The following short articles appeared in the March 25, 1915, edition of the MAINE WOODS newspaper. Enjoy these local snippets from 109 years ago!
(Contemporary commentary shared in Italics).
Monster Trees Found on Dill’s Island
Messrs. Bert Kempton and Walter Hodges found what they considered a very phenomenal growth of wood while surveying some land for H. P. Dill in Weld recently. They found one basswood tree that measured eight feet and one inch in circumference and they judged it to be 45 feet tall, and it was smooth and clear. Another tree, hemlock, was 10 feet and 11 inches in girth and 36 feet tall. They found all of the growth unusually large and fine. There are 210 acres in this lot and it joins Avon.
(Those are some impressive tree trunks! They just don’t grow them like they used to, you say. Well according to the website Monumentaltrees.com, the largest eastern hemlock is located in North Carolina. It is a smidge more than FIVE feet greater in girth than the one mentioned above. The Tar Heel State also has a Basswood that has TWICE the girth of the Maine whopper described above at 16’2”! Fat-ass Tree! I reckon that it must be their longer growing season).
Moose Protected
It has been a tedious pro and con argument regarding the length of the close time which shall be placed upon bull moose. Beyond question, Maine moose will be protected, they shall not be allowed to vanish from the face of the earth the way the Adirondack moose have. More and more, the citizens of Maine realize that the dream of Hon. Frank E. Guernsey, to have a gigantic game park near the base of Mt. Katahdin, is approaching realization. It may be possible to restore the now gone for good caribou to the woods of Maine. Great care must be taken in conserving the nearly vanished beaver, which are said now to have established themselves more firmly than they were just ten years ago.
(Just a few years later, it was determined that the population of moose in Maine had reduced to just 2,000 animals. This downfall was due to unrestricted hunting. Forestland clearing for agriculture also led to its decline. In 1900, Maine enacted the first laws providing protection for Moose and here above,15 years later, it was still a hot topic. Today, it’s still a hot topic!
The first Game Wardens were initially called “Moose Wardens” as moose were their original and sole priority. Unfortunately, the caribou remains extirpated here in Maine, but the beaver population is quite healthy and sustainable).
Capt. Barkers Resort -The Birches 1919
THE BIRCHES BROKEN INTO
Captain Barker On the Job and Discovers the Theft. Rumford
March. 22- The camps of Captain F. C. Barker at “The Birches” were broken into on Sunday, March 14th. Although camps are closed for the winter, Captain Barker is constantly on the job and discovered the break in and with the assistance of his mem quickly got on the trail, there being a light snow by which the tracks could be easily followed. They were traced to a camp of lumbermen about two miles distant. Deputy Esty of Rangeley was called and arrests were made. As the break was made in Oxford County, the prisoners were brought to Rumford on the morning train of March 16th, where a preliminary hearing was held. Sufficient evidence not being put in to hold them the court ordered the men discharged. So sure, was Captain Barker of the guilt of the two men whom he brought to Rumford, that he, with two other men, went to Welch’s siding on the afternoon train and got off there, to see if further evidence could be found. The two suspects, being guilty, displayed great uneasiness upon finding the captain on their trail, and made an attempt to transfer the stolen property to another location. They also found a nice overcoat belonging to Felix Landry of this town, which was taken from the train at Bemis some week or ten days ago. The men were arrested and taken to Farmington in Franklin County, as the arrests were made in that county, and the stolen goods were found in that county. It is hoped that the practice of breaking into camps around the lakes may be broken up by this clean-up.
(This was not the first time Captain Barker had tracked down thieves who had broken into his property. According to his autobiography, the captain’s original camps at Bemis were also ransacked and robbed. No easy mark, he then skated the windblown miles across Mooselookmeguntic all the way to the Cupsuptic River in the dark and rifle in hand in hot pursuit. Along the way, he stopped by Pleasant Island to get the help of his longtime friend Billy Soule. The intrepid and determined pair found the two rapscallions in a lean-to by the river resting by a campfire and enjoying a few of the canned goods they had stolen. Poor Billy had broken through the ice before they jumped the rascals, so he was obliged to warm himself by their fire while Barker gave them what for. This Rangeley two-man posse then brought the lawbreakers all the way to the jail on foot in Rangeley at rifle point. I assume they had removed their skates.
I highly recommend Barker’s autobiography; “Lake and Forest as I’ve Known Them” and that you also stop by The Outdoor Heritage Museum in Oquossoc to learn more about Captain Barker and his good friend Billy Soule).
Have a great week, everyone and be sure to make some great Rangeley history of your own!
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