
waterford We found sandy beach near
the road-and the boys went swimming.
At % little before O'Clock We reached
South Paris. We hadn't climbed
Pleasant Mountain for obvious reasons;
but.we had had . mighty good time:
And the boys decided that they would
20 down 10 Ames' Grove and eat the