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Show (MOUNTAINS 1 . MEET OCEAN 1 The bill before Congress to create tbe Mount Desert National park upon up-on Mount Desert Island, Maine, trill call special aattention his summer to one qr. the most distinguished scenic places in the country. Already Al-ready it is a national reservation, President Wilson having proclaimed It the Sleur do Monts National Monument two years ago. Tho movement to promote it to national parkhood marks the appreciation of New England and tho country generally gen-erally resulting from tho public attention at-tention devoted to this spot In consequence con-sequence of tho President's net. Sleur do Monts la t he only spot on the Atlantic coast where sea and mountain meet. Also It Is typical In the best sense of tho magnificence magnific-ence o fthlo deciduous forests of tho East; these aro not elsewhere represented re-presented In tho national scenic group. Mount Desert will bo tho only national park cast of tho Mississippi. Mis-sissippi. Many thousands of persons who do not identify this splendid group of seagrlt mountains under Its present title of Sleur de Monts will place it at once, under the title proposed for the national park, as the granite whlcM rise behind Bar Harbor and the other resorts of Mount Desert Island. The rounded summits of more than, r a dosen low mountains. and the beaitlful lakes which Beetle at their .feet are Inclosed In the' reservation. re-servation. Nowhere else, may the pleasure of 'seashore and ' rock-bound rock-bound coast be combined with those of a wild, mountainous wilderness. For many yean these mountains have lured summer visitors into their fastnesses. Their splendid forests of oak, pine, hemlock, chestnut, chest-nut, beech, maple and other well known trees o fthe Appalachian Range the perfection of their natlvo shrubs, the luxuriance of their wild flowers," the charm of their wild valleys and lakes, and' the stirring views of island-dotted sea from their slopes and summits bring visitors back again summer after summer. .All of these mountains wercin prl-) prl-) possession; summer estates were 1 shutting out large areas from public use. That is why a group of public spirited men undertook a dozen Hrs ago to acquire the mountains and present them Ho tho Nation. Some gave their, estntes, othors gave v. money to buy holdings which could not b'e got by gift. The Mount Desert De-sert National Park, when Congress thus creates It, will stand also tor the fine generosity and public spirit of New England. This summer's visitors will be interested in-terested In the extreme age of these mountains. They are granite of the Archean age. They stood there, doubtless far loftier and perhaps serrated, before the now loftier Rockies aad the Sierra Nevada even emerged' from 'the prehistoric sea. These summits have been rounded In the intervening many millions of yeats by the frosts and the rains, and the giant Ice sheets which descended time and again from the north. The record o fthe glaciers may be read still upon their slopes. The. mountains are entirely surrounded sur-rounded by fine automobile roads along the shore, which connect the seaside resorts. But In many plaees the cliffs spring straight, from tho ocean, whose waves lash and corrode their granite fset. A greater variety vari-ety of sensations may bo had from this combination of sea and mountain moun-tain than Is offered by ony western national park however largo and majestic. |
