The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1888-05-29
poRTLAND's PAST coMMsRcEI
Expectation OF Horses slxty-flve
Years Ago.
Hon. William Gooldl

mon. WHildH dOOlul
In 1902 Josiah Paine, who had originally
come from Cape Cod, contracted with the
post Office department to bring the malls
daily from Boston to Portland in 27 hours.
lie had been a horseback postman before
He was always called in those days post
Paine" He built house near Clay Cove
which is yet standing. Paine's new mail
contract required a large number Of horses.
In looking them up he found the supply was
ample, and the prices he thought would war
rant the shipment Of such as he did not
want, to the West Indies. The noted Charles
Carle who afterwards for nearly 40 years
drove the mail stage between Portland and
Portsmouth. was in Paine's employ as
hostler, and was put in charge Of cargo Of
horses. Paine went with him to the West
Indies, Il don't recollect the island and the
venture was successful. A second cargo
was sent with not so good success, many
horses being lost by bad weather, and the
trade was abandoned This think was the
first shipment of horses from here. The cir
cumstances. with many amusing remarks,
had from Carle more than half century
ago.
to the island of Guadaloupe. The merchants
having vessels in that trade were N. & L.
Dana, Levi Cutter, VIM. Wood, VIM. Chad
wick, Samuel Hanson and others. The
molasses from this island was considered the
best for the retail trade, while the most Of
that from Cuba was sold to the distillers.
Occasionally. a ship was sent here by the
French merchants Of Point Petre for cargo
of lumber. In the summer Of 1928 the ships
''Labelle" and Edward" were here and
took lumber.
In 1924 there were three French ships here
at one time; They came from Guadalupe in
ballast to N. u l.. Dana, to take lumber in
the hold, and to fill up with horses. The
largest ship was the "Nouvel Eugene"
Capt. De Beaumont. The others were the
'.Neva," Desgraneher, and the Theodore
These ships had decided foreign look-all
black, with broad square sterns. figure heads
and the white ensign Of the bourb0ns, of
m0nstrous size, flying from the peak. Six
years later the Bourbon King Charles Xth,
was driven from the French throne and The
Duke of Orleans as Lieut.. General Of the
kingdom, himself bourbon, with the assist
ance Of Lafayette quieted the uprising of the
people by displaying the trie0lor from the
roof Of the Hotel de Vile.
Less than half a century before the arrival
in Portland Of these French merchantmen,
this same Bourbon flag was borne into the
same harbor by the frigate La Sensible,
sent here by the unfortunate Louis XVI
bringing the treaty acknowledging by
France the united colonies to be free and
independent States.
well recollect the three ships that came
for the horses; they were hauled into the
dock on the south side of Central Wharf
and had great attractions for the boys. It
was on board Of one Of these ships that / got
my first knowledge OF the famous French
cookery. OF course each ship had French
cook'-it was not so elaborate. as it
Is sometimes represented. Each ship
a hOffcn NJ .aahanals ora Harlr in
which stood fry-pan Of boiling lard or oil.
Into this the tom-cods caught over the
side by the sailors, were put alive
from the hook, without any previous prepa-
them in until done. The horses to fill these
ships were collected In the back country.
The agent to procure them was Jede-
dlah Dow, a tanner, al uncle to Neal
Dow. He then lived in the three story honse
yet standing on the north corner OF Fore and
Hancock streets, now noted for being the
birthplace Of the poet Longfellow. In the
rear was then large stable and sheds, hav-
ing been built by truckmen who kept sew
eral teams. The large yard and vacant lot
adjoining was used for corral for the horses.
The hoisting Of these horses into the ships.
was amusement for us boys. A long spur
was set on end by the side Of the hatch, for
derrick, with tackle guys to the yards to. hold
or adjust the spur at any desired angle, with
purchase from the top to hoist the horses
with slings under them. After long stabling
without exercise, many OF them were almost
unmanageable when led down the wharf, re-
quiring man at each side; but when taken
off their feet by the tackle. it seemed as If all
life left them, and they hung motionless in
the slings until they were swung on board
and lowered to their stalls below decks.
When the "Nouvel Eugene" the largest Of
the ships, was nearly ready for sea and an
chored in the stream. she was detained ten
days by bad winds and weather. She was
probably the first sailing vessel ever taken to
sea by steamer from this harb0r. This Is
the announcement Of her sailing, taken from
last, the steamboat Maine, Capt. Cram, fas-
tened to the French ship Nouvel Eugene Of
470 tons, with full cargo Of horses. lumber,
&C., for Guadalotpe, and towed her to sea-"
The steamboat Maine was the hull Of a
schooner fitted with an engine at Bath the
same summer. The other two ships. the
Neva and Theodore, did not get away until
October.
Guadaloupe, there were two cargoes Of mules
shipped from here to Suvinam. There had
been occasional voyages made to that eoun-
try with outward cargoes OF lumber, and re-
Fox owned the brig Fountain, which was
employed in that trade. Capt. Samuel Wa
terhouge, father Of the CLOTHES Of the same
name, was the master. He ascertained that
mules were wanted at Parimaribo, and adj
yised his owner to ship cargo of these
patched his captain in 1927 to Vermont to
secure the mules. He was successful in get
ting all he wanted. Capt. Waterhouse came
with his animals by the way of the White
Mountain notch. He tied heads to tails In
regular Spanish fashion making such mule
trains as we see in the foreign pictures, and
arrived home all safe. The brig was par
TALLY loaded with lumber, and mules on top
of it, and between decks. On the passage out
several Of the mules died, but enough went
safe to warrant the shipment of another
cargo, which were obtained in the same way.
Early in the war Of the rebellion the ship
Great Republic Of $500 tons was sent here by
the war department, and took on board
regiment Of Maine cayalry-men and horses,
for a southern port. They were received ON
board at the Great Eastern, or one OF the
Grand Trunk wharves. The horses were
hoisted on board in the same manner as
those shipped at Central Wharf in 1924,
except that a steam winch was used, which
took took them up with a rush to what
seemed great height, to swing clear Of the
rail. the ship being very large. When dang
ling in the air, these horses looked to be very
tame animals, not suitable for charge at
the sound of the bugle.
To the Convention.
The Maine delegation TO the Republican