Griggs courier., 1888-01-20
WOMEN OF GLOUCESTER.
They Try to Look Cheerful While Thu,
Hearts Are Breaking.


Ihriftlessness is Encom.non among
Gloucester fishcrmen; drunkenness is
almost unknown; harmless banter aE1
believing and boastng are the nearest
approach to brawls. There is q ten
der-heartedness among them that is
remarkable and almost pathetic. Many
go away that never come blck. Stand
here, if you will, at these crowded
whalvcs, and watch the arrival and
departure of fishing fleets; and if YOU
have a heart you will feel something
heavy in your throat. The old moth
ers and fathers, the younger brothers
and sisters, the wives and wee fishers
children, are all here, score on score.
They are trying TO look brave as the
vessels sail out. There is pride and
loyal valor in their faces all. They
shout and shout to the departing ones,
who send it all back in good measure,
every manner of good cheer and sea
lore for luck. AS the schuoncrs clear
the harbor, out past Ten Pound Island,
some will run away around the har-
bor's edge, as if to keep company to
the last. But those who stay. leaning
far out over the dark bulkheads, look
fixcdly on and on until the white sails
disappear behind cruel Norman's Woe,
or sink behind the horizons; and if YOU
can see in their eyes as they ut last
turn to the little home-spot for the
weeks or months of dreary waiting
there is unutterabe sadness behind the
quivering lids. Then, when the fleet
returns, who can picture the gladncss,
the woe. upon these ccntury-old
whalwes and slips?
They say that down at brave old
Marb!ehead every third woman is a
widow. Here among fisher folk the
same is true. And SO the going and
coming. and going and never coming,
have woven Il warp and woof of smiles
and tears here, which have mcllowed
and softened thousands of human
hearts in way you can quickly see
and feel. Your fisherman who comes,
and the wife, sweetheart or child thai
is here to greet him are o er tender for
it all. The old city is used to it, and
does not mind it. 1t is the way its
toilers of the sea have. And so if you
ever walk her streets and see hulk of
a fellow holding woman as he would
clutch a fife rail or a capstan head in a
heavy storm, you will know he is sim
ply making fast" with the strong
hawser of an honest love to the very
anchorage of his life, utterly uncon-
scious of your or anybody's sense of
the proprieties. And this tenderness.
too, is all-compromising. There are
many trusts and funds for the widow
and fatherless, and these men give gen.
erously 20 them. On every weekday
night the whole year through. when
the seaport is stirred by the arrivals of
fleets with their "fares'' or cargoes of
fish. there is q ''tisherman's ball." and
often many These are never for indi-
vidual profit, but invariably for the
benefit of women whose hearts are
breaking. Pittsburgh Dispatch.
An Anglican divine. Dr.. Thomas
Salpy French. who now holds the
bishopric of Lahore. in the Punjaub,
India, Il dignity which he will resign
at the close of the year, is distinguished
as linguist even in a country where
linguists are, from the circumstances
of oriental life, perhaps more common
than in any other. DR.. French is able
to preach with fuency in ten different
languages. and is popularity known az
1.-The many -!ongued man of Lahore"