Ellsworth American., 1883-12-13

\ report /, current that the tusk OF an
elephant has recently been exhumed at Vim
alhayeu tFox lsland). That the tusk is not
a relic Of vast antiquity or a fossil affair Of
geological significance is evinced By the his
tore fact that nearly fifty years since, an
elephant from burning steamer. swan
ashore al South Fox Island
This recalls transaction Of ours in which
the burning of the aforesaid steamer had
part. In 1896, the steamer "Roya Tar" on
her passage from ST. John. " b., 10 Port
land, heavily freighted with caravan" Of
wild animals, when crossing Isle au Haut
Bay, was discovered 10 be on fire. In the
steamers boats and boats from Fox Islands,
the troupe, other passengers and crew were
taken off. Soon after the steamer, with
most Of it, imprisoned animals, was wrapped
in a blaze of fire. An elephant, bear, two
or three horses, and one or two other ami
mas broke their fastenings, and without the
"dar'st thou" of Caesar TO Cassius, leaped
into the sea and swan ashore at Ninalhayen.
Il is related that when the elephant
emerged from the water and shamhled up
the beach, the juveniles. ancient. as well as
youthful. whose natural history of harbur
fishes did not include such pachydermatous
denizen Of the deep, thought his Satanic
Majesty had surely come in Eiephds Indicus
shape and dress.
The rescued persons, 4 hundred more or
less, were kindly, perhaps not stylishly, cared
for during their waiting days for conveyance
10 Portland. No sooner had they safely set
foot on Casco Neck, than they accused their
rescuers Of "inhospitable treatment" This
called out rejoinder bearing the signature
Of every accessible voter in North Haven
and Ninalhaven, denouncing the accusation
as "base fabrication," which reloinder IN
tote, was printed in the Eastern Argus, dur
ing the autumn Of that year.
Here comes in another part of the story.
The month of September, 1868, found US at
Deer Isle. tracking the trail of one of that
troublesome class Of migratory indigents,
who never, by five successive years abid-
ins place, had acquired pauper settlement,
and must take that OF father or mother if
either has any in the state, and if neither
has. there's another unfortunate Ieuksbury-
tie to be bounced on the sly"
In the case in hand, it appeared by the
town records that Jesse, the soul We were not
trying TO save, was son Of a pauper, and
as such, had been ..bound out" to a Mr..
Blank at North Haven, which, although ii
miles broad off seaward. was now our OBJ
jectiye point. A sail boat was procured and
late in the afternoon a trio of US embarked
and set sail for Fox Island thoroughfare.
After dark, and before We had made half of
the distance, the wind deserted US and at
the same time dense fog spread its mantle
of Egyptian darkness over US. To escape
the chill and damp night air, we crawled in
TO the ''cuddy" which was ample for one,
but to stow in all three, needed the aid of
skilled stevedore. Happily one of our num-
Der was taken sea-sick and had to squeeze
out into the open boat, for a time his room
was preferred to his company, and for an
hour or two the sea-sick one didn't care
"toss up whither-way we drifted. Mean
while, the pilot, an .'old SALT" hurled such
a broadside Of nautical epithets at the
weather as to forcbly impress us that he
wasn't really ready to "want to be an angel"
At midnight smart breeze came, and steering
By the wind, we reached wharf at North
Haven just before day-break. Our first
greeting at landing was up TO our knees in
a tub of fsh-oil. Well, one can't be too
oleaginous, when unraveling the tangled web
of pauper case.
Too soon it appeared that Jesse had been
long years agone from the island. None
knew the pauper boys age or when or whith-
er he went. Jesse himself didn't know
which was tine senior in age, he or Columbus.
The age and the whereabouts of Jesse in
1886 were important foot prints in the trail
we were tracing. On interviewing Mrs.
Grundy it came to light that Jesse was one
of the signers of the 'rejoinder" and thst
his name was printed in the Argus list.
"And," added the newsy dame. esquire
Young has taken the good old Jackson
Edstern Argus ever since it was first print
ed, in 1903, and every copy ont is IN his
house. now"
We found thu" Squire to be genuine rdra
aris. "Yes, "said be, ,"every paper and letter
ever had. have now" And in high chest
up in high attic. was that y years old dr.
gus, and in its printed list stood the name
Of our Jesse. "Now. SQUIRE" said we,
"Mrs. Grundy tells US you've been school
agent and tax gatherer for ever 80 many
years" "Yes," he replied, land you'll find
every list of scholars and every tax list. in
that are chist." They were found. In 1885
Jesse's name VAS transferred from the list Of
scholars to the list Of taxable polls. Jesse was
twenty-one. For each Of the years 1878
9, his name appeared, but in 1910, the fifth
successive year, Jesse's name was missing.
He had not acquired pauper settlement in