The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1881-09-02

the Kindness Of the captain, typical old
gentleman Of the sea, were shown about the
vessel, and the various implements used by
the sailors in capturing the whale explained
to u.s. Near the bow of the boat was the
great kettle used in trying out the oil, which,
when cooked enough, was dipped into
large strainer from which it was conducted
by tube to casks or watts below There
was also situated close by the kettle huge
sausage cutting machine for preparing the
blubber as it came on board. Toward the
stern of the vessel were nicely laid away,
with edges kean as razors, the harpoons,
lances, knives and other implements used to
catch and cut up those mighty monsters of
the sea. There were also large tubs filed
with ropes as evenly and symmetrically coiled
away as thread around spool, to prevent a
kink or knot to impede its running out
has been thrust into the whales body. New
Bedford, though old and thriftless is not
wholly barren of things that interest the
tourist.
Upon returning to Worcester we found
letters awaiting us, earnestly requesting US
to join our company at Juniper Point,
little place close by the bay, about one mile
from Salem, where they had all gone to
spend few days together by the seaside,
and where We by previous arrangement were
to meet them. We fastened thither and
found our friends nicely located in hotel
kept by one Miller, or rather by his wife,
for he was the most constitutionally tired
person that we ever met, and whose chief
end in life was to play croquet or dominoes
and win. The house, however, was nicely
kept by the ladies.
With the name Salem has always been as
sociated in our mind that of witch, and it
was with considerable interest that we visited
the town on the following day in which such
relentless cruelty had been practiced by
human beings, and in which the clergy were
the prime movers. The old building is still
standing in which those witches were tried.
1t is low old building with ponderous
chimney in the center, as they were con-
structed at that time, and as we peered
around behind this old chimney to see if any
of their departed spirits still fingered around
the hallowed spot, we discovered spirits
enough, but not departed ones, those that
never had tenanted the human body but
were likely to, all nicely packed away in
demijohns and casks, and labeled ''old rye,
gin, rum" etc. The building is now used
as a store-room to a drug store. Salem
voted to grant no license under the local
option laws of the State, but we were in
| formed by young attorney there that there
were plenty of places where liquor was sold
and no one need go dry who was disposed
to drink. In the County Clerks Office we
also found, well preserved one of the original
warrants together with the sheriff's return
which was issued for the execution of
witch The prosecutions for witchcraft form
one of the most deplorable episodes in human
history. They show more strikingly than
anything else has ever done, on the one
hand, what relentless cruelty human nature
is capable of, under the influence of fanat-
ical delusion; and on the other how little
reliance is to be placed on the concurrence
of any number of witnesses, when any ex-
tensive excitement prevails on subject
involving wonder Any number of witnesses
can be found testifying, and testifying hon
estly, to alleged facts which fall within the
prevailing belief, but have no better knowl-
edge of what they are testifying to than
Continued on 4th page.)