March 2009 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 27.
Maritime History:Tidbits from 1901 and 1902
The following information was taken and he was in fear for his life, thinking that the struck by a squall. She was off White Head settled it and every night the spirit was looked
from newspaper clippings from the Bangor vessel could sink at any time, especially if the when the squall hit breaking off the tip of her for.
Daily Commercial for 1901 and 1902. cargo of lumber was removed. bowsprit and snapping her jib-boom. She She left port and headed further south to
1901 30 March: Spring has just arrived and made Searsport with little and trouble and a port in the gulf. When she was loaded she
6 February: In the last issue I wrote a now the yards where vessels have been laid then proceeded up the river to load lumber. went across to the city where the captain had
little bit about the POLLY, but that is not the up for the winter begin to show activity. The While she is at Arey’s dock repairs will be been killed. That first night strange sounds
only vessel from Jonesport that has a history. busiest are the ship riggers, who basically made. were heard in the darkness of the aft cabin.
One vessel that was mentioned by an old sea hibernate for the cold months. As the warmth The MARY WILLEY was built in 1860 These sounds became more prevalent during
captain was the CLEMENT, which was built of the sun begins to take the chill out of the and was under the command of Captain Wil- the real hot nights and nights with thunder-
at Vinalhaven in 1827. During her early career air there they are getting the vessels ready for liams. storms. Just before one squall hit the mate
she voyaged to the West Indies, but recently sea. During the winter the sails mildew, the 21 May: The Arthur Sewall & Company peeked into the aft cabin and during a flash of
she has not been out of the Machias district. running rigging rots and the brass turns of Bath launched the four-masted schooner lightning he saw a white figure with a patch
She has been employed carrying lumber. green. Many vessels are stripped down and ACME for the Standard Oil Company. She on his chest kneeling.
The same article discussed the schooner left a hulk. During the winter the sail loft was designed to carry oil and built on the The captain wrote back to a Bangor
TRITON, Captain Mahan, which loaded lum- mends or making new sails. Then when spring same lines as the ASTRAL. She will be ca- friend saying that it was getting very difficult
ber in the Kennebec River and then headed arrives these are bent on the spars and rigged. pable of carrying 1,500,000 gallons of case oil. trying to keep mates and crew. He also won-
for Newton Creek. What is interesting is that But before this can happen the spars are 25 May: A story was told in the papers ders just how long the problem would last.
the voyage took three months, but even more given a good coat of slush, which is a bucket of a Bangor captain’s trouble with a southern 1 June: At the Ashland docks off Ex-
interesting is no one ever knew if she finished of mutton tallow with a hot chunk of iron in it schooner in a foreign port last winter. The change Street in Bangor sits the three-masted
it. She sailed out of the Kennebec in October, to keep it warm. Looking at the deck it is a mass previous captain was murdered and his body schooner MYRA B. WEAVER. Last fall she
touched at Portland and then while trying to of ropes, blocks and cables. The clewlines disappeared. An investigation ensued, the was making a voyage with a cargo of hard
get into Portsmouth, New Hampshire she and buntlines are rove, then the downhaul people onboard at the time questioned, but pine from Mobile to Boston. Onboard was the
grounded on a mud bank. The captain turned and halyards are run. The ratlines are squared no one had been brought to justice for the Captain, his wife, daughter, mate, steward
to chief mate Candage and said that he was and stays and braces are coated with tar. crime. When the new captain arrived he was and four seamen. As they made their way
finishing the voyage by rail and that he would Some captains do not paint, but others aware of the superstition that when a master north the weather was cold, but fine. The
meet him in New York. The mate worked her do. A good captain likes his vessel shipshape was murdered his ghost haunted the vessel, captain decided to take the inside course to
out of the mud and then heeled her over and and that means he paints, inside and out. he kept an eye out for anything unusual. For Boston. On 8 November she entered Vine-
caulked her as best he could. He then put to 6 May: The Machias two-masted schoo- months, when the conditions seemed right yard Sound and out by Pollock Rip. The skies
sea with pumps pumping. She passed Cape ner HELEN went ashore on Wood Island off for a ghost to appear, nothing happened. One were now threatening as other vessels head
Cod, then Nantucket and finally entered Long Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She had loaded night the captain returned from town in the for the shelter of the nearest port. The captain
Island Sound. It was here that she was blown coal at New York and was making her way to middle of the evening he found the mate knew he had a sturdy vessel and thought it
here and there for weeks, but she finally made Pond Island when the disaster occurred. The huddled over the table in the forward cabin. was worth the chance. On the night of 9
it to port. Captain Mahan was extremely sur- schooner is full of water and her bottom is It was obvious that he had been rolled from November the wind shifted to the northeast
prised and when he went to the vessel the badly damaged. Due to her position and the his bunk. and by morning it was blowing a gale with the
crew asked for their pay to which he re- damage she has sustained it is thought that The captain asked what had happened deck load pressing hard against the masts.
sponded that the vessel was theirs, since he she will not be saved. and the mate said, “A black cat jumped out of The WEAVER rode out the storm during the
was having trouble financially. The crew furled The 194-ton HELEN was built at steward’s room shot across this room and day, but as darkness fell her chains broke, her
the sails and then went to see Clark H. Abbott Harrington in 1874. went into your cabin, sir, and she’s in the after sails were torn apart and she was being pushed
of the Seamen’s Aid society. The vessel was 10 May: The packet MARY WILLEY cabin now I guess.” out to sea. With little warning the deck load
libeled and a court date set in February. was making a voyage from Portland to The captain got a match and entered the
Continued on Page 28.
Deputy Marshal Henkel was placed on board Searsport with a load of corn when she was after cabin and went to his bunk. The cat
Help Save this 102 Year old former Reading Railroad Tug
Join the "Friends of Saturn" for just $25.
We have moved to Brewer where she has spent the winter. Now spring is coming at work will begin in ernst, some by volunteers and some
by Kustom Steel. Plans are to paint her from keel to top of pilothouse, get heating system ready for next winter and begin engine work!
SATURN is a 117-foot railroad tug built as the BERN for the Reading Railroad in 1907. She is one of the last railroad tugs in existence and
should be saved for future generations to enjoy. For further information : (207) 223-8846 or make out check to: Friends of SATURN, P.O. Box
710, Winterport, ME 04496.
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