The Coolidge examiner., 1936-10-09

ers were unanimous in the decision.
But argument continued, so the
King of the Netherlands was Sc
lected as the arbiter. His award was
in effect more of a recommended
compromise than an Interpretation
OF treaty language. Although his
line was in general nearer to the
United States claim than to the Brit
lsh, the British government offered
to accept his decision, but the state
OF Maine entered a protest and the
United States Senate accordingly re-
fused its assent to the award.
A settlement of the dispute, which
had now lasted for SO years, was
arranged by the Webster-Ashburton
treaty of 1842. This was much less
favorable to Maine than the spurned
award of the King of the Neither
lands. Acceptance of that award
would have saved it a strip of tim
berland about $500 square miles in
extent, as added territory for the
future Aroostook county, which,
however, is even now larger than
the states of Connecticut and Rhode
Island combined
United States Highway No. /
skirts the open. sea at relatively few
places. From Ogunquit to Wells the
motorlst may look out over a low
line OF sand dunes facing the ocean.
A mile or two beyond Portland the
scattered islands of Casco Bay open
up many vistas of the Atlantic.
Again, in the Rockland- Camden re-
gion, the road follows the shore, with
the broad Penobscot bay in full
view, but east of here only between
Hancock and Sullivan are there sat
isfactory views out to sea. So deeply
lndented coast does not accom-
modate itself to a shore-line high
way.
Pleasing as is the panorama of
sunny farms, quiet villages, and
shady woods along the trunk high
ways, to see the best of the Maine
coast, detours are necessary. Of
these sightseeing excursions to the
shore, some are over Well-surfaced
highways, others along single track,
primitive roads.
DetOurs to Coast Towns
One detour, over excellent roads,
leads through colonial York Village,
past bold Cape Neddick to lovely
Ogunquit, distinguished as an art
lists colony.
Another detour leads to Kenne-
bunkport, the present literary capi,
tai OF Maine, where an 18th-century
village, the winding river, sheltered
beach, and wooded shores unite to
set the scene for an attractive sum-
mer community and an inspiring
environment.
Beyond Cape Porpoise is Beach
wood and Biddeford Pool, the latter
once called Winter Harbor, because
here Richard Vines and his COM
pany passed the winter of 1916.
Beachwood is a descriptive name
equally BETTING many places along
the Maine coast: a short beach be-
tween rocky points with marsh or
pond behind the barrier. On one side
of this pond beach grasses and rock
shrubs grow, and extending inland
from the other shore is the oak and
pine forest.
The next detour is a short one to
popular Old Orchard Beach. Little
could early explorers foresee that
this long crescent of firm sand would
some day be a crowded pleasure re-
sort, as well as a favored take-off
for transatlantic airplane voyages.
Portland is modern Names me-
tropolis, busy, thriving world port,
making the most of its fine harbor
and its geographic position a few
precious miles nearer. Europe than
most other American coast cities.
Yet it has never ceased to be ''the
beautiful town" through whose
pleasant tree-lineo streets Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow wandered
when boy.
Much Like Norway's Fjords
East of Portland the coast line
perceptibly changes, the ford char
acter becoming more marked, with
islands more numerous. All this is
explained by submergence of the
land. The present coast is now a
drowned region, wherein old valleys
of the former topography have be-
come bays and sounds and reaches.
Long divides between valleys have
become peninsulas stretching far
out to sea, and old hilltops are the
islands of today.
Norway and Maine owe their mar
velous beauty, where land and sea
| join, to similar geologic history, and
if, on those unrecorded voyages, the
Vikings actually sailed along the
Maine coast, the bold headlands and
the deep bays, stretching far back
into foreSted hills and mountains,
must have called to mind their
homeland. Similarly, the State-of-
Manner visiting southern Norway
| recognizes there the same type of
rock-bound coast and islands he had
known in the bays of Maine.