Page 26. MAINE COASTAL NEWS October 2016 HISTORY FROM THE PAST - Bangor Daily Commercial - Early 1900s Continued from Page 24.


Bucksport Schooner, ARTHUR V. S. WOODRUFF, Breaks Record. 2,700 Bbls. Salt Fish


E. & I. K. Stetson to Start 1,400 Ton Schooner in March and as 800 Ton Vessel is the Fall.


The little schooner ARTHUR V.


S. WOODRUFF, 155 tons, owned by Capt. T. M. Nicholson of Bucksport, has arrived at Gloucester from Bay of Islands, Newfoundland, with 2,700 barrels of salt herring, the largest cargo ever entered in the United States. The ice in the Penobscot was broken


up, Saturday and Sunday, as far up the river as the pulp wharf at the Eastern Mfg. Co.’s plant, South Brewer, and the ice has all gone down river so that it is clear water from South Brewer to the sea. There is a good six inches of ice above High head, however, and although the river has often opened after closing once. It is not expected that it will do so this year. Henry T. Sanborn, the Bangor agent


of the Eastern Steamship Co., has as usual, moved his offi ce from the boat wharf to 53 Exchange Street, occupying a part of Rowland W. Stewart’s offi ce. Mr. Sanborn will remain there until the boats begin to come to Bangor in the Spring. J. J. Wardwell of Rockland, the well-


known designer, is now at work on a model of the new schooner to be built by E. & I. K. Stetson at the Brewer yard. The schooner, which will be started in March will be a four-master of about 1,400 gross tons. Her dimensions are 195 feet keel, 41 feet beam, 18 ½ feet hold and as the poop will take in the mainmast, she will be called a three-decker. This vessel is being built for Capt.


Edwin G. Hutchinson of this city, now master of the schooner ESTELLE. E. & I. K. Stetson will also probably


build an 800 ton schooner in the fall of next year for Capt. Frank W. Armstrong of Hampden, now master of the schooner NORUMBEGA.


Shipbuilding in Maine. While business in the Maine shipyards


has been brisk this year the tonnage is 1,200 below that of last year and far below the great year of 1901. The building for the past year is as follows by districts:


Bangor Belfast Bath


Castine Machias


Passamaquoddy Portland Wiscasset Waldoboro


Tons 1,237 1,622


21,310 97


307 84


105 1,143


9,853 36,058


The total for 1902 was 37,201 tons and


the total for 1901 was 47,146 tons. Prospects for the coming season are promising, and it is probable that the tonnage will equal the past year although there are at present no indications of a phenomenally busy year. In the Bangor district, E. & I. K. Stetson


will build at Brewer a four-master of about 1,400 tons, which will be followed by another of about 800 tons. In the Belfast district, H. M. Bean


of Camden will build two five-masted schooner of 2500 and 2200 tons.


5 January 1904 Notes of Maine Shipping


Schooner ALICE M. COLBURN Has Hard Trip From Portland to Newport News – Death of Capt. Oliver. The Bath schooner ALICE M.


12 January 1904 With the Ships


Local Men Think Schooner JOSEPH W. HAWTHORN is Lost. News of the Shipping


The New Schooner JAMES B. DRAKE Will Be Launched Next Week at New England Yard, Bath.


Local shipping men are fearful lest


the schooner JOSEPH W. HAWTHORN, Jacksonville, Florida, for Portland with cypress for the Deering-Winslow Co. has been lost. She is now 39 days on the voyage which should have been completed in a fortnight. The new schooner FAIRFIELD, launched at Bath about a year ago left Jacksonville with the HAWTHORN and arrived safely at Fall River, discharged her cargo of hard pine and left on the return trip to Jacksonville, December 31. The HAWTHORN is generally


commanded by Capt. Hoff ses who lives near Waldoboro, but on her recent trip she was commanded by Capt. Frank Roland, who was accomplished by the following crew shipped for him at Portland: V. Willman, Philadelphia, aged 31 years, cook; G. J. Crosby, who registered as a resident of Maine, aged 50 years, mate and Ernest A. Johnson of Saba, aged 21 years, engineer, and the following seamen: W. A. Dallas, Savannah, aged 40 years; Thomas Wade, Ireland, aged 29 years; Harry Tank, Newark, aged 22 years; John M. McCoy, Philadelphia, age 31 years. She is a schooner of 516 tons, built in


COLBURN Capt. McLeod, had a hard struggle to reach port on her last trip from Portland to Newport News. She left Portland on the morning of December 9, with the wind north northeast, but it soon changed and that night blew a gale from the southeast and then changing again blew with hurricane force from the westward. Capt. McLeod tried to get this vessel in on soundings but being light it was impossible, so for 16 days he battled with a succession of westerly gales until at last he made Barnegat, New Jersey, when he stood off for Sandy Hook and the evening of December 31, he dropped anchor at Newport News. In the death of Capt. James Frank Oliver,


which occurred Wednesday, the town of Georgetown lost a prominent and beloved resident. He had been ill for a number of years, but was able to be around until this fall, when he commenced to fall rapidly. Capt. Oliver was a long and uncomplaining suff erer. He was a native of Georgetown, son of the late Capt. Jacob Oliver. He always followed the sea and for many years was one of the best known and successful pilots on the Kennebec River. He was a memner of the Free Will Baptist church, an honest and respected citizen. He was aged 72 years and is survived by a wife and four children: Mrs. Austin Rattleff of Georgetown, J. Stanton Olvier of Portland, Capt. Herbert Spinney of Seguin Light Station and Millard E. Spinney of Popham Beach. Judge Wiswell of the law court has


handed down a decision to the eff ect that there is no statute in the state which gives the inhabitants of any town authority to prohibit non-residents from taking clams or requiring them fi rst to obtain a license. The new four-masted schooner HENRY


F. KREGER, Capt. Darrah, recently launched from E. S. Crosby’s yard at Bath, has been chartered to go to Brunswick, Georgia, to load lumber for New York. She will be ready to enter commission the fi rst of this week. Since she has been fi tting for sea Capt. Darrah has entertained many friends on board and they were all delighted with the new craft as is Capt. Darrah.


Bath in 1891 and now owned in New York. She is 159 feet long, 35 feet broad and 13 feet deep.


Whether the vessel is lost and the crew


is now on some craft bound for a foreign port is a matter of conjecture. It is not impossible that the Hawthorn may be in some small port making temporary repairs, however. To Launch JAMES B. DRAKE. The late of the launching of the new


fourmasted schooner JAMES B. DRAKE from the New England Co’s yard, Bath, has been set for the fi rst of next week. The vessel will be all rigged and ready for sea the day of the launching and she will be a craft deserving the honor of heading the fl eet of Bath built vessels for the year 1904.


21 January 1904 Unique Bath-Built Craft. Following is a list of vessels constructed


by Bath shipbuilder in the past which are unique or out of the ordinary: Ships: BERLIN, the fi rst double top gallant yard ship in the world. DIRIGO, the fi rst four-masted iron ship built in this country. ROANOKE, the largest four-masted wooden ship in the world. RAPPAHANNOCK, the fi rst wooden ship built with a steel bowsprit. ARTHUR SEWALL, the fi rst ship ever built with standing upper topsail yards. Yachts: ELEANOR, st the time of her


launching she was the fi nest equipped yacht in the world. The FLEUR DE LIS was the first


wooden yacht ever built in Bath and the SAGAMORE the last. Schooners: ELIZABETH PALMER,


the largest fi ve-masted wooden schooner in the world.


KINEO, the fi rst steel schooner built in America.


ELEANOR A. PERCY, the largest fore and aft wooden schooner afl oat. ADDIE M. LAWRENCE, the fastest six-master in the world. In addition to these Bath has turned out


the WINNEFRED, the fi rst tramp steamer ever built in America. NAVARRAH, the fi rst steam whaler


built in America. KNICKERBOCKER, the first coal


barge ever built. WESTERN BELLE, the fi rst bark with


skysail yards. PACTOLUS, the last wooden bark built


in America. J. W. ELWELL, the only four-masted barkentine in the world.


23 January 1904 Schooner E. H. KING Lost


Little Eastport Vessel Wrecked Near Jonesport – The Crew Were Saved. Jonesport, January 27. Unable to hold her course owing to a


dense vapor which arose from the sea the little Eastport schooner E. H. KING struck Browney’s Island Tuesday and will be a total loss. Her captain and crew of four men succeeded in reaching shore in safety. The KING was bound from New York


for Eastport with a cargo of coal and had a hard passage all the way down the coast. Monday afternoon she strayed far from her true course and early Tuesday morning while the captain thought he was making his way into Eastport harbor the vessel struck Browney’s island and was completely wrecked. Little diffi culty was experienced in clearing away a yawl boat and a few minutes later the captain and crew were safe on shore. During the day the wreck and her cargo


were sold to local parties and the working of salvage was begun.


The E. H. KING was one of the veterans


of the Maine coasting fl eet, having been built in Trenton, Maine, in 1865. She was owned in Eastport and hailed from that port. She was 106 tons gross, 89 tons net, 85 feet in length, 24.9 beam and 7.8 feet deep in hold.


26 January 1904 Capt. E. W. Cookson Drowned


Bath, January 26. The schooner FRED A. DAVENPORT


has arrived here Tuesday from Brunswick, Georgia, with her fl ag at half mast for the loss of her fi rst mate, Capt. E. W. Cookson, who was washed overboard and drowned when the schooner was off Thatcher’s island. Cookson was walking on the foreward house when he was thrown into the sea by the pitching of the vessel. Capt. Cookson formerly lived in


Rockland and for many years was one of the best known master mariners sailing from that port. He had commanded the schooners HELEN MONTAGUE, CARRIE E. COOKSON, and the NATHAN F. COBB. Of late years he had made his home in Everett, Massachusetts, where he leaves a widow and four children. He was 45 years old.


24 February 1904 With the Ships


The Bangor Schooner WILLIE L. NEWTON’s Crew Saved. Two New Five-Masters Mourning in Portland for Capt. McLearn and Mate Macomber of Schooner BENJAMIN C. CROWELL. The British steam MICMAC,


which arrived in New York Mondy from Hull, England, brought into port seven shipwrecked seamen, the captain and crew of the schooner WILLIE L. NEWTON of Bangor, which was abandoned at sea in lat. 37.30; long. 72.08. The MICMAC sighted the distressed schooner four hours after the steamer YORK CASTLE abandoned the attempt to rescue the crew of the wrecked vessel.


The schooner WILLIE L. NEWTON


sailed from Brunswick, Georgia, on February 18, with a full cargo of lumber, bound for New York. She was a three-masted schooner of 326


tons net, built at Crosby’s yard in Bangor in 1881, and hailed from this port. She was owned by Pendleton Brothers of Islesboro and New York. James D. Mulvaney and the estate of John H. Crosby of Bangor. The NEWTON was valued at about $10,000. On August 25, 1903, the WILLIE L.


NEWTON was capsized by a squall off Green’s reef light, Long Island sound, and her master, Capt. Edwin Coombs of North Islesboro, Maine, and crew of six men drowned. She was afterward righted and repaired, and has since been sailing under command of Capt. Norwood. Two new fi ve-masted wooden schooners


are being constructed at the shipyard of H. M. Bean, Camden, for the Coastwise Transportation Co., that are of considerable importance. They were designed by naval architects B. B. Crowninshiled of Boston, Massachusetts. There is a diff erence of 20 feet in the length of the two vessels, the smaller one being of the following general dimensions: Length of keel, 240 feet; breadth, 48 feet; depth of hold, 24 feet.


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