February 2014 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 25.


made with starch for John & Phair and the boat took two carloads. Tom Phair was on board, sitting on a cask of starch, and just as the boat was entering a long straight stretch of river Tom remarked “ain’t this great?” and the next minute, the boat slid up onto a smooth gravel bar. There was nothing to do but unload. A hawser was run ashore for a ferry line, a single block served as a trolley, and with a small boat that carried two casks the cargo was taken ashore. The next morning the starch was landed at the fort. “The next spring one trip was made to Ashland and a load of starch was brought down for Charles Clayton. At Ashland the schools were let out to give the scholars a chance to see a real steamboat. On the return trip, just before reaching Washburn where a wire rope spanned the river, an eccentric broke and disabled the port engine. The rope hung too near the water to permit the boat to go under it, even with the smokestack tipped down. The boat was in the middle of the river and had just been headed for the south shore to go under the rope when the other engine stopped on a center. The paddles stopped and the boat was fast nearing the fateful rope. It seemed certain that the boat would be tipped over when she struck the rope, when one of the men went through a little door that gave access in the paddle-wheel, grabbed the wheel-bucket and turned it enough to get the wheel away from the center. Then the boat drifted sideways under the rope with but a few inches to spare.


“The boat had many mishaps and ran onto every rock that was in the channel. The boat was made with a scow bottom so that she would run over logs, as the spring freshet constituted the best time to run and because at that season the river was full of


HISTORY FROM THE PAST - Bangor Daily Commercial - Early 1900s appropriation of $50,000.


logs. Going down stream the boat ran fairly fast and ran right over any logs that happened to be in its course, while going up the river the boat ran slowly and gave men with pike poles a chance to push the logs away from the bow. “The fi rst spring the boat was going along at a good gait when three miles above Caribou she ran onto three logs which crossed while going under the boat. It was near Caribou bar and when the logs struck the bar they lifted the boat almost out of the water. In ten minutes 500 logs formed a jam above the boat and the jam was so tight that scarcely any water ran in the river below. The men cut a big birch sapling for a pry and loosened the jam so that boat, logs and all started down stream. The boat narrowly missed striking square on one of the piers of Caribou bridge. “We always felt nervous when tied up to the bank at Fort Fairfi eld. With the river rushing past and Aroostook falls only three miles below we would probably all be carried to destruction if the ropes which tied the boat to the bank should ever break. The year before the boat was built a petition was sent to Senator Hamlin asking for a survey of the Aroostook river preparatory to an appropriation for improving the channel. The survey was made all right by an engineer named Haagensen sent from Gen. Thoms’ offi ce in Portland.


“Fifty-thousand dollars was the amount recommended by this engineer in his report as necessary for the proposed improvements. Johnson & Phair were associated with me in the enterprise but when the boat was launched Mr. Johnson desired to withdraw and did so, but not until some very strong support had been enlisted in favor of an


“James G. Blaine had been to Presque Isle to deliver a political speech and had promised to aid the bill. President Garfi eld had also been here and made the same promises and Windon of Minnesota had talked very friendly. The whole Maine delegation could be depended upon and Sam Cary, though a Democrat, had said kindly things about the men who were trying to give the farmers an outlet. Matters looked very bright for the expenditure of a large amount of money in the Aroostook valley but when the votes were counted the next fall. George W. Ladd had the most and would be a greenbacker, represent Aroostook in Congress. The House was strongly Republican and nothing would or could be done for a Democratic or Greenback district. For many years the boiler and engines of the old boat have done degrading work in a sawmill while the hull has served as a resting place for sand-peeps and crane down along the St. John river.


12 April 1906 Deer Isle Schooner Aground West Chop. Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts, April


12. – While entering this harbor Thursday the three masted schooner ALLEN GREENE of Deer Isle, Maine, grounded on West Chop. She did not strike heavily and as she rested easily it was expected she would be fl oated at high water without injury. The GREENE which is a vessel of 385 tons net, is bound from Philadelphia for Salem with a cargo of coal.


* * * * *


26 April 1906 Old Vessels on Kennebec


Nothing the coincidence of the latest


steamer and the earliest steamer for service on the Kennebec river, both having been named for cities on its bank, the Gardiner Reporter Journal says: The fi rst steamer on the Kennebec was


the WATERVILLE, which commenced running in 1826. Presumably a contrast in appearance and speed to the new steamer CITY OF AUGUSTA, which last week made its fi rst trip on the river. Two old freight bills display more fanciful names than those, one being a bill due “To Steamer STAR OF THE EAST,” dated 1873, signed Blanchard. The other, “To Steamer EASTERN QUEEN,” of indistinct date, probably 1869, is receipted by W. B. Grant.


In the bygone days when Gardiner and Pittston were shipbuilding towns it was not unusual for several crafts in a season to make not only a fi rst step on the Kennebec but to here, make the fi rst plunge into water, a number of launchings occurring yearly. In a long list of vessels built in these towns


one fi nds a variety of names, some common, others unusual. Among noticeable ones were the ROSE IN BLOOM, commanded by R. Stevens and owned by Smith and Bradstreet, and the OLIVE BRANCH, Capt. Robinson. Shortly following the close of the War of 1812 a ship was built and given the names of one of the naval heroes of this war, DECATUR, commanded by Capt. Blish. The schooner WORROMONTOGUES, owned by S. Swan and R. H. Gardiner, was commanded by J. Blanchard. There was the NEPTUNE, Capt. Stevens; the HESPERUS, Capt. Nickells; HELEN R. COOPER, Capt. Lephram; BONNY BOAT, Capt. Tarbox; WARSAW, Capt. Flitner; SEA FLOWER, Capt. Kinsman; the barque HAIDES, Mary Wilder, CHOCTAW and a fl eet of others.


United States Navy News


Continued from Page 9. Public Affairs


SAN DIEGO (NNS) -- The USNS John Glenn (MLP 2) successfully completed Builder’s Sea Trials Jan. 13.


During the week of sea trials the ship-


builder, General Dynamics National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. (NASSCO), con- ducted comprehensive tests to demonstrate the performance of all of the ship’s major systems.


“John Glenn performed extremely well, a testament to the thorough preparation by NASSCO, the Navy MLP program offi ce, and our Supervisors of Shipbuilding,” said Capt. Henry Stevens, strategic and theater sealift program manager, Program Execu- tive Offi ce, Ships. “This ship is well on its way to acceptance trials and delivery later this year.”


USNS John Glenn is the second ship of the Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) class. Using the commercially designed Alaska-class crude oil carrier as its base, the Navy’s Strategic and Theater Sealift Program Office (PMS 385) worked in conjunction with NASSCO to develop a design that supports the Navy’s core capabilities while maintaining low costs. MLP has a maximum speed of 15 knots and range of 9,500 nautical miles. The ship has tankage for 100,000 gallons of potable water and can hold 380,000 gallons of JP-5 jet fuel. Acting as a mobile seabase, MLP will be part of the critical access infra- structure that supports the deployment of forces and supplies to provide prepositioned equipment and supplies with fl exible distri- bution in support of a variety of missions including humanitarian support and sus- tainment of traditional military missions. Following Builder’s Trials, the ship


will be inspected by the Navy Board of Inspection and Survey during a series of Acceptance Trials. Delivery of the ship to the Navy is expected in March 2014. As one of the Defense Department’s


largest acquisition organizations, PEO Ships is responsible for executing the develop- ment and procurement of all destroyers, am- phibious ships, special mission and support ships, and special warfare craft. Delivering high-quality war fi ghting assets - while bal- ancing affordability and capability - is key to supporting the nation’s maritime strategy.


TR Celebrates 103 Years of Carrier Aviation


By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Heath Zeigler, USS Theodore Roosevelt Public Affairs


USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT, At Sea (NNS) -- The aircraft carrier USS THEO- DORE ROOSEVELT (CVN 71) commemo- rated the 103rd anniversary of carrier-borne naval aviation with the fi rst arrested landing of the day when a C-2 Greyhound, assigned to the Rawhides of Fleet Logistics Support Squadron (VRC) 40, touched down, Jan. 18. On the same day in 1911, Eugene Ely successfully landed a Curtis pusher biplane on a makeshift landing platform aboard the Pacifi c Fleet’s armored cruiser USS PENN- SYLVANIA. It was the fi rst landing on a carrier.


“Eugene Ely landed on a ship for the


fi rst time 103 years ago,” said Cmdr. Wil- liam M. Schomer, TR’s mini air boss. “We [TR] celebrated that accomplishment by highlighting the fi rst trap of the day.” The Mare Island Navy Yard construct- ed the temporary wooden platform over PENNSYLVANIA’s aft deck and gun turret. A series of ropes, with sandbags at each end, were stretched across the temporary


deck and held above it by boards laid along its length. Hooks attached to the airplane’s landing gear caught the ropes and the weight of the sandbags was used to bring the plane to a rapid halt. PENNSYLVANIA’s crew constructed awnings on the sides and front of the fl ight deck to catch the plane and pilot in case the plane failed to stop.


This arrangement paved the way for


today’s modern arresting gear and safety barrier system employed on the Navy’s aircraft carriers. “Eugene Ely’s biggest challenge was probably not knowing what to expect. Through the years we have grown and changed the way we fl y around the ship, but for him, he was the beginning of the data set, the fi rst data point which grew into what we have today. Without men like him we may have never known how invaluable an asset an aircraft carrier would be,” said Schomer. THEODORE ROOSEVELT continues to carry out the tradition and legacies set forth by Eugene Ely and the brave crew of the USS PENNSYLVANIA.


USS Donald Cook to Support NATO Defense Initiative


By Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Adam Austin


NORFOLK, Va. (NNS) -- M. Elaine Bunn, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear and Missile Defense Policy, visited the guided-missile destroyer USS DONALD COOK (DDG 75) today at Naval Station Norfolk to evaluate the ship’s missile defense system.


DONALD COOK will be changing homeport this month to Rota, Spain in order to support the European Phased Adaptive Approach (EPAA), a NATO defense initia- tive aimed at protecting Europe and Israel from potential ballistic missile threats.


The ship will play a very important role in deterring potential enemies and defending our allies from ballistic missile threats, said Bunn.


DONALD COOK will work with shore-based installations as part of the EPAA to enhance the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System, which allows warships to intercept and shoot down incoming enemy ballistic missiles.


“The Secretary of Defense and the President made a commitment to our NATO partners that our contribution to the NATO alliance would include the relocation of additional warships to Rota as well as ex- panding shore-based Aegis installations in Romania and Poland,” said Bunn. Four destroyers, including the DON- ALD COOK, will change homeport to Rota in order to maintain an effective naval pres- ence in the area. The DONALD COOK’s commanding offi cer, Cmdr. Scott A. Jones, anticipates that his ship will be a great asset in the new initiative. “We’re one of three destroyers current- ly equipped with the latest ballistic missile defense capability,” said Jones. “The ship’s crew is currently preparing for the change in homeport. We’re trying to complete sea screenings for our sailors as well as moving and advising families on what to expect,” said Jones. We’ve been preparing this move for a year and a half. We want to make sure the transition is as smooth as possible.


Other visitors to the ship included Rear Adm. Peter Gumataotao, Commander, Navy Surface Force Atlantic; and Captain John F.G. Wade, Commodore. For more news from Navy Public Affairs Support Element, East, visit www.navy.mil/local/pacennor- folk/.


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