Page 26. MAINE COASTAL NEWS January 2015 HISTORY FROM THE PAST - Bangor Daily Commercial - Early 1900s removed.


26 December 1907 Five Maine Ships Now Around the Horn Down somewhere in the neighborhood of Cape Horn, where the season is June through the month of December, no less than fi ve Bath ships must be gathered into the limits of a very small circle of the ocean’s area.


The fi ve are ARYAN, the last ship built


in America, and the ASTRAL, BENJAMIN F. PACKARD, EDWARD SEWALL, and WILLIAM P. FRYE. The ASTRAL and FRYE are homeward bound, the other three sailing in the opposite direction. The ARYAN sailed October 8 and


the FRYE November 2, from ‘Fisco for New York. The SEWALL, ASTRAL and PACKARD are all three on their way to Honolulu and passed out by Cape Henry respectively on October 8, October 9, and October 16, the SEWALL from Baltimore and the other two from Norfolk. The average passage between either Honolulu or ‘Frisco and Cape Henry is not far from 140 days and the Horn is approximately half way. Two of the quintet are now out 74 days, one 73, one 66 and the fi fth 50. The last has no doubt already made up a good part of the handicap she gave, for Capt. Jim Murphy has charge of her and he never spares his canvas. It would be odd if the fi ve should be in company for a few hours somewhere off the Horn. The assembling of that squadron, the fl ower of the remnant of the American deep sea Merchant Marine, would be scarcely less notable an event than the passage through the Straits of Magellan a litter later in the winter by the United States Atlantic fl eet will be.


31 December 1907 Nineteen Vessels Built at Bath in 1907 Bath, December 31. A recapitulation of shipbuilding in the Bath district for the year closing Tuesday shows there were constructed four scows, one steamer (Camden), one yacht, fi ve barges and eight schooners, the gross tonnage being 13,585.24 tons. All except a small schooner were built in this city. The prospects for the new year are unusually bright. There are now in process of construction or contracted for master, two six-masters, a barge, two master, two six-masters, a barge, two torpedo boat destroyers, the scout ship CHESTER and the steamer BELFAST.


8 January 1908


Lost Sch. LEONORA Carried Crew of Seven


Round Pond, January 8. It is believed here that the schooner


wrecked off the North Carolina coast Tuesday was the LEONORA, which loaded fi sh scrap here and at Boothbay Harbor and sailed from the latter port about December 9 for Charleston, South Carolina. She left here December 4 in command of Capt. David Brown of Deer Isle, Maine, whose wife was on board with him. The craft took her departure from Round Pond. The LEONORA was loaded for Hellar, Hirsh & Co., 62 William Street, New York City. Julius Alexander of 118 Spring Street, New York City, had charge of the loading. The only places along the Maine coast


where fi sh scrap is loaded at this season are Linneken, near Boothbay, and Round Pond, and the LEONORA is the only schooner which has sailed from either place for a number of weeks. The LEONORA had a crew of seven men and was bound for Charleston, South Carolina. The captain’s wife planned to


make the voyage. 5 March 1908


New Maine Shipyard Revival of Shipbuilding Industry at


Tenant’s Harbor Said to be Probable. The village of Tenants Harbor is likely to see a revival of the shipbuilding industry by another summer, according to a special dispatch from that place to the Kennebec Journal. Land along the water front has been leased by Portland parties for a term of fi ve years and it is expected that the frame for one or more schooners will be shipped there in the spring and the work of building started upon.


Thirty years ago shipbuilding was one of the important industries of this section of St. George, but in recent times most of the shipbuilding business of Knox county has gone to Camden and Rockland. H. M. Bean, one of the most prominent of the Camden shipbuilders, built his fi rst vessels at Tenants Harbor and would have continued to do so had not better land inducements been offered him at Camden.


Near the site upon which the new


shipyard at Tenants Harbor is to be located is a refuge for a number of schooners, which have passed their usefulness, and known locally as “The Graveyard.” The new shipbuilding concern is to be a stock company and a number of local men are ready to assist the Portland promoters in backing the enterprise. One of these parties has suggested that the fi rst ship to be built in the new yard should be called The Resurrection.


31 March 1908 Getting Ready at Calais.


Work in the St. Croix Shoe Factory Alterations Begun in Earnest – To Be Ready by June.


Calais, March 31. Alfred Towers and his men began the work of moving the building at the St. Croix shoe factory which is to become part of the south wing, and as soon as this work is completed the carpenters will get busy and put the buildings in shape for business. Once fi nal arrangements were completed no time was lost in getting to work and it is expected that the plant will be in readiness for the manufacture of shoes in the early part of June. The alterations to be made are quite extensive but with willing workers on the job no time will be lost in getting the plant in shape.


Levi C. Scott and Miss Phoebe Mae Scott, both residents of Lawrence Station, N. B., were united in marriage in this city on Monday afternoon, the ceremony being performed in the city building by City Clerk S. D. Morrell. Mr. and Mrs. John Polleys of Baring were guests of friends in this city on Monday.


The Knights of the Maccabees will give a social dance in their hall in Milltown on Thursday evening, April 2. Music will be furnished by Dawson and the members of the tent will make every effort to give their friends a pleasant time. E. Marshal Thomas C. Campbell of St. Stephen arrived home from the west on Saturday last, for a visit at his old home. He is receiving a cordial welcome from his many friends. Two inches of snow fell here Sunday making slushy streets and walks once the sun got in its work.


Shipments of lumber during the month of March will be smaller this year than for many seasons. There is practically no demand for lumber or laths in New York or elsewhere and the outlook for the lumber


trade in 1908 is rather gloomy. Mr. and Mrs. Todd Murchie of Perry are


guests of Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Murchie in this city.


The city schools closed Friday for the Easter vacation, to reopen on Monday, April 13.


George Stephenson, a native of Charlotte, became suddenly insane in this city Sunday, March 29, and was taken into custody. Stephenson was placed in the women’s cell and while there broke up an iron bedstead and demolished the glass in the windows, and it became necessary to confi ne him in a cell in the men’s department. Stephenson has been in Calais for some time, but had no legal residence here, and the authorities of Charlotte were notifi ed to come and take charge of him.


2 April 1908 Beacons Under Water


Lights on Harbor Bed to Show Way to Mariners – A Novel Channel Device. The question of harbor navigation by


large vessels at night is a serious one at best. The usual lights designed to guide the vessel are too few and far between, and when they are obscured by fog the task of the pilot is a hopeless one and highly dangerous. Realizing the advantages to commerce of illuminating New York harbor so that it could be navigated at night, the lighthouse department has recently installed a series of buoys along the Ambrose Channel fi tted with gas lamps, which serve as lamp posts along the highway of the harbor. The lamps are provided with suffi cient gas to keep them burning night and day for a month. They need no attention unless injured by collision with some vessel or by the force of the waves, says the Scientifi c American. A new system of illumination has recently been proposed, in which the lamps instead of being placed above water are situated along the bed of the channel, and are arranged to direct their light to the surface, where the outline of the channel may be traced by illumination of the water. By placing the lamps under water they furnish no obstruction to navigation of smaller vessels, which are not obliged to follow the deeper channels. They can also be placed low enough to clear the bottoms of the largest vessels as well. A cable is laid along the channel, preferably one at each side of the channel, and at intervals along this cable the lights are attached. These consist of tubular buoys provided with a lens at the upper end and fi tted with an incandescent electric lamp inside, the light of which is focused by the lens in a vertical shaft, which rises to the surface and illuminates a patch of the surface water. The lamps are supplied with current from a dynamo or battery on shore, where they are under the control of an operator. Following the usual custom, one side of the channel will be outlined with light of a different color from the opposite side. These lights could be placed at much more frequent intervals than the usual buoys. However, experiments conducted by


the inventor. Leon Dion, point to the fact that three or even two a mile would be ample in a straight channel. The cables can be securely anchored to the bottom, but the lamps owing to their fl exible connection with the cable, will be free to sway slightly with the motion of the water. The buoyancy of the lamps is merely suffi cient to hold the upright and not strain the main cable. The submerged lights would have an advantage over surface lights in serving as guides to submarine boats when maneuvering in the harbor. In time of war the lights would be switched off under normal conditions, but


whenever desired they could be turned on at a moment’s notice to admit a friendly vessel.


10 April 1908 Sailor Tells Queer Tale of Sewall’s Wreck


Says Bath Ship Burned East of Cape Horn and All But Three of Crew Were Lost.


Philadelphia, April 10. – Authentic information to show that the ship ARTHUR SEWALL, which sailed from this port for Seattle on April 3, 1907, with a cargo of coal was burned at sea, was brought here Thursday by George Baker, one of the crew. Baker, who is a Hawaiian, with Charles Dixon, and Second Mate Weinberg, are, so far as known, the only survivors. Baker came here from New York, whence he arrived Wednesday on the German Lloyd steamship KRONPRINZESSIN CECELLE as a stoker. He says the SEWALL was burned shortly after rounding Cape Horn, the coal having been fi red apparently by spontaneous combustion. The ship was in command of Capt. Gaffrey and carried a crew of 26 men. Bake says that on the night of September 8, fl ames broke out in the hold of the vessel and that Capt. Gaffrey ordered the small boats lowered.


While the starboard boat was being lowered by Second Mate Weinburg assisted by Baker and Dixon, the fastening broke and the boat with its three occupants drifted to the southward in the darkness. As long as the three men could see, the fi re grew brighter and there is little doubt that in a short time, the vessel was destroyed and the remainder of the crew lost.


For two days the small boat drifted about on the ocean, no one knew where, the craft being without a compass or sail. On the third day a Norwegian bark, supposed to have been the Sydenham, bound from Callao to New Castle, N. S. W., was sighted and she picked up the three men. * * * * *


New York, April 10. – The ARTHUR


SEWALL was one of the largest ships ever built in this country. She had four masts, and was of 2,919 tons register, 328.6 feet in length, 45 feet beam and 25.6 feet deep. She was launched at Bath, Maine, and was a sister ship of the SHENANDOAH, now at San Francisco.


23 April 1908


Cook of Machias Schooner Drowned Ishamel Bridges of Machiasport Loses Life in Gale Off Cape Cod Sunday. Machias, April 23.


The loss of a part of the deckload of the


schooner HORTENSIA and the drowning of her cook in a gale off Cape Cod Sunday was reported in a message received Thursday by E. I. White, owner of the schooner. The cook was Ishamel Bridges of Machiasport, single and 21 years of age. Bridges was washed overboard when the portion of the deck load was carried away. The schooner was driven 200 miles to sea and sprank a leak. She was bound from Edmunds to New York with laths and was in command of Capt. M. J. Atkins. The lost cargo was valued at $1,500 and was not insured. It was owned by Mr. White.


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