The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1882-09-16
life in a Maine Village.
From the Albany Journal.

From the Albany Journal.
To properly understand the folk-life
of this simple village, one must know
first that its best elements have been
sapped off yearly, for at least the space
of a generation, by emigration. There
is a steady annual exodus of the bright
active, ambitious young men and wo-
men to better fields. Only the dul-
lards remain on the native soil. And
a queer community these latter make.
The chief feature of this life is its
total lack Of concentration. What lit
tie there is Of individual energy is diff
fused over the whole sphere Of activ-
ity. The jeweler Of the town is also
the barber, the general mechanic and
the tinker; he likes to " hay it Il lit
tie, to fish little, to " "berry it " a lit
tie, and to raise some garden truck"
He is q sample, and pleasant one, Of
al his fellows. IF they are tradesmen,
they keep little Of everything; if
mechanics, they turn hand to a little
Of everything; if day laborers, they
want to shift around into a dozen or
more varieties of work during the year.
No one works hard Fish, CLAIMS and
vegetables are the food staples. Per-
haps it is impossible to base labor up
on these, perhaps it is the influence of
the lazy atmosphere; perhaps, again,
it is the breed. But whatever the cause
the result is very clear; no eastman
knows what the word "work " means.
The stores open in an indolent manner
at nine or so in the morning. They
close with more promptness at noon;
reopen sleepily about two hours later,
henceforward are liable to shut up at
any time. There is a delightful I'M
certainty about every phase Of what
they call business. 1t is the exception
to find a merchant in his own store,
even in the busiest times; the tinsmith,
his boy will tell you, may be over at
the butchers; perhaps you could find
him at the drug store; possibly he is
on the wharf; there is a chance of en-
countering him at the hotel. What
is true of the tinsmith is true of all the
others. The leading manufacturing
establishment in the village-almost
the only one-is a canning factory,
where Holsters, mackerel, clans, etc,
are put up for the market. There is a
steady demand for the goods Of this
factory, to which it seems utterly in
different. When the village boys feel
like working at that particular thing,
the factory opens, and stays open un-
til the boys take notion to go fishing
or haying or mining-for there are
mines in these parts. Then, wholly
regardless of the state Of the market,
its demand or its supply, the factory
stops. Here labor is autocratic. 1t
chooses its own times, hours and fields
When it is lethargic, no inducement
is strong enough, nor emergency grave
enough, 10 stir it into motion.
There is absolutely no enterprise, or
suggestion Of enterprise, among the
natives. The lobster pots are set in
the same places, the mackerel-boats go
to the same coves, year after year. If
the IUDStefS Go not come INTO Jne pOlS,
if the mackerel do not bite, so much
the worse; nobody thinks Of looking
for them anywhere else. Once on a
time Castine had a good deal Of bust
ness; now she has next to none. No
body thinks Of asking why, or, at least,
of going out after the retreating trade !
and striving to bring it back. Traffic
is now altogether local, and as narrow
and short-ranged as may be, A Cas-
tine man with $500 worth of fish on
hand, which were on the very verge Of
taint, found another willing to pur-
chase. There was a difference Of $40 |
between their views, and no sale was
made that day The next day there
was only difference of S1S, but no
sale. That night the owner Of the fish
had to throw the whole lot into the
sea. He was rather proud than other
wise of his refusal to be cheated out Of
S18, though. The people there know
no steak-cut save the tough round.
They buy that because there is no bone
in it; the porter-housc is all sold for