Page 24. MAINE COASTAL NEWS April 2015 HISTORY FROM THE PAST - Bangor Daily Commercial - Early 1900s H. L. Shepherd of Rockport.


27 October 1913 Schooner HAVENS is Towed to Port Bucksport Craft, Supposedly Sinking When Abandoned Sunday, Brought to Boston


Boston, October 27. – The schooner


HENRY P. HAVENS of Bucksport, which was abandoned off Cape Cod in a supposedly sinking condition Sunday by members of the crew, was towed into port Monday by the steamer, JAMES S. WHITNEY. Capt. Ray and his companions took to the power tender after the schooner had been dismasted and landed late Sunday night in an exhausted condition on Nantasket Beach. They reported that the schooner foundered a few minutes after they left it. Further Details of Sinking of H. P. HAVEN


Hull, Massachusetts, October 27. – When Capt. Ernest Ray, his wife and four members of the schooner H. P. HAVENS staggered on the beach at – 6 o’clock Sunday night, they had spent more than seven hours in the open 19-foot power boat in which they left the sinking schooner, 25 miles north, northwest, of Highland light.


Those seven hours they had passed in an open boat, over which the high seas broke continuously, beaten by the wind and whipped by heavy rain. Mrs. Ray, barely conscious from exhaustion, lay up to her waist in water, while the Italian mate steered the boat through the fog and captain and the other three men bailed unceasingly. The schooner, bound to Bangor, with 400 tons of coal for the Eastern Manufacturing Co., left New York, October 4, more than three weeks ago, and from the very start had met storm and high seas. For


Lobster Boat Racing Continued from Page 1.


to join the fray in Class D. The one people are talking about is Manny Durkee’s Duffy 30, which is being laid up at Millennium in Eastport. The hull is still in Eastport, but would not take long to complete. He is planning to put a huge gasoline engine her to compete with FOOLISH PLEASURE. If the rumors all come to fruition and those that stirred the pot last year, LITTLE GIRLS, MOJO, THUNDERBOLT, WHIS- KEY-TANGO-FOXTROT and WILD, WILD WEST to mention a few, we could have even a better year of racing than we did last year!


ten days she had lain at anchor off Point Judith and had sought shelter again at Vineyard Haven, one of the fl eet of 100 sail vessels driven into that refuge. Sunday morning the HAVENS left the haven, had rounded the cape safely and was beating her way across the bay under light sail in the teeth of the northeast gale, when, about 10 or 11 o’clock, Capt. Ray is not sure of the exact hour, her water-rotted rigging gave way and with a crash the foremast went over the port side.


The mainmast and mizzenmast followed in quick succession and the schooner heeled over on her side, shipping heavy seas. It was with the greatest diffi culty that


the ship’s boat, a new one with a sturdy engine in it, was launched. The sea was running very high so that the boat was time and again almost swamped and the men feared that the waterlogged schooner would sink beneath them.


Mrs. Ray was lowered into the boat, the crew followed her, and the captain came last, carrying the ship’s two cats. The mother was started, and barely were they 100 feet from the schooner – they could have seen no farther for the fog – when the schooner with a wallow went to the bottom.


They were a mixed party in the boat. Capt. Ray and his wife are from Ellsworth. His mate, who took the wheel of the power boat, is Alfred Accusoto, an Italian. Charles Sankert, one of the sailors, is a native of Sweden; Donley Woods, another, is a Nova Scotian; the third, Charles Brown, comes from a Massachusetts town. In a general way, Capt. Ray knew where they were, but he had little idea where they should go, for the nearest land was many miles away. There was small time for thinking.


Never could they keep the boat more than half clear of water, and once it was nearly awash, but they kept desperately to their task, though drenched and stiff and weary. There was food and water in the boat, but small time for eating or drinking, and every minute there was the cold wind and the dash of the waves.


They had been running for Boston harbor and in spite of wind and seas they made 40 miles in seven hours. For it was shortly before 6 o’clock that they sighted land and in a few minutes the waves carried the boat high up on the southeast bar of Point Allerton.


Mrs. Ray was so much exhausted that her husband had to carry her up the beach. The party was met by John McFadden, a beach patrol of the United States Life Saving station at Hull, and he helped the tired men


Publisher's Note Continued from Page 4.


must read. A lot is known about the naval aspects of the American Civil War and the involvement of the British, but if you want to this aspect better than read Frank Merli’s “Great Britain and the Confederate Navy, 1861-1865,” which enlightening. A couple of interesting biographies were “Cushing” by Robert J. Schneller, Jr. and “My Father, William Scoresby” by his son Rev. William Scoresby. The book on Cushing was a short biography. It tells of his childhood, his time at the Naval Academy and his exploits in the Civil War. Let us just say a little on the wild side, always on the verge of getting tossed out of the Academy or Navy, but luck was with him, especially when he attacked the Confederate warship ALBEMARLE. Scoresby’s name is familiar to those that read whaling accounts in the Greenland


pull their boat up to safety. Then a hunt was made for shelter.


The lights of a house were presently seen through the fog and it proved to be that of the summer home of Mr. and Mrs. Carl F. Monk of Newton, at Allerton Bluff, on the ocean side of the station. They were very glad to receive Capt. Ray and his wife, and did all they could to make them comfortable. The men went on the coast guard


MCFADDEN to the Life Saving station, about three-quarters of a mile away. There they were given hot drinks, food and dry clothing, and were soon in bed, their hardships forgotten.


Both Capt. Ray and his wife were willing enough Sunday night to talk of the wreck and were very anxious that the news of their safety might be conveyed to their relative at Ellsworth, Maine. The schooner, Capt. Ray said, hails from Bucksport, Maine, and is owned by W. W. Rice of Boston. She was 39 years old, though he had been captain of her only a year. She was valued at about $4,000, he thought, exclusive of cargo, and was not insured.


Mrs. Ray was very thankful indeed that they had come through the ordeal safely. She had been terribly frightened, especially just when the boat was launched from the sinking schooner, and afterward had been so chilled and stiff and exhausted that she had been barely conscious of anything but cold and fatigue until she found herself in the Monks home.


“It was an awful experience,” said Capt.


Ray. “I thought our chance of escape was just about one in 10,000 and didn’t at all expect to get through. It was a wonder that we were able to launch a boat, and it was a continual wonder afterward that it kept afl oat in that sea. We owe our lives to that motor and to the fact that the boat was a new one.” * * * * *


Bangor People Near to Death Capt. and Mrs. Ray and Crew of Sch. HENRY P. HAVENS Barely Escape Going Down.


whale fi shery as he certainly made a reputa- tion as one of the best British whalers. I was looking to learn more on the porgy industry, especially here in Maine so I read John Fr- ye’s “The Men All Singing, The Story of the Menhaden Fishing,” sorry but this one was a tough read. Not much on Maine, but did tell of the man from Brooklin that developed this industry on the mid-Atlantic coast. It has been a long time, since I read something that was not marine related, but for those with a little age will remember the Marx Brothers and the fi lms they made. Back in the 1960s Harpo wrote “Harpo Speaks,” which tells about his life growing up poor in New York and how they broke into show business. If you thought they were wacky on stage their real life was just as crazy. GREAT BOOK! With about 100 books sitting next to the couch to be read the winter can continue as long as it wants for me.


Bucksport Vessel Sinks on Sunday Bound to Bangor from New York, She Goes Down in Gale Off Highland Light. Hull, Massachusetts, October 27. – The three-masted schooner HENRY P. HAVENS of Bucksport, bound from New York to Bangor with a cargo of coal was sunk in a heavy gale 35 miles off Highland light Sunday and Capt. and Mrs. Ernest Ray, Alfred Accusoto, the mate, Daniel W. Woods, Earl Sinkert, seamen, and Charles Brown, the cook, narrowly escaped with their lives. As the HAVENS sunk, a boat was hastily lowered and, despite the nasty sea which was running, all fi ve succeeded in having the schooner in safety. Then commences the long battle aboard the frail craft and threatened to swamp it. By skillful seamanship, the boat was family run through the breakers and the party landed on Point Allerton beach here. The HAVENS had an eventful trip from


New York until the gale come up Sunday. Loaded heavily with coal the schooner did not answer readily to her helm and all three masts went by board. Great seams opened in the HAVEN’s sides and she commences making water rapidly. Soon it was evident that the schooner must sink and although there appeared but a slight chance for their lives, Capt. Ray ordered his wife and the fi ve members of the crew to make ready to abandon ship.


The boat was launched with the greatest


diffi culty and, several times, came near being smashed against the sides of the schooner by the seas. The mate, seamen and cook, jumped from the HAVEN’s deck at


Capt. Ray’s command, but his wife refused to leave her husband.


“I’ll not stir an inch until after you have left,” she told her husband.


He pleaded and commanded in vain and at last, lowered himself into the dancing cockel shell under the HAVEN’s (?). When Mrs. Ray jumped, to be caught in her husband’s arms.


The gale had been increasing and the seas seemed almost more than a small boat, heavily laiden, could face and live. But never once did Capt. Ray and his crew lose courage. By good seamanship they managed to weather the gale and, after a pull which resulted in their complete exhaustion, they managed to make their way through the breakers and to land in safety on the Point Allerton beach. The HAVENS was of 300 tons gross and 285 tons net tonnage. She was 130 feet long, and 30 feet beam, with the draught of nine feet. She was built in 1874 in Newburg, New York.


29 October 1913 Schooner HAVENS a $15,000 Prize How the Steamer WHITNEY Won in Thrilling Race for Abandoned Maine Vessel.


Boston, October 29. – Spurred on by the lure of salvage, three steamers engaged in a thrilling race Tuesday after the helpless hulk of the schooner HENRY P. HAVENS of Bucksport, Maine, abandoned in a 60-mile gale off Cape Cod Sunday morning. At top speed three boats swooped down on the wallowing schooner, which was believed to have foundered, each striving to be the fi rst to pass a line aboard and win a prize conservatively estimated as being worth $15,000.


The race for the schooner’s hulk came as the sequel to the seven hours’ fi ght. Capt. Ray, his wife and the crew of four made in an open boat during the gale of Sunday. When they reached Point Allerton beach, Hull, exhausted, they were positive that their vessel had foundered. Tuesday they received the shock of their lives when they saw the HAVENS, her decks a tangle of wreckage, enter the mouth of the harbor in tow of the steamer HENRY M. WHITNEY. It was Sunday afternoon that a rumor spread about the Boston waterfront that the HAVENS had not foundered, but was drifting about in the bay, a rich prize for the vessel that put a line aboard her fi rst. Before nightfall the tug MERCURY, her bunkers full and her captain and crew keyed up to concert pitch, headed out of the harbor. All night long she cruised the waters of Massachusetts bay, looking for her prize. At dawn a row of men stood on the deck, straining their eyes seaward. Suddenly, with a cry, one of them raised his arm and pointed. A black mass, half buried in foam, rose and fell sluggishly on the waves. The MERCURY headed toward it at full speed. Suddenly there was an exclamation of


anger. Another of the crew had spied on the horizon a black steamer smoke pouring from her funnels, and a bone in her teeth as she bore down on the MERCURY’s prey. Still another vessel appeared on the other side, also headed toward the bulk, for such she now speared.


Safety valves hissing, machinery throbbing, the crews gathered in tense knots, the MERCURY, the WHITNEY and the collier J. H. DEVEREAUZ, for that was the third vessel, raced toward the HAVENS. The WHITNEY reached her fi rst and before she had lost her way a boat containing First Offi cer Decker and a picked crew of fi ve was lowered overside and made for the schooner, bearing a line.


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