Two images those lights once caught Of stars which, though for ages taught To sport in rivulet or lake Or sea or ocean, by mistake Dived down into the dewy deeps Of Dora 's Eyes. And still she keeps Them prisoners, caught fast I think A-napping by a sudden wink That snapped the cords, the mystic tie That bound the vagrants to the sky. Like the first owner of Arcadia Island, George A. Magoon was the president and director of various coal companies centred around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, such as the Pittsburg and Westmoreland Coal Company (the largest bituminous coal company in Pennsylvania), the Haywood Coal Mining Co. and the Commonwealth Fuel Co. When he purchased Arcadia Is. in July 1905 there were major concerns in the US Coal industry. …show more content…
As the leader of the Pennsylvania independent coal merchants George was fighting significant union opposition as the industry wanted to reduce wages by 15%. The consequent strike threatened not only the companies he represented, but US Steel and the economy in general. By 1910 Westmoreland County had a strike by the United Mine Workers, called the Slovak Strike. Sixteen people were killed. The Magoon 's had a Canadian connection in that George 's father was Canadian from Danville in the eastern townships in Quebec and his wife, Minnie (b 1870), whom he married in 1900, was also born in Canada. George and Minnie gradually lost interest in the long trip from Pennsylvania to Blackstone. They and had built a 2 storey wood-shingled cottage in 1916 in Pinehurst, North Carolina, a small village in which one of his companies supplied coal. They named their new summer place Beau Soleil. Both George and Minnie were avid golfers, George being a member of many clubs including the Pittsburgh Field Club, Heron Hill Gun Club, the Pittsburgh Country Club and the Schenley Golf Club. Minnie was also an excellent player nearly winning the Carolina Tournament for Women in 1923. The Magoon 's sold part of Arcadia Is. to Richard W. Gardner and part to Edward C. Randall in