The Portland daily press., 1894-10-27
OLD FLOOR COLLAPsEs.
Ancient Beam Breaks In Queer Old
Building.
Some of the History and Present Features
OF a veritabIe Curiosity Shop,


At about $50 o'clock yesterday forenoon
there was big crash in the building near
the head of Portland Pier, occupied by
william E. Carter, junk dealer, and John
Cammett. block maker. The noise was SO
loud that it was heard. some distance down
the wharf. The building consists of three
shops or stores. The second floor of the
middle store had come down with crash
1t was about SO by 20 feet in dimensions. A
huge. hand-hewn pine beam ~ by IA inches
in size, ran along the middle, the the
longest way, and this had broken, letting
Down an enormous quantity of old rope,
anchors and clocks belonging to William E.
Carter. There was about ten tons of it.
This was not an extraordinary amount, for
as much junk is frequently stored on that
floor. There seems to be no reason for the
break except that the old beam could hold
the load no longer and gave way.
This is a very old building and as interest
ing siany cuI iosity shop. Its timbers are
all OF pumpkin pine." ard hewn by hand
1t was built originally for merchants
storehouse and previous to the war was
occupied as such. 1t was considered a long
distance down the wharf before Commercial
street was built. There were three stores
in the building and on the second floor of
each there is still the old fashioned mer-
chants office, shorn of it's furniture and its
original fireplace, but still retaining the old
paper on the walls. One of these offices
collapsed with the floor of the middle store.
1t was full of anchors and blocks.
A few years before the war the block was
purchased by Edward Thurston, who
carried onsa junk business there. He was
succeeded by Mr.. Carter, whose son, William
E., now carries on the business. He occu-
pies two of the stores. John Cammett, block
maker. moved into tho third store in 1868,
his shop is even more of curiosity shop
than the junk store. His father, Dudley
Cammctt, was BLOCK maker. farther up the
wharf, in the early part of the centurv. Mr..
John Cammett IS sixty-seven years old and
distinctly remembers that when he was five
years old he came to the building with his
father. But there is proof that 1t is older
than that. On one of tie great beams in the
loft is carved ~ Chase. January 18th, 1916. !"
There is little doubt that the building is
at least as old as the century.
In Mr.. Cammett's shop is probably the
most primitive and ancient workman's
bench in the city. 1t is gleat square beam
of oak. resting on stout pegs. There are
projec lions on one end between which the
blocks were held, while the slit was
chiselled out in the old days when blocks
were made from solid piece of wood. Near
the middle of the beam square section is
cut out and this was used as a primitive
wise. A block would be put on one side of
this depression and held in place by pieces
of wood wedged tightly into fill up the rest
| of the space. Of course this admitted of
| wedging blocks of any size.
Suspended from the ceiling of this old
shop is an interesting block. 1t was taken
from the clock in the First Parish church
| by Mr.. Cammett's father in 1S49, and was
| the pulley throug h which ran the cords that
supported the weights. IL is of peculiar
| shape and must have come over in the
clock from England.
| There is also az implement that looks like
giant clock key. The shaft is of steel and
| four feet long. This is a pump shank. 1t
was used in boring the holes in logs when
| Mr.. Cammett made wooden pumps before
/ the introduction of Sebago water. hanging
! on the wall are giant bits of various sizes,
| that wei fastened to the shank and bored
| the holes.
! 1t is queer old building and evidently on
| safe for another century. The pine timbers
| are SO old and dry that one of the cross
| timbers that fell with the floor, and is som Q
| ten feet long and six inches suare is as light
as if made of paper.