USA > Maine > Waldo County > Belfast > History of the city of Belfast in the state of Maine, Volume II, 1875-1900 > Part 23
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MATHEWS BROTHERS' SASH AND BLIND FACTORY. BUILT 1873
101
FE
144
DANA'S SARSAPARILLA BUILDING. LATER USED BY ROLLER BUSHING COMPANY
225
INDUSTRIAL HISTORY
Other similar enterprises were induced by the remunerative experiment of the Dana Company, of which the following may be named as the most prominent: -
The Skoda Discovery Company, organized in 1891 with a capital stock of $50,000. It purchased the building of the Dana Company on Bridge Street, for a laboratory. A branch was es- tablished in Nova Scotia.
Compound Rheumatic Oil Company, organized in 1891, capi- tal, $10,000, nearly one half of which was sold. The manufactory was on Phoenix Row. Dr. H. M. Jewett furnished the formula.
The Dalton Sarsaparilla Company, originated by Dr. Elmer Small, commenced manufacturing medicine in March, 1893, in the brick store of Frederick Austin Knowlton, on Main Street. It flourished until 1896. Three years later, it was revived by Franklin Atwood Greer and others, who had purchased the plant.
The Leon Sarsaparilla Company began operations in Peirce's Parlor Theatre, which had been leased for its use, in the spring of 1893. Captain Charles Baker was president, and for a short time did a successful business.
The Rodolf Medicine Company, with Dr. Samuel Worth John- son as president, and a capital stock of $50,000, was started at Brooks in 1892, but soon removed to Belfast, occupying a build- ing near the railroad station.
The Nutriola Company, for carrying a variety of medical preparations for nearly all the ills that flesh is heir to, was formed in July, 1894. William Andrew Clark was president and its capital stock was named at $150,000. Some of the reme- dies are still sold.
Among other medicines manufactured in Belfast between 1891 and 1893, were King Solomon's Bitters, Fletcher's German Medicine Compound, and Russ's Catarrh Snuff.
CHAPTER XXXIV
COMMERCIAL HISTORY AND MERCHANT MARINE
Decline of the Coaster - Sailing Vessels superseded by Steamboats and Rail- roads - Commercial Statistics for 1887 - Wharves - Vessels owned in Belfast - Vessels built in Belfast from 1874 to 1901 - Yachts and Boats -Two Small Old-Time Coasting-Vessels, The Maine and The Polly.
TN common with other seaports in Maine, the commerce of Belfast, as carried on in sailing vessels, has been much dimin- ished during the past quarter of a century by the constantly increasing facilities afforded by steamers and railroads. Coasters, which formerly ran to and from Boston and New York, now be- long to the past; hay and other products being exported prin- cipally by rail. Save the heavy article of coal, but few cargoes of any description reach Belfast by water. It was formerly not uncommon to see forty or more schooners in port; now, their arrivals are few and far between.
No commercial statistics of Belfast for 1875 exist. The ear- liest since that date were made twelve years later, for the United States Engineer Department, as follows. Imports and exports by water communication only during 1887: -
Imports: 370,000 bushels of grain; 14,500 barrels of flour; 14,000 tons of coal; 16,000 casks of lime; 10,000 barrels of plas- ter; 6000 tons of granite; 5000 tons of iron; 15,000 tons of nails and hardware; 170,000 tons of merchandise; 4,000,000 feet of lumber; 1,800,000 shingles; 1,000,000 laths; 500 tons of dry fish; 200 tons of fresh fish; 2000 barrels of pickled fish; 6000 tons of hides and leather; 3000 tons of sheepskins; 2500 tons of ma- chinery; 11,000 tons of iron water-pipe; 300 tons of drain-pipe; 200 tons of paper stock for leather-board; 20,000 bushels of salt; 500 tons of phosphate; 15 tons of grindstones.
Exports: 11,000 tons of hay; 14,000 tons of granite, rough and polished; 200,000 brick; 15,000 tons of icc; 48,000 bushels of potatoes; 11,000 barrels of apples; 25,000 tons of merchandise; 15,000 cases of shoes; 200 tons of manufactured clothing; 400 tons of sheepskins and leather; 175 tons of leather-board and
LAUNCHING OF BARKENTINE JOSEPHINE, 1892, MCDONALD AND BROWN'S SHIPYARD
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227
COMMERCIAL HISTORY AND MERCHANT MARINE
paper; 800,000 dozens of eggs; 1,200, 000 feet of doors, sash, and blinds. The meat and poultry are not estimated.
It was found that 1250 vessels arrived and departed during the year (1887).
WHARVES
In 1875 there were the following wharves in Belfast: Carter & Co.'s, between Main and Pearl streets; Condon's at foot of Salmond's Lane; Cooper's, at foot of Miller Street; Foundry, at foot of Main Street; Frederick's at foot of Main Street; Fergu- son's, at Citypoint; Gammans's, at Citypoint; Gilson's, near the East Bridge; Haraden's, at foot of Main Street; Hall's, near the East Bridge; Kaler's at Board Landing; Lane's at foot of Main Street; Lower Steamboat, at foot of Commercial Street; Miller's at foot of Commercial Street; Nickerson's, at the Upper Bridge; Otis's, at Citypoint; Pattershall's, at the Upper Bridge; Peirce's, at the west end of the East Bridge; Pitcher & Son's, at foot of Main and Spring streets; Russell's (Rag), on the East Side; Russ's, at Citypoint; Sibley's at foot of Main Street; Upper Steamboat, or Simpson's, at foot of Main Street; and White & McGilvery's, at foot of Allyn Street. A number of these are decayed or unused. The Upper Steamboat, Rag, and White & McGilvery's wharves have been removed. The valuation of the wharf property owned in Belfast in 1900 was $22,700.
In 1900, a corporation composed of the owners of Lewis Wharf and others, called The Lewis Wharf Company, was organized, with a paid-up capital stock of $9000. Charles Edward Knowl- ton was president, and Calvin Hartson Pitcher was treasurer.
On the wharf of the Swan & Sibley Company, a grain elevator operated by electricity, in connection with the grist mill, was built in 1890.
MERCHANT MARINE
The "Republican Journal" of November 10, 1880, gave the following list of vessels owned in Belfast: -
Ships
Tons
Tons
Alice Buck
1425
Charlotte W. White.
1080
Cora.
1491
Ivanhoe
1610
Louis Walsh
1556
Leonora
1491
Nancy Pendleton
1449
228
HISTORY OF BELFAST
Barks
Tons
Tons
John C. Smith.
451 Sarah A. Staples
466
David Babcock
380
Brigs
Tons
Tons
I. W. Parker
380 Ned White
550
James Miller
301
H. C. Sibley 553
Schooners
Tons
Tons
Annie L. McKeen
244
Mary Farrow 99
A. Hayford.
153
Mazurka. 61
A. W. Ellis
176
Martha Weeks
92
Amazon .
45
M. W. Drew
165
Charley Bucki
242
Martha M.
7
Empire Earl
82
Nathan Clifford
89
Edward Johnson
400
Forest Queen.
45
Orion
92
Fannie and Edith
100
Open Sea
174
Flora Condon
230
Ophir
45
Florida . 286
Paragon.
161
F. E. MeDonald.
253
Prescott Hazeltine.
385
Fred A. Carle
439
P. M. Bonney
19
Fairy Queen
8
Senator.
25
George B. Ferguson
144
Sarah L. Davis.
173
Henry
88
Susan and Phebe.
61
Harmona.
152
Stella. 23
41
James W. Brown
161
T. H. Livingston
235
James Holmes. 133
99
William Stevens
85
Lois V. Chaples
230
William G. Eadie.
46
Liberator
30
Welaka . . 432
Leo.
8
William Tell
34
Mary .
159
William Frederick
453
Moses G. Eddy
81
William Herbert.
10
Malabar
88
Steamer
May Queen
53 tons
Jachin
84
Tyro.
Tamaroo 105
Lillian
77
Nellie ..
294
Nellie S. Pickering 279
FOUR-MASTED BARKENTINE JOSEPHINE. BUILT 1892. OLD PINKY IN FOREGROUND
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229
COMMERCIAL HISTORY AND MERCHANT MARINE
Sloop .
Herschel.
24 tons
Boat
La Fayette.
14 tons
"In addition to the above," remarked the "Republican Jour- nal," "portions of many other vessels are owned here, but are taxed abroad. The largest vessel is the ship Ivanhoe, 1610 tons; the oldest is the schooner Henry, built in 1832."
The number of tons of vessel property owned in Belfast in 1900 had diminished to 1364. Transportation by steam, the introduction of barges, and the diversion of our carrying trade into foreign bottoms has almost destroyed the business of ship- building, which formerly gave employment to a large number of citizens of Belfast. The following list of vessels built in Belfast since 1874 shows the gradual decline of this important interest.
Vessels built in Belfast, 1875-1900
Year
Name
Tonnage
Builders
1875. . .
Ship A. S. Davis
1399
C. P. Carter & Co.
1875. . .
Schr. Lois V. Chaples
230
C. P. Carter & Co.
1876 ..
Bark Emma L. Partridge
468
Henry S. Staples
1876. .
Ship P. R. Hazeltine
1663
C. P. Carter & Co.
1876.
Schr. Fred A. Carle
439
George Washington Cottrell
1877.
Str. May Queen
53.72
C. P. Carter & Co.
1877 ...
Bark Charles Steward
629.98
George Washington Cottrell
1880 ..
Schr. Augustus O. Gross
155.97
J. A. Partridge
1880 ..
Str. Planet (rebuilt)
43.38
McDonald & Brown
1880. . .
Schr. Nellie S. Pickering
279.92
C. P. Carter & Co.
1881. . .
Bark C. P. Dixon
728.04
Jacob Young Cottrell
1881. . .
Bark Shirley
785.12
George Washington Cottrell
1881. . .
Schr. Fannie A. Gorham
324.30
C. P. Carter & Co.
1881. .
Schr. D. D. Haskell
317.41
Jacob Young Cottrell
1881. .
Schr. Lucia Porter
332.51
George Washington Cottrell
1881. .
Schr. Daylight
627.86
George Washington Cottrell
1882. .
Schr. Mary A. Hall
381.21
McDonald & Brown
1882. .
Schr. St. Johns
427.69
Carter & Co.
1882. . .
Schr. H. J. Cottrell
354.57
Jacob Young Cottrell
1882. . .
Schr. Penobscot
358.10
Carter & Co.
1882.
Schr. Charlotte T. Sibley
358.58
Carter & Co.
1882. . .
Schr. Martinique
187.48
Dyer & Co.
1882 ..
Schr. Susan N. Pickering
319.47
Jacob Young Cottrell
1880. . .
Schr. Stella M. Kenyon
375.15
230
HISTORY OF BELFAST
Vessels built in Belfast, 1875-1900 - continued
Year
Name
Tonnage
Builders
1882. .
Bkn. Glad Tidings
654
George Washington Cottrell
1883.
Schr. Herald
499.87
McDonald & Brown
1883.
Schr. Scotia
406.62
Carter & Co.
1883.
Schr. Jessie Lena
347.14
Jacob Young Cottrell
1883. . .
Schr. Meyer & Muller
420.60
Carter & Co.
1883.
Schr. Helen G. Moseley
446.54
McDonald & Brown
1883. . .
Schr. Palatka
429.40
Carter & Co.
1883. .
Schr. Clara E. Colcord
515.09
Jacob Young Cottrell
1883 ..
Schr. not named
700.00
George Washington Cottrell
1883. .
Schr. Yale
746.81
George Washington Cottrell
1884. .
Bkn. Priscilla
643.82
George Washington Cottrell
1885.
Bkn. Francis
676
George Washington Cottrell
1886.
Schr. Puritan
116.07
McDonald & Brown
1889.
Bkn. Olive Pecker
876
George Alden Gilchrist
1889. .
Bkn. R. A. C. Smith
661
George Alden Gilchrist
1890. .
Schr. Nimbus
884
McDonald & Brown
1890. ..
Schr. Young Brothers
897
McDonald & Brown
1890
Bkn. Steadfast
879
George Washington Cottrell
1891 . .
Schr. Daniel B. Fearing
8
Frank H. Hoag
1891.
Schr. Eliza J. Pendleton
751
C. P. Carter & Co.
1892.
Bkn. Josephine 1
939
McDonald & Brown
1894 . .
Schr. Doris
944
McDonald & Brown
1896. . .
Bkn. Josephine
940
McDonald & Brown
1899
. .
Schr. Pendleton Brothers
857
C. P. Carter & Co.
1900. . .
Schr. Theoline
586
George Alden Gilchrist
1240
McDonald & Brown
1891. . .
Schr. Clara
1 Lost on her maiden trip.
The following is a partial list of yachts and boats owned in Belfast. The name of the boat is given first, and after it, in order, her length or tonnage or both, place and date of build, name of owner, and last, when known, the date of Belfast ownership: Schooners : Everett, 17.12 tons, 42 feet, Essex, Mass., 1842, Nathan Foster Houston, 1890. Clara, 30.8 feet, Belfast, 1891. Frank II. Hoag, 1891 1 -. Louise, a metallic lifeboat from steamer Portland, 18 feet, Alfred Johnson, 1885-88. Breeze, 18.65 tons, 40 feet, Boston, Mass., 1877, chartered by Alfred and Ralph Miller Johnson, 1893. Sloop: Fiona, 25.3 feet, 5 tons, Quincy, Mass., 1871, Thomas Barr, 1902-13. Nellie Burkett, 6.97 tons, Belfast, 1878, J. F. Burkett. Edna, 30 feet, Belfast, 1881, Albert R. Roix, 1881 +. Nettie, 29.4 feet, 6.52 tons, Belfast, 1884, Samuel B. Holt, 1884 +. Jennette, 36 feet, Belfast, 1887, William A. Kimball, 1887 +. Mallard, 37.4 feet, 11 tons, Chicago, Ill., 1888, Charles R. Coombs, 1901 +. F. C. B., 30 feet, about 1890, William A. Kimball, 1890+. Aliee B., 24 fect, about 1890, Deerow Brothers. Marjorie, 24 feet, Belfast, 1891, Charles Albert Pilsbury. Mariette, 62 feet, 24 tons, Gloucester, Mass., 1901, Alfred Johnson, 1906-12 (sold for a Bermuda pilot boat).
TWO SMALL, OLD-TIME COASTING VESSELS, THE MAINE AND THE POLLY
The Maine. As an excellent example of the "pinky," a type of small vessel once in general use along our coast both for freight- ing and fishing, but now almost entirely extinct, a picture of the
231
COMMERCIAL HISTORY AND MERCHANT MARINE
Maine is given in this volume. It shows her at the present time anchored in Belfast Harbor. She is 24 tons burden, net; was built in Essex, Massachusetts, in 1845, but is now practically a new vessel, having been thoroughly rebuilt. Her lines, rig, and appearance, however, are those of the original "pinky."
The Polly. A detailed account of the famous old schooner Polly, with a large picture of her under sail, appeared in the "Republican Journal" for March 3, 1904.1 She was, at the time, lying in winter quarters at the Swan & Sibley Company's dock, after a busy season spent partly in bay-coasting, and partly as a Boston packet, under command of Captain George Flowers Ryan, of Belfast. The oldest vessel of the American merchant marine now in commission, she has had a life of usefulness and adventure, such as few craft experience. Her history to date is an interesting one, and in view of her great age, which exceeds by several times the span of life usually allotted to ships, and because of her having been identified with Belfast, it is given here in part, as follows: -
The Polly was launched in Amesbury, Massachusetts, in 1805, being con- structed of the best white oak, "firm and stout," in the shipyard of Richard Currier. She is 48 tons burden, gross; 61 feet water-line length; 19 feet, 6 inches, extreme beam, and draws 5 feet forward and 7 feet aft, unloaded. In the early years of the last century she ran as a packet from Boston and Portland to points on Penobscot Bay and River, being owned in what is now Prospect. She car- ried wood and passengers to Boston, returning with passengers and a general cargo, consisting largely of supplies for the inhabitants of the lower Penobscot Valley. There is reason for believing that, from 1809 to 1812, she was owned by Captain Robert Patterson, of Saco, a cousin of the Robert Patterson, who, with his brothers, was among the first settlers of Belfast. Originally a sloop, as attested by the records, by witnesses who knew her at the time, and by the step of the mast, discovered some years ago, in her keelson, the Polly was changed to a schooner, some time between 1847 and 1851, probably in 1850, when she was extensively repaired and rebuilt by Jonathan Tinker in his ship- yard on Tinker's Island, west of Mount Desert. She was again repaired about
1 Her owners at the time were: Captain George Flowers Ryan, 15-32; Belfast Fuel & Hay Co., 8-32; A. A. Howes, 4-32; Robert Burgess, 2-32; Swan & Sibley Co., 2-32; N. S. Lord, 1-32, all of Belfast. These purchased her 13 February, 1903, of H. B. and L. H. Webber, owning 3-4, and Flora E. Hahn, owning 1-4, all of Rockland, Me. Other owners of record were: In 1826, William, John, and Robert Hooper, and William Reed, all of Marblehead, Mass .; in 1838, Ephraim Brown, Marblehead, Mass .; in 1842, Ephraim Brown, Ezekiel Scovil, both of Marblehead, Mass .; in 1844, John Davis, Boston, Mass .; in 1850, Jonathan Tinker, Seaville, Me .; in 1861, Nahum Berry, Trenton, Me .; Davison Smith, Sedgewick, Me .; Sally and Phoebe Tinker, New Sharon, Me .; in 1865, Rebecca P. Pray, Mount Desert, Me., Phoebe M. Tinker, New Sharon, Me .; in 1874, Chandler Fair, Lewis Henry, both of Thomaston, Me .; and from 1874, until about 1893, Capt. Lewis Arey, who changed the original under-deck cabin to the present trunk cabin of the conventional coaster type in 1885. He states that her old floor timbers were still in her, then, and were sound and very hard. In 1889, Capt. L. A. Snow of Rockland nearly lost her and his life as well by running ashore at Kittery. Captain J. H. Weldon, of Dighton, Mass., owned ber 1910-13, and sold her in 1918, to Mr. Alfred Johnson, of Belfast and Boston.
232
HISTORY OF BELFAST
1867, by Captain Ephraim Pray, at Mount Desert. On April 26, 1874, she went ashore in a heavy gale of wind and snow at Owl's Head, Maine, and was bought as she lay on the beach by Captain Lewis A. Arey, who used her in the lumber- carrying trade until 1885, when she was once more thoroughly repaired, being given a new top and ceiling and partially replanked, and became a lime-freighter.
The Polly's rig to-day is that of a typical fore-and-aft coasting schooner, with the addition of a short flag fore-topmast. Though she has a heavy, square, old- fashioned, Dutch stern, still containing the ports through which her two stern- chasers may have been run out, and full, bluff, rounding bows on deck, with a bowsprit raking well in air, and a retroussé flying jib-boom, yet the lines of the old craft under water are not at all bad, and, as the British discovered, she was, when compared with the vessels of her time, a fast sailer. In fact, nothing of her class was fleeter than she on a wind, until the modern Gloucester fishing vessels were evolved. The Mariette, a sloop yacht built on the lines of the latter, and of about the same length as the Polly, had trouble in sailing away from her recently, in a fresh southwest breeze on a run from Camden to Belfast. She has always had the best of care, with plenty of paint and liberal repairs, which, together with the preservative quality of the salt she probably carried in her youth, when we may infer she was used more or less for fishing, and which acts as a veritable elixir of life to ships, accounts for her good condition to-day. Below decks she has the same frames, timbers, and many of the planks that were put in on the Amesbury shipyard well over a hundred years ago. One of her original anchors is still suspended from her cat-head, and various articles of her old-time outfit and furniture may be seen aboard her. It would be hard to find a better inanimate example of "the survival of the fittest." So well did she fulfill the purposes for which she was designed and built that each succes- sive owner has been willing to replace every worn or decaying piece of wood, and it is in this way that her whole top-sides, and possibly much of her bottom, have gradually been rebuilt. As to her weatherly qualities we have the follow- ing from Captain MeFarland, one of her many owners. "In the fall of 1897, she was caught out in the Bay, in the great southwester that caused such havoc to our shipping, many of the big three- and four-masters getting terribly handled. The Polly was loaded with three hundred hogsheads of salt, a heavy and dead cargo, but she came right through the worst of it, and never parted a rope yarn." 1
In 1904, exactly one hundred years after the laying of her keel, the Polly figured in an Old Home Week celebration, held at Amesbury, Massachusetts, in which town on the Powow River, at its junction with the beautiful and historic Merrimac, just above the bold, wooded bluff at Salisbury Point, she was built.2
1 In considering the great age of the Polly we must not lose sight of the fact that the ship- wrights of a century ago, like the house-joiners, built well, hewing their timbers and fastening the ends with loving care. In those days the personality of the man went into his hand-wrought work. Then, too, lumber was plenty, and the ships, like the houses of our New England ancestors, con- tained beams from three to four times as large as are put into similar construction to-day. Of all this the Polly is still a living witness, and further, with her clean run, high-pooped stern, - the break and quarter-deck, - and with her round, apple-shaped bows, she may be considered as representing the first definite expression of the marine architecture of the American Republic. Thus in preserving and memorializing the Polly, we are doing honor to those carly builders, who, though classed as artisans, were animated with the true spirit of the fine arts. It was their handiwork, of which this little vessel is the sole survivor, that was destined soon to make our merchant fleet the marvel of the world.
2 She was visited by hundreds of people during the week, and mueh was made of her by the residents of Amesbury. In addition to newspaper accounts, a pamphlet was printed at the time entitled, "DESCRIPTION OF THE POLLY, BUILT ON THE BANKS OF THE POWOW IN 1804 - THE HONORED GUEST OF AMESBURY DURING OLD HOME WEEK, 1904." It contained, in addition to
THE POLLY AT HOME IN BELFAST HARBOR, 1904
POLLY
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THE POLLY IN NEW YORK HARBOR OLDEST AMERICAN VESSEL NOW IN COMMISSION. BUILT 1805
233
COMMERCIAL HISTORY AND MERCHANT MARINE
The National Society of the United States Daughters of 1812 has been active in collecting material relative to its contem- porary, the Polly, and is always ready to do her honor, and of late years she has attained much notoriety, and has been often in the public eye through the columns of the daily press. She bears on the outside forward end of her cabin-house, a handsome bronze tablet, inscribed as follows: 1 -
POLLY SCHOONER BUILT IN 1805 PRIVATEER IN WAR OF 1812 CAPTURED 11 PRIZES
THIS TABLET PLACED NOVEMBER 2, 1910, BY THE NATIONAL SOCIETY OF THE UNITED STATES DAUGHTERS OF 1812 STATE OF NEW YORK
matter of a descriptive and historical nature, two original poems of ten stanzas each, the first by Samuel Hoyt, a local historian, and called, "To POLLY"; the second writtenfor the Amesbury "Daily News," by J. T. Clarkson, and bearing the heading, "POLLY OF THE Po." The following is a copy of a letter, written after the celebration, by Horace G. Leslie, M.D., president of the Amesbury Old Home Association, to Mr. Fred G. White, of the Belfast Hay and Fuel Company, then part owners of the schooner: " The 'Polly' has come and gone. The old Home Week festivi- ties are ended, and I write to thank you for the interest taken in the event. The coming of this venerable craft was the crowning glory of the week, and awakened poetic as well as historic asso- ciations. Every one who visited her will unite with me in saying that Captain Ryan is just the right man in the right place. Gentle and forbearing under very trying circumstances, he made many friends in Amesbury. Did I believe in the transmigration of souls, I could well fancy that beneath his bronzed and weather-beaten exterior was the spirit of Nichols, Paul Jones, and Decatur. Certainly, he is the reproduction of the ideal privateersman. The links of that chain which unites your eastern city with the banks of the Merrimac, will we trust only grow stronger with time."
1 The following invitation is self-explanatory: "The National Society | of | United States Daughters of 1812 | State of New York | cordially invites you and your friends to be | guests at the Unveiling of a Tablet | aboard the Schooner 'Polly,' a Privateer in | War of 1812 | at foot of 50th Street and North River | Wednesday, November Second | 3.30 to 5.30 P.M."
On this occasion the United States Navy was represented by officers and a band from the Brooklyn Navy Yard; and a granddaughter of one of the Polly's supposed commanders during the War of 1812, as indicated by an old log-book still in her possession, acted as sponsor, by unveiling the tablet.
Several oil paintings of the Polly are in existence, notably one by F. W. Dillingham, painter of historic houses and places; and one by Walter L. Dean, painter of the White Squadron, which hangs :in the Capitol at Washington; one owned by the Maine Historical Society; and the one by Jacobsen reproduced in this volume.
Much of historic and much of romantic interest has been written about this ancient craft. In addition to various accounts of her service in the War of 1812, which the writer has not yet had the opportunity to investigate, it has been stated that she was among the first vessels to fly the American flag in the Mediterranean; that she went around the Horn with a party of gold-hunters in 1849; that she has twice circled the globe; and that she was in the habit of making occasional voyages on dark missions to the slave coast of Africa; while the Custom-House records still attest that she was more than once engaged in smuggling. Her present owner, who has received many letters and documents relating to her, is anxious to separate the truth from the fiction, and hopes in time to write her history in full. Admiral Peary, several patriotic societies, and some of the residents of the town of Amesbury have at different times considered purchasing her, but it is the intention of her owner to keep her, restore her as nearly as possible to her condition in 1812, and to preserve her as an historic relic, and a memorial to the men who built and fought so well in the early days of our Republic, and as the sole survivor of her time and type.
CHAPTER XXXV
FIRES AND FIRE DEPARTMENT
Muck Hole purchased - Report of the Committee of the Fire Fund raised in 1875 - Conviction of Incendiaries - American House destroyed - Loss of Life - Plan of Burned District - Phoenix Row burned -Steam Fire Engine - Reorganization of Fire Department - The Hook and Ladder Company - Washington Engine, No. 5, sold - Its History and Company Foremen - Electric Alarm-Box System - Seaside Hose Company formed - Destruc- tion of the Crosby Inn - Peirce's Block burned - Chemical Extinguishers.
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