The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1899-11-09
Machias in the Fifties.
SaS.

E. NJ. Yates of Old Orchard went tc
Washington county on the recent State
Board of Trade excursion and since his
return has written for the Machias Re-
publican his recollections of Machias in
the fifties. Mr.. Yates was the senior
member of the firm of Yates & Furbush,
printing business in Machias. That was
forty six years ago, and the paper was the
Machias Union. The story Mr. Yates
tells of the starting Of this paper on a
cash capital of less .nan twenty five dol
lars, with lot of second hand type and a
borrowed hand press, is most interesting.
Such an enterprise would not succeed to
day, but it succeeded then, and ''the
Union still lives" In the following para
graph Mr.. Yates falls into an error, which
is, perhaps, excusable
Our first journeyman was bright Nova
Scotian named Martin Dlworth, whom
we discovered running lath machine in
a Whitneyville saw mill He was rapid
compositOr and did excellent service in
helping to launch the Union on the rising
tide of success. Another enthusiastic
helper in the formative period of our lit
| tie paper was a son of Hon. Albert Pills
/ bury of Machias, who was that year Dem
| ocratic candidate for Governor. The
slender boy printer of the tifties would
| hardly be recognized to-day in the digni-
fled and able editor of the handsome Bel
fast Republican journal.
We doubt if any one in Machias took a
more active interest in the new paper
than the writer, who saw the first issue
| worked oil and was a frequent visitor to
the office. But a parental obstacle pre-
vented us from assuming the role of
printer devil. which was a great disap-
pointment at the time. Some months be-
fore the Union made its appearance the
writer had begun recording the arrival of
shipping al Machias, and was called upon
to supply the shipping list for the first is
sue of the paper, but, unfortunately, he
had not included the departures in his rec
ords. That was as near as we came to
contributing to the first number of the
Machias Union. Not many years later
we did contribute some letters describing
a journey south. A schoolmate and play
mate of the writer, George A Parlin, who
entered the Union Office as devil, is now
the editor and proprietor, having spent
forty six years in the service of the paper.
| Illness compelled the retirement of Mr..
| Of bn e IL, l.
successor was George W. Drisko. In
1859 Mr. Furbush sold his interest to Geo.
A. Parlin, and bought the Machias Re-
| publican, of which he is still the editor
and proprietor. Mr.. Drisko retired from
the Union few years ago to enjoy in re-
tiTement well earned competency.
NJ. c. Diworth, the first journeyman
on the Union, later moved to Belfast and
was for some years foreman of The Re-
publican Journal office. He has passed
the allotted three score years and ten, but
is still an active printer and may be found
at the case in the office of the Belfast
Printing Co.
| Mr.. Yates was for a time. we think, ed
itor of the Ossipee Valley News, paper
that has gone out of existence, and later
was on Biddeford paper. He is grace
full writer and a bright paragrapher.
81 would have all our exports and all
our imports carried in our ships and under
our flag, and would make every American
captain an intelligent agent for the sale of
our goods and the extension of our COM
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