The morning call., 1891-03-15
CHAPTER l.,

the circumstances under which the building
was DONE and the vessel itself, combined to
make the occasion memorable. 1t was
dreamy. sunny day in September, when the
blue waters of Lake Erie came dancing Into
the shallow indentationS of the coast where
the mouth of Silver Greek is found. The
builder, old Merton Prayther, was one
whose schooners had been able to outsail
and outcarry even the famous Milan-built
boats, and having determined to retire from
the business, this vessel, now ready for the
water, was to be the last and best of the
great feet which he had constructed. To
make this vessel the erowning glory Of his
reputation he had taken such pains with her
as he had never taken with any other ship.
Oak logs we're never more closely in
spectcd than were those destined 10 be
shaped into Ter frames. Sums of money
which astouiShed the friends of the close
listed builder were spent in order that
crooked logs Of suitable size and quality
might be obtained for use where natural
crooks were desirable. The dimensions of
all the timDers which gave strength to her
frame were tritle greater than had ever
been used on a fresh-water vessel of her
tonnage; and so, too, were the bolts and
spikes and tree-nails which held timbers
and planks together.
From early in April gang of men had
cut and sawed, lifted and hauled. dubbed
and plaued, calked and painted. The
country people for miles around, and the
lake-faIcrs from Buffalo 10 Chicago, had
Heard If the wonders Of Merton Prayther'S
last while vet her lines had not been laid
down On the moldiDg-Aoor; and even be-
lore her keel had been stretched along the
blocks had begun making Dilgrimages to
The ship-yald on the easterly bank of Silver
Creek. that they might see for themselves
If tie things told OF her could really be
true.
At last The launching day had come, and
the hosts from along the farms and along
shore had gathered about the yard to cele-
brate the great event. Even the village
school had been suspended that the child
raD might enjoy the spectacle. And il was
a spectacle worthy OF the attention it at
tracJed. Standing there on the keel blocks,
broauside TO The StTeaHl-her painted sides
gliStening in the sun, her Gle an white masts
and black rigging towering high in the
air and ner bunting Tapping in the breeze
no faircT model, no more graceful design, no
more liking combination of strength and
beauty was ever seen along the fresh water
seas. No wonder that the yard, and the OPP
pCsite bank Of the creek. and the high rail-
road trestle hard by, were covered with en-
IALolaSliG Sl[CtHtbls. W uilt Hail Il UNH-
dred boys were peTched in trees where they
could see and yell without obstruction or re-
straint.
At precisely ? o'clock Qor in Merton
PraytheT's yard every movement was
timed and executed al the pIearranged in
stauU, the wOrkmen began TO split out the
keel blocks in order to lower the vessel
down on her cradle, ami the click and clat-
ter of hammer and maui and wedge turned
every eve 10 the beautiful vessel. Standing
on the fGrecastle deck, talking with ANNA
ton Of the ship and the Sc-ne and the eX-
pected pluuge down the ways, was n party
Of tile owners personal friends. and con-
spjGuOIs among them WAS his proud wife,
holding in her hands the bottle OF wine
with which to christen the ship. 1t is in
t-restIug to SdilOT-men 10 note that one end
Of a line was tied about the neck of the
bottle while the other end was secured to
The bOWspTit; for ii was Merton Prdyther'S
custom 80 break the christening bottle by
swinging il against the cutwater as the yes
sci sped down the ways, so that the gush OF
SPARKLING wine was instantly met by the
splash Of sparkling waters.
Almost befole the spectators had taken
one good look at the work, the keel blocks
dropped p,ecemeal to the ground, the clatter
ceased, tile WOTkmen scrambled from under
the hull and hush spread over tie multi
tude. Two young men, one of whom was
Frank Gardner, a distant relative Of the
builder, axes in hand walked to 4 couple of
short ropes which at bow and stern held the
triggers that were to release the hull. At
their POSTS they stopped and raised the axes
above their heads Then the foreman of the
yard with voice just tinged with suppressed
excitement said to the builder, who stood in
q little open space abreast the hull:
"Al ready, Captain Prayther?"
Aye said the old man, raising one
hand, . stand by-cUt.
The axes flashed through the air. the bow
instantly thzrn a tl1r
at the trigger ere the stern followed, and
then Mrs. Prayther tossed the wine eXult-
antlV out over the bow and said
! name thee Merton PTaytheT."
With mighty splash and a surge which
sent the water Tar over the further bank the
vessel plunged Of the ways. heeled over,
rolled back again, and. tnggIng at her moor
inEs, nodded and bowed from side to side at
the iHrongs about her
How Tie men cheeredi How the ladies'
waved thelr handkerchiefs and all bat
danced! How the small boys did every
thing that active brains could suggest and
eXubeTanJ spirits carry out to express
their complete and bolsteT0us approval of
the whole proceedings! Only those who
have been fortunate enough to see q ship
launched in waters like those of Silver
Creek can fully appreciate the picturesque
excitement OF such an occasion.
But If the small boys and the people in
general approved the whole proceedings,
Merton Prayther and SUndry other keen
sighted mOsS-backS did not. Scarce one in
twenty of the spectators had noticed that
the bow had started down the ways before
the stern moved, or the little furry which
was created ut the after-trgger. But the
instant that the builder saw the delay at that
point lie dashed down to rectiiy the error.
Before two steps had been taken
young Gardner had cleared away the
obstruction and the vessel was safely on
her way; but without asking where the
blame for the slight hitch lay, or whether
there was any blame at all, the builder
knocked the offender down. In falling his
head struck against an old timber, and re-
cetved an ugly cut.
Nor was the ili-luek supposed to follow
the delay in starting the stern down the
ways the only. or, IN the eyes of the elderly
sailor men, the more unfortunate feature of
the launching. MIS-. Prayther had tossed
the bottle with experienced hand, but some
hew the line which held it to the bowsprit
was detective so that it broke, and instead
Of swinging down and cracking its sides
upon the eutNateT it dropped unbroken to
the ground. The story that the wine had
failed to Spin soon flew around the crowd,
along with mention of the delay at the YES
sells stern, and set everybody talking.
No one seemed to know or care very much
about the injury to Frank Gardner. The
Jrulh was that such an event was not IN
usual in the ship-yardS Of those days-esDe-
ciaily WAS ii not unusual in the yard of Mer,
ton Prayther, for he was known as a hard
master n period of the lake shore his
tory when it took man of an unusually
rugged nature to gain that appellation.
Nevertheless. the episode OF which the
young man was the victim, trihing as it
then appeared was soon after talked about
more th3n any other event of the launch
ing day. Whether or not good or bad
luck can be attributed to, or predicted
from, tfitiing events in building and
launching, it was a sorry thing for Merton
PTayther-the shore folk believe it was
sorry thing for the vessel-that blood in-
stead of wine had been spilled at the
christening. Within three days of the
launching the new schooner was again wet
by Franks blood and in q way that stirred
the supersutious as they had never been
stirred before. Frank Gardner lived with
his mother CHE widow of au old sea cap
tain and an own cousin of Merton PraytheD
ina little cottage Just over the crest Of the
hill to the east of the creek. The old build
ing can still be seen from the car-window by
the traveller on the Lake Shore Railroad MS
he Is hurried into cut in the side of the
hill, just before reaching the village of Sill
yer Greek, as the old hamlet OF Fayette is