Milford Sound

“ Here began an official tour of great interest through the Middle Island, where I was received by the provincial authorities and by all classes of the community with a warmth of courtesy and hospitality for which I shall ever feel grateful.
“Although Milford Sound, at the extreme north of the thirteen inlets of the West Coast, surpasses the rest in stern grandeur and awful solitude, they all have many features in common. They are everywhere deep and narrow, subject to violent winds and strong tides and currents, and with few safe and sheltered anchorages. ”

“ It is best to approach them from the south, beginning with Perseverance Inlet and ending with Milford Sound. For the heights round Milford are the loftiest of any, and after their sublimity the softer aspect of some of the other gulfs is apt to lose impressiveness. The vast monotony and chilly uneasiness of the ocean without heightens the contrast at the entrances. Outside the guardian headlands all is cold and uneasy. ”

“ Milford Sound, the northernmost of the series of inlets on this coast, though comparatively inconsiderable in extent, yet, in remarkable features and magnificent scenery, far surpasses them all. The mountains by which it is surrounded are the highest on the coast, with the exception of Mount Cook, 120 miles north. Pembroke Peak, about 3 miles inland, perpetually snow-capped, rises over its northern side to an elevation of 6700 ft. ”

“ But Harrison’s Cove, or any other part of Milford Sound, I fear, is never very likely to become a harbour for loading and discharging shipping; although, perhaps, in the “high-faluting” mood in which one comes away from its scenery, it is scarcely safe to hazard that opinion. ”

“ From this point northward, the grandeur of the scenery accumulates. The snowy ranges come close to the coast, and a view is obtained of the three easily-recognised commanding peaks which form some of the magnificent surroundings of Milford Sound—Pembroke, Mitre, and Lawrenny Peaks. On each of these there were visible fields of snow, thousands of acres in extent, and of a depth probably measurable by fathoms. ”

“ The exact height of cliffs and mountain-steeps matters little. What is important is that—except on the steepest of the great walls of Milford—almost every yard of their surface is beautified with a drapery of frond and foliage. Where the angle is too acute for trees to root themselves ferns and creepers cloak the faces; where even these fail green mosses save the rocks from bareness, and contrast softly with the sparkling threads of ever-present water.
IN MILFORD SOUND
Scarcely anywhere can the eye take in the whole of an inlet at once. ”

“ Do we, who know this lovely valley so well, wonder that he built his simple home here, and that his descendants have remained here ever since? His house was for some time the last house this side of Albany.
“After a short time, a company from Milford, on Long Island Sound, took up much of the land here, and naturally gave the name New Milford to the new settlement. These men were of a sturdy race, strong in body, courageous, believers in God and His righteousness. ”

“ THE AFTERMATH The great event is over, and New Milford has excelled all records and exceeded all anticipations. This might sound egotistical, were it not a fact that it is only the plain truth, and corroborated by the speech of everyone who witnessed the Celebration. Our town stands higher to-day in public estimation than it ever stood before. As we look back, it is not possible to name an event which should have been omitted or a feature which should have been added. A four-days’ celebration has been held, covering every point which such a celebration should cover ”

“ Between one inlet and another the sea beats on sheer faces of cruel granite. Instantaneous is the change when the gates are entered, and the voyager finds his vessel floating on a surface narrower than a lake and more peaceful than a river. The very throbbing of a steamer’s engines becomes gentler and reaches the ears softly like heart-beats. The arms of the mountains seem stretched to shut out tumult and distraction. Milford, for instance, is a dark-green riband of salt water compressed between cliffs less than a mile apart, and in one pass narrowing to a width of five hundred yards. ”

“ Another amazing fact about Milford is its reflective powers. In calm and brilliant weather mountains are outlined in its waters almost as clearly as they appear above the surface. It is as if one were looking into a slightly defective mirror. ”

“ First comes Highcliffe, this has perhaps the most developed "front," then Barton, nearly two miles from New Milton station, and lastly Milford-on-Sea, the most interesting of them all, but suffering in popularity by reason of the long road, over four miles, that connects it with the nearest stations, Lymington or New Milton; possibly its regular habitués look upon this as a blessing in disguise. Milford is well placed for charming views of the Island: it has good firm sands and a golf links. An interesting church stands back from the sea on the Everton road. ”

“ Marmaduke Hare, who spoke as an Englishman who is an American in the making, Mr. Beach terminated the exercises with these words:
“One brief thought in closing. As the sun sinks behind the hills of our western horizon to-night, we close the second century of the history of New Milford; but let us not linger too long in contemplation of the setting sun. Rather, let us turn our faces eastward and greet the rising sun, which will usher in the third century. Yes, it will be our privilege to enter the portals of another century, but certain it is that not one present will reach its exit. ”

“ In recent days the courage of our citizens has been “tried as by fire.” The great conflagration of May, 1902, swept away the entire business portion of the village; yet the Puritan fathers could not have met disaster more stoically than our brave men of to-day. The cheerful optimism that built “Shanty Town” on “The Green” while the ruins were still smouldering showed that the stout hearts of old New Milford were the same in the new, and that noble lives have been its inheritance through all its years. ”

“ Beyond West Angle Bay the mainland rounds away eastwards, with a fort-crowned islet protecting the inner reaches of the famous estuary.
It is to be hoped that the unrivalled advantages of Milford Haven will ere long be turned to better account. With its noble fairway, untrammelled by shoal or bar, and deep, land-locked reaches where the whole British Navy might safely ride at anchor, Milford Haven has no compeer along our western seaboard. ”

“ Marshal Henry O. Warner and Staff (James Marsh, W. C. Beeman, Clifford Marsh)
Wheeler & Wilson Band of Bridgeport (by courtesy of Roger Sherman Chapter, D. A. R.)
Colonial Features
Industrial Floats
There were more military organizations, fire companies, drum corps, and brass bands in line, probably, than had ever been seen at one time in New Milford, and they elicited by their brilliant uniforms, stirring music, and fine marching the admiration and the hearty applause of the crowds massed along the line of march ”

“ In less than five minutes you may cross the Haven, by steam ferry, from Pembroke Dock to New Milford or Neyland, which calls for no particular notice. It is a creation of the Great Western Railway, in connection with which steamers ply nightly to Ireland. Hence to Old Milford is a pleasant walk of three miles, [Pg 185] with the water continuously to the left. The low green hills of the Haven to the south are not very beautiful, and it is only on exceptional occasions that the great water-way holds more than half a dozen big ships in its midst. ”

“ It is from their lives, indeed, that history gains its color and its inspiration.
“It was the good fortune of New Milford to be the home of such a man in the middle of her first century of existence.
“It was a hundred and sixty-four years ago, this very month that a tall and well-set young fellow of two and twenty ended in this town a toilsome journey, taken on foot from the neighborhood of Boston. He had come to make New Milford his home, bringing on his back the tools of his trade—that of a shoemaker—and with their aid he here gained for a year or two an honest livelihood. ”

“ And they do well, the people of New Milford, proud of their town and its history, to recognize on such a splendid scale its two hundredth birthday. With all their ceremonies of civic and social celebration, the religious side of their town’s history has been given equal attention. Almighty God has not been forgotten—He who is the Creator and Supreme Ruler of the Universe, from whom comes all that we are and all that we have, who holds in the palm of His hand the destiny of the world and the fate of its people. ”

“ Elijah Boardman many virtues, we all—the loyal sons and daughters of New Milford, those who went forth to make homes for themselves elsewhere and have now returned hither, and the strangers from foreign shores who have settled here—join together this beautiful month of June to celebrate the founding of the town, two hundred years ago. ”

“ Stuvic say that the buggy was not strong. They were going to the village of Lake Villa. They might stop at the mill and have a word with the Professor. Milford remarked that the Professor would no doubt be pleased to see them, but that he was no doubt very busy. They drove on without having noticed the wounds on his face. To one not bent upon a vengeful mission, to a thoughtful man with a mind in tone with the scented air, the soft sky, the spread of green, the gleam of water, the clouds of blackbirds, such a stroll would have been rich with an inner music played upon many sweet chords. ”

“ There is a good natural centre to the village, with four cross roads and an inn, but no doubt Milford's future is to belong to Godalming. A few half-timbered and weather-tiled cottages, which have served as models for newer neighbours, some pollarded elms, a broad smooth road and dusty jasmine—Milford is the first village on the highway running south from Godalming, and on a summer Saturday is less a village than a road. ”

“ Those early days of New Milford produced some noted men, whose lives and example did much to mould the characters of the inhabitants. The names of Boardman, Taylor, Noble, Gaylord, Bostwick, Canfield, Baldwin, Griswold, Sherman, Sanford, Mygatt, Marsh, Hine, Turrill, and others of the same stamp will be recalled as those of leaders in the affairs of the town and the church. ”

“ All glory, then, to these Pilgrims from New Milford! They, like one of old, ‘went out not knowing whither they went.’ They dared and suffered and died, but always achieved. Well may this village, a beautiful gem set in the midst of these rolling hills, rejoice in its own noble development and progress and prosperity. Your life here is almost ideal. The conditions are as fine as the world affords. But, as you rejoice in this Bi-Centennial of your own founding, forget not, O brave and true men and women of this generation ”

“ At Pembroke we hired a boat, [41] intending to sail round the extensive Haven of Milford; and, as we retired from the shore, we took a retrospect of the dilapidated walls of the Castle, once the terror, and even in ruins the pride of the scene. It is most advisable to make this excursion at high water, as it adds much to the picturesque scenery of the tout ensemble.
p. 42MILFORD HAVEN,
is justly compared to “an immense lake; for the mouth not being at any distance visible, the whole Haven seems land-locked. ”

“ This need of more land, and the protection from invasion which the settlement of this section would afford the communities near the coast, and the innate love of adventure and desire to subdue the wilderness which have characterized the American people from the beginning, were the impelling causes which led to the planting of New Milford. ”

“ Roland and the curate were puffing at their cigars and lazily conversing in the fore part of the boat, and young Ned was playfully pulling Roy’s ears. Suddenly through the stillness of the night, above the musical ripple as the bow of the boat cleft the water, above the bell-like plash of the waves upon the shore, a strange, mysterious sound came wafting over the moonlit sea, a sound as of the deep-toned howling of a dog.
The sky, studded with stars, is without a cloud. Yonder, shadowed by the lofty headland, the grey rock-turrets of The Skegs stand forth spectral under the clear moon. ”

“ While New Milford has had many trials and sore experiences, the old town shows no wrinkles, or scars, but is fresh and blooming and ready to enter upon the third century of its career with a courageous heart and unfaltering purpose to maintain in the future, as in the past, the splendid character of our New England civilization. ”

“ But while we celebrate New Milford, past and present, what shall we say of the New Milford to come? Shall not the civic pride, and energy, the patriotism, that have inspired this Celebration, continue to be moving forces toward a better New Milford? Shall not some of the thousands who visit us, impressed with the attractions of our town, remain and help us to make a greater New Milford? ”

“ And about that time I decided that I wouldn't go to town to-day."
"I'll go over there," said Milford.
"No, don't do anything of the sort, not while you're mad. It's all right now."
"No, it's not all right, but I want to tell you that I'll make it all right". [Pg 86]
"Now, don't go on getting hot. The thing was a joke, and is all smoothed over. It arose out of pity for the other young woman."
"Confound it! there isn't any other woman."
"That's all right; that's what I told them. No other woman, of course not. There never is. Well, I'll be off. I go at twelve forty-five." ”