Page:The Granite Monthly Volume 5.djvu/194

 1 68 THE GRANITE MONTHLY.

��ALONG THE SOUHEGAN.

��BY J. B. CONNOR.

NOTWITHSTANDING the avowed hostility which the early settlers of New Hampshire entertained toward the Indians, they accepted and per- petuated many names which the red-man had giveri to certain localities, and some of the cognomens by which towns, and mountains, and rivers are recog- nized, are as wild as the untamed spirit of the savages who christened them. The name Souhegan is spelled in a variety of ways, and its signification is even more uncertain than. its proper orthography. The Hon. C. E. Potter, trans- lated its meaning as : "The river of the Plains," but quite sensibly adds that that appelation is inapplicable to the greater portion of its bed. Its impor- tance to the commercial interests of southern New Hampshire however, is in- valuable, and for the service it renders in contributing to the wealth and pros- perity of the Granite State, we can readily overlook its obscure and inelegant name. The Souhegan river has its source in Great and Little Watatic ponds in Ashburnham, and soon entering the town of New Ipswich, pursues a nearly direct course east of north under the name of South Branch, when it unites with the North Branch, originating in Pratt's Pond at the base of Barrett's mountain. The united stream continues its course, inclining somewhat more eastwardly, and crosses the town of New Ipswich just above Mason Village. Almost from the moment of its entrance into the State, the usefulness and power of the Souhegan is apparent. Augmented by numerous streams from Massachusetts, and receiving abundant supplies from the water-sheds to the north, it irregates and fertilizes the beautiful valley through which it flows, and gathers strength to turn the ponderous machinery of some of the proudest in- dustries in the State. Even before it assumes sufficient size to characterize it as a river, it moves the wheels of many incipient mills, and fairly earns its right of way as it goes dancing on to greater triumphs, and when -at last it plunges into the Merrimack in the town of that name, its aid in perpetuating the enviable celebrity of those giant corporations at Nashua, Lowell and Lawrence, is readily recognized. It performs no important work at New Ipswich, save that of adding to the scenic grandeur of die locality. Neither is it necessary, for that town having operated the first cotton-mill in the State, and established the first glass-factory, is content to refer with becoming pride to its former activity, to the long list of eminent meil she has sent forth to victory, in batde, at the bar and in the sacred cause of religion. Her laurels were tairly won in the prime of life, and now that the days of her commercial prosperity are over, she wins with easy grace admiring glances from the lovers of nature.

The attractions of New Ipswich prove irresistible to large numbers of summer tourists, and the gentlemanly proprietor of Clark Hotel is ever on the alert to extend a cordial welcome and substantial comfort to all. The river only pays its respects to New Ipswich, and then goes bowhng along its rocky bed through Mason, and Greenville, and French Village, serving them all with motive power, and rushes headlong upon the dams which dispute its passage at Wilton.

Everybody in the State knows where Wilton is on the map, but that partly- colored sheet can give no idea of the pleasant town, with its busy streets and ceaseless whir of revolving wheels. It conveys no sound of the locomotive whistle or of the rushing of mighty waters, so intimately associated with the

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