30 COMMEKCIAL IMPOKTANCE OF WHITE MOUNTAIN EOKESTS. 



our share of New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts — more 

 than we wish to have placed at that point, for it is certainly a source 

 of very great danger and annoyance to us. Would it not be cheaper 

 to protect the forests and keep the silt where nature first placed it, 

 than to remove it at great expense from the rivers and harbors?" 

 Mr. Goodrich asserts further that the sand constantly forming bars 

 betv/een Hartford and Long Island Sound, and at the mouth of the 

 Connecticut, "is composed of clean, white grit, as hard as diamonds, 

 heavier than the alluvial soil," and that it came down through the 

 forests from the mountains. 



HEALTH AND RECREATION. 



The fame of the White Mountains as a region of unusual beauty 

 is widespread and of long standing. For purposes of health, rest, 

 and recreation they are sought annually by many thousands of peo- 

 ple from all parts of the country, whose return year after year means 

 that they find what they seek. Some of the mountains and streams 

 bear the names of those who have found inspiration from them. 

 Thus Hale Mountain is named for Edward Everett Hale, who has 

 known and visited these mountains since the time when, a young 

 man, he helped survey them more than sixty yeais ago. Beecher 

 Falls recall the favorite haunts of the long-time pastor of Plymouth 

 Church. Mount Cleveland stands in the town of Bethlehem, although 

 the summer home of the late President is in Tamworth. Near to 

 Mount Cleveland is the cottage of the late Theodore Thomas. The 

 home of the late Augustus St. Gaudens was within the southwestern 

 border of the White Mountain region. Near by, on Sunapee Lake, 

 is the summer home devotedly loved by the late John Hay. Who 

 better have served the public welfare and led the American people, 

 either in letters, in public life, or in finished artistic expression? If 

 these and thousands more who, if less famous, are yet most active 

 leaders of thought and action, sought the inspiration of the White 

 Mountain forests, their verdict should not be set aside as of little 

 weight. The preservation and proper use of the White Mountain 

 forests are essential not only to the economic welfare of a large sec- 

 tion, but they also feed directly the higher life, and for this reason 

 alone are worthy of a supreme effort to save them from denudation. 

 The White Mountains have no large private game preserves and are 

 not frequented by very rich persons to the exclusion of the com- 

 mon people. In the great number of hotels and boarding houses 

 throughout the region, thousands of teachers and preachers, business 

 men, salaried men, and wage earners and their families find health 

 and pleasure. For the nearly two thousand men and women who 

 are members of the Appalachian Mountain Club, the White Moun- 

 ains are the chief interest. The mountains are used by people from 



N,Cir. 168] 



