Page 24. MAINE COASTAL NEWS May 2014 HISTORY FROM THE PAST - Bangor Daily Commercial - 1890s Continued from Page 22.


with the New York and Boston boats. A part of the cargo of the Boston boat consisted of bales of cotton and raw hides and with these they packed the boilers. The Boston boat started fi rst on the trip, as the New York craft was not ready, and waited out to sea. For some reason which I never learned Capt. Knight of the Boston boat was replaced by Capt. Liscomb. The New York boat was in command of Capt. McLellan.


As they neared the cutter the commander, Capt. Reed, of the southern navy, saw the New York boat and took her to be a United States gunboat, as she had two masts. He at once began preparations to leave the cutter and blow her up. He took all the cutter’s crew, put them in irons and then placed them in a boat without oars and set them adrift. Capt. Reed had captured the fi shing schooner ARCHER off Monhegan island and placing a pistol at the captain’s head had compelled him to pilot them to the city. But one life was sacrificed in the attempt to capture the cutter and burn the city. Daniel Gould, while assisting in discharging the guns from the schooner ARCHIE at the Custom House wharf, was killed by the accidental discharge of a musket. The cutter’s crew were picked up by the New York boat and Capt. Reed had his white fl ag of truce fl ying at the time. His crew were all put in irons by a colored man, who was large and powerful and was steward of the Boston boat. He handled them rather roughly and they swore and protested against the indignity of being ironed by a negro. But it was of no avail for Yankee spirit was aroused to fever heat on that morning. Capt. Reed was a very small man in stature and weighed but 130 pounds. He had on a suit of blue owned by a lieutenant of the cutter who weighed 250 pounds. When Reed went into the cabin of the FOREST CITY and caught a glimpse of himself he laughed very much. He was a very jolly fellow and every one who met him liked him. It had been planned for the New York boat to run the cutter down, but the latter was on fi re before she could do this. Had Reed found the ammunition the outcome might have been different. The cutter had amidships a 42-pound cannon, while the New York boa had a cannon which carried only a six pound shot. It was Reed’s intention that morning to set fi re to the wharves and shipping, burn the city and then put to sea and waylay the Boston boat as near to Bone island as he could get. He was going to take all the passengers on the boat to the nearest southern port and also take the cutter to a southern port. It was a regular Paul Jones plan and had he carried it out he would have ever stood high in the estimation of his fellows in the south.


The only reason for not carrying our the plan was that for 12 hours there had not been a breath of wind. There had been a strong breeze the day before and there was one shortly after the cutter was sunk. It does seem to me that an Intelligent Power, whose hands have been seen through all history ever making for righteousness, was in this case of the CALEB CUSHING, for had there been any wind that night or the next morning nothing could have saved our city. When Captain Reed became convinced that he could not fi nd the ammunition he broke up kettles and all kinds of iron and chain cables to put in the gun. He fi red upon the approaching steamers and the iron fl ew over their decks. He captain had found the powder but could not located the balls. The cutter had shortly before been fi tted out for the purpose of capturing the small Confederate vessel TALLAHASSEE that


was destroying craft along our coast. The captain of the TALLAHASSE had captured the ELLA CAROLINE and SARAH B. HARRIS. Reed then put the crews on board the SARAH B. HARRIS bonded her and set her adrift. The captain of the HARRIS straightened things out as he took command of his vessel and brought her safely into Portland. For a long time I wondered how it was possible for Reed to board the cutter, as they always keep a watch of one or two men on deck day and night, but the adroit captain knew that and had laid his plans accordingly. He took two of the ARCHER’s fi shing boats, kept one back in the dark and rowed up on the farther side of the cutter and the man who kept watch hailed him with “Boat ahoy!” He answered the hail, stopped rowing and engaged him in conversation, asking him questions in a very cordial manner. His object was o keep him at the rail as long as possible so that the other boat’s crew could row alongside and climb over the other side as they did. They seized the watchman by the throat and put him in irons before any one on board the cutter knew about it, all being asleep below. All Capt. Reed had to do was to close the cabin doors and thus come into complete control of the ship. Not a blow was struck or a gun fi red. The captain of the cutter had passed away and a part of the crew were on shore to attend the funeral with second Lieutenant Waldron. The fi rst lieutenant was in charge of the vessel awaiting the arrival of the captain who had recently been appointed to take the place of the one who had died. The fi rst lieutenant belonged in the state of Georgia and it was thought at fi rst that he had sailed off or rather rowed off with the cutter, it being thought that he was in sympathy with the southern rebellion. This opinion prevailed until Capt. Reed was captured. Shortly after the capture Capt. Trefethen landed at the dock and met part of the cutter’s crew, who told him that the vessel had been captured. The captain already knew that she was gone, but knew not who had taken her out or where she was bound. He hastened to board the FOREST CITY, but she had gone out. He was determined to go, however, and hurried to go aboard the New York boat, which he had learned was to assist in the recapture of the cutter. When he attempted to board the New York boat he was told that they all the men they wanted, except a pilot. Capt. William Willard told Capt. McLellan that Capt. Trefethen was the very man he wanted for the position, for he knew that Capt. Trefethen was familiar with every port and harbor on the coast from New York to Eastport. Capt. McLellan asked Trefethen how long it would take him to get ready and the latter replied that he was ready then and jumped the vessel. The New York steamer then started fro the fray. On the way out they passed the FOREST CITY making off from the cutter, for when she approached the cutter the latter opened fi re. The New York boat kept right on,


however, for it was the intention of Capt. McLellan to run her down. When he saw that the cutter was on fi re he stopped, fearing an explosion, and Capt. Trefethen begged Capt. Trefethen begged Capt. McLellan to allow him to take a boat and board the cutter so as to put out the fi re and bring her back to port. Capt. McLellan thought it too hazardous and too great a responsibility to send his men on board a ship that was burning and had a magazine of powder on board.


There was plenty of time as was afterwards learned, to have extinguished the fl ames before they reached the powder, and Capt. Trefethen regrets to this day that he had not been given permission to go on board the CALEB CUSHING and put out the fi re and bring her safely to port. Capt. Reed was


placed in the county jail for several months and then exchanged as a prisoner of war.


12 July 1906 Capt. Breen’s Story of a Wreck


He Was the Only Survivor of the Sch. ELLA G. EELLS Lost in Machias Bay. Portland, July 12. Capt. William J. Breen of the schooner


ELLA G. EELLS, recently wrecked in Machias Bay, writes as follows: “Editor of Evening Express: “In reading the telegraphic account of the loss of the schooner ELLA G. EELLS on this island July 4, when all hands but myself were lost, I fi nd that there are some inaccuracies and would like to have the story set forth in its true light so that the assistant lightkeepers, Charles Kenney and Leroy Meyers of this island, may be thanked and recognized as the savers of my life. It was not Capt. Small or his life saving crew for they arrived too late to be of any assistance to me or the men who were drowned. “While entering this harbor on July 4 by the eastern passage during a dense fog when about abreast of Libby island the wind suddenly died out and the heavy southerly sea drove the vessel up on the ledges and before I hardly knew it she was thrown among the rocks. This was at 3 p.m. The fog was very dense and the fi rst sea that struck her smashed both boats to pieces. The masts then went over the side and every sea swept the vessel like a half tide rock. At 6 p.m. the fog lifted and we were seen by the lightkeepers on this island who immediately came to our assistance and launched their small boat at the risk of their own lives. “After making an attempt to get near the vessel in their small boat they had to give it up owing to the very heavy sea that was running and which threatened to swamp them any moment. They landed on the west side of the island. In the meantime the vessel broke in pieces and I clung to a large piece of wreckage and was after a time driven up against the steep cliff where I was rescued by the two assistant lightkeepers, Leroy Meyers and Charles Kenney, and not by Capt. Small or his lifesaving crew.


“It is to the two keepers that I owe my life. Charles Kenney and Leroy Meyers risked their own lives. I was badly hurt and bruised by the washing and battering I received while on the wreck and among the rocks, but thanks to these two noble men and their equally generous wives, I have been nursed back to health and strength by them. “Through your paper I wish to extend to them my heartfelt thanks for their courage which I hope will be recognized by the heads of the Department of Commerce and Labor at Washington.


“In reference to the life saving crew on Cross island, they did not get to the scene of the wreck until half an hour after I had been rescued. Had there been any life saving appliance on Libby island all four of our crew could have been rescued, for a line could easily have been shot over the vessel and all hands pulled ashore either in the breeches buoy or through the surf. But as there was nothing of this sort my crew was drowned before my eye with help only 100 yards away.


“This is the second vessel that has been wrecked in this vicinity since March and seven men in all have lost their lives whereas Libby island had supported a life saving station all might have been saved. The life saving station might as well be up in the middle of the state as to have it on Cross island, for over there it is hidden from view. It is away from the vicinity of vessels bound into Machias and when a wreck does occur in Machias bay all hands will have gone o


the bottom long before the Cross island life saving station men would be able to get to the scene.


“What is wanted is a life saving station on Libby island which place has picked up more wrecks than all the nearby rocks and islands put together. Libby island being in the center of the bay and a fog signal and light station on it vessels entering the bay will be likely to keep close to it to be guided by the light in clear weather or by the whistle in thick weather. It is a dangerous spot with treacherous currents and ledges on its eastern end and a life saving station erected on Eastern Libby island would be a great benefi t to all shipping people. I trust that the government will either build a station here or transfer the Cross island station which is useless where it now is. “Very truly yours, “William J. Breen,”


EELLS, 1906.


Later Master Schooner ELLA G. Libby Island, Machias Bay, July 9,


16 July 1906 Meaning of Buoys


The Different Kinds and Their Signifi cance.


Sailing is Made Safe


The Buoys of the Penobscot to Camden Harbor are Mostly Black – Courses of Sailing.


Few people know the meanings of buoys and yet a person, in going down the river cannot fall to see them and rarely lets the opportunity pass to view them and a sort of interest that is more or less one of wonderment and curiosity. To the average person the buoy conveys the idea of shoals or rocks which sailors must steer clear of, but to the seafaring men they mean more. In the fi rst place there are many different kinds of buoys each with its own meaning. There are can, channel, cask, spar, nun, whistling, bell, life or safety, gas, spindle, beacon, and electrical buoys.


The can buoy is conical in shape and is used to mark shoal or water, which, at either high or low eater, should be avoided. Its size varies according to the size of the waters in which it is placed but as a general things shows about fi ve feet above water. Channel buoys are most frequent in rivers and inlets of the sea. In shape they are long wooden poles with the tapering end projecting from the water, and are also called spar buoys. The reason they are placed mostly in inland waters is that hollow iron buoys would be damaged by ice in winter. They are usually painted red on the starboard hand coming in from sea, and black on the port left. Numbers are also placed on them in order from seaward, the even numbers on the starboard and odd on the port. With these indications vessels in coming into a river or port can easily see on which side of the buoy is the sailing channel and in going out of a channel by taking the red buoys on the port can safely make their way to sea. In sailing between islands which made channel running east and west the red buoy is always taken on the starboard hand in entering from the east, and the black buoy on the port in coming from the west. These signs made navigation in bays, dotted with islands accurate and safe. Many spar buoys are made of iron and contain two apartments one within the other thus if the buoy is for any reason damaged and the outer compartment punctured it will be held up by the inner.


Cask buoys are in the form of casks or barrels, the larger being employed as moorings and are then called mooring buoys. A ring is generally placed on the top


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31