The morning times., 1896-08-23
Old Customs, Elsewhere Long Ago Forgotten
Survive in Quaint Nantucket.
THERE IS A town CRIER WHO SHUTTERS
Perambulates the Streets with Horn and Forth
the NewsRut Roads and Queer Little Hamlets Thread
the Sea-gt Patch of Ground-The Old Aristocracy Is
Interesting.

/ and as IL to carry out the impression, this
| little island has a spot. known To hut few,
which boasts the only Scotch heather in
this country.
| 1t sometimes happens that venturesome
, driver gets lost ON the Nantucket moors
| There is only one hard road on the island
| that which leads to 'Sconset. All the
| rest are rut-roads, with deep grooves
| on each side Tor the wheels and one in the
| center for the horse In some places the
! ruts are SO deep that the grass scrapes
| on the bed OF the carriage as it goes along.
There are no fences, for there is Eotfi hing
worth fencing in, SO whenever a drivertires
OF one road he drives up on the moor and
makes a new one parallel TO the old.
On the way to 'Sconset by the .'old route''
there are as many as ten ofthese rut-roads.
which gradually narrow down to four and
Two they approach the hard road
'Sconset is one OF the Qaecrcst little
, places that ever set itself up to be a SUM
mer resort The houses are n cross he
tween bird cage and a ships cabin.
Open a front door. and the first thing
That greets you is perpendicular stair
way that looks like ships ladder. All
the houses are shingled down the sides,
and are fashioned in the style of thosc,
TIL standing, that were built before
The Hub OF the Universe was more than
HI inlet
The lots are SQUARE. and with fences
| Ill around and houses i'll the center. they
look like pictures in frames. On each side
OF every house there is a street and it
IS favorite pastinIe to drive round and
round these little picture cottages. up and
down through lanes and byways that are
dgnified by such names as broadway"
and Exchange Place. Exchange PIace'
is fortyfIve feet long. and ''Bf oldway"
ends in a sort of turn-table, there being
no other way to get out except To turn
| around and come back to the entrance
-'Broa'iway' ia 'Sconse,'s principal street.
but in Boston II would be marked '.Pri-
vate way: dangerous passing
Nantucket proper. the county seat of
The island is the relic Of what was once
4 whaling city. In the forties it was a
town of 10000 Inhabitants The houses
are all built with reference to the wha!in.
industry and were once owned by sea
captains. scores of wheoi sailed out on
the wiBtry sea never to return. But at
a
many a captains wife has strained her
eyes in vain for sight of her husbands
returning ship: and in the tower of TIA.
''0ld South Church is a window where
the colors Of the ship were placed when a
returning whaler was sighted.
This old church contains Spanish
bell which was brought over in 1912 It
is now used as 4 gong Tor the tower clock,
- IL.
cry incoming ship All over the town
are reminders of the whaling trade,
which has been so effectualIy crushed by
the advent OF kerosene. gas and electricity.
Immense whales bones. twelve to fifteen
feet long are set UP as gate posts at the
entrance to au old whaIer's residence,
and queer carved figures brought from
every cline ornament the la WINS and por-
ticoes. In the old days there were often
as many as 110 whaling ships in Nan
.tucket harbor, but now their places are
occupied by the pigmy catboats and dories
which are kept for the especial benefit Of
the summer visitor, with two OF three
steam yachts whose owners come here
for the fine fishing on the shoals known
as The Rips Now there are some
times as many as three passenger steam
bOatsIyins at the dock. but late in October.
after Eastman Johnson. the painter. has
left his beautiful cottage on the hill, aud Il
few other notables have taken their
parture there will be but two boats a week
In the winter when the harbor freezes
up, natives often wait weeks for their
mail but the true islander rather enjoys
this state of affairs. for he feels that he
is monarch OF all he surveys only so
long as he can Keep iuterlopers away
from the island.
SO well do they succeed in keeping apart
from the rest of the world. and so con
,ervative are their habits. that they find
very little use for the little wooden Jail
which rs situated in the middle OF a sheep
field. II is singled down the sides like
.he rest OF the houses. and is such Il ram
shackie affair that there is a story told
of a drunken sailor imprisoned there who
sent word to the authorities that ''if they
didn't keep the sheep out of his cell he
would not stay in JAIL"
One of the most prominent landmarks
on the island Is the old windmill, built
in 1T46. of the oak which then covered
the island II is as strong now as the
day it was built, but it was used to grinI
corn and now there is not enough native
corn raised to pay for all the grinding.
Visitors go up to the top and write their
names on the register and that is all it
is used for now.
An old house, built in 1886, is still
standing, but there are holes in the roof,
and no one lives there
On monument in the center of the town
are carved the names of seventy-five Nan
tucketers who fell in the late war. q num-