The Republican journal., 1899-05-18
Early Yachting in Casco Bay.

/ anniversary OF the fOflIdnu dCnu CluD,
Mr.. William Allen, Jr.. read an interest
1 ing paper on early days in the history of
yachting in Casco Bay. We quote from
report i'll the Portland Press as follows:
| Gentlemen of the Portland Yacht Club:
! have been requested to give you a few
/ "reminiscences of bOyhood days, includ-
ing personal experiences in Casco Bay.
! These will of course be necessarily discon-
nected. as l shall iot them down here as
| may happen to think of them, and if
succeed in carrying any of my hearers
back to the days when they were boys,
and bring fond recollections to view, or
even bring a smile to their faces as they
recall some of the good old days now past
and gone, then my efforts will not have
been in vain. 1t was somewhere in the
/ forties that Diamond Cove first broke
forth on my view. ON a bright summers
day, being then young boy, was in
vited by Hon. James Deering. who at that
/ time owned Deering's Oaks and in fact
/ large portion OF the western part of the
/ city, to take a trip down Casco Bay in his
| good old schooner "Nameless. She was
under the Charge OF old Harry Homer,
who was sailing master and crew. Harry
Homer | well recoilect as a very genial,
( pleasant. hole-souled man, large, broad
/ shouldered, long thick whskers extend
ing under his chin and from cal To ear,
regular man-of war style MI. Deering
! thought a great deal OF Skipper Homer,
and for years they passed many happy
/ hours together in Casco Bay. At that
time, Nj. Deering owned the whole of
Little and Big Hog Islands, as they were
then called. That same time my father
was in business on Exchange street, a
/ tenant Of Mr.. Deeriug's and it did not
! take me great while to work into the
good graces of Mr.. Deering, and be OF as
sistance to him, by carrying bundles and
/ packages down to the "Nameless' and
/ making myself useful while on board.
| Many and many a trip have l had with
linn, through the blue waters Of Casco
/ Bay; and right here let me say that in
/ the whole course of my life, | have never
met with more pleasant. considerable,
agreeable MAJ. A perfect old school gen
tleman. Bear in mind that | am now
speaking OF the richest man in the city at
] that time and really the father of yacht
1 ing in Casco Bay. A tender hearted, fine
looking old gentleman. he was ever ready
to respond to all calls in trouble and dis
tress; his hand and pocket were always
open to the needy. He had a smooth,
saint like face, always dressed in the pink
/ OF perfection, white stocks, summer and
winter, always white vest in warm
weather. | well recollect one incident of
Mr.. Deering, which l know the recording
angels above passed to his credit. There
was in the forties a tenant of his on Ex-
change street, named Buxton. | think
that he had been captain of a vessel, and
while holding that position, a rope had
caught in some manner and in jured him
SO badly that both legs We're taken off at
tie KIN es; it was a very unusual sight in
! those days to see a man walking round
town on his knees, attending to business.
He kept a small saloon in little l / ,
story farm building situated on the spot
where the Oriental Powder Mills office is
now located. He was famliarly called
"Dadde Buxton" by young and old. At
the time | refer to above, Mr.. Deering
was in my fathers store, and ''Daddie
Buxton came in and asked to have ten
dollar bill changed. My father gave him
the change, and "Daddie Buxton went
out, when upon looking at the Bank
/ DetectOr 1t was found to be a counterfeit.
"Oh, - said my father, ''that is too bad,
some one has passed that bill on old Dad
die Buxton, the poor old cripple" Let
me look at it a minute, Mr.. Allen,' said
Mr.. Deering. Mr. Deering took the bill
in his hands and looked carefully at it
and at the Bank Detector, and said, Yes
it is counterfeit and then tore it in
hundred pieces, threw them on the floor,
and handed out a clean ten dollar bill to
my father with the remark, Don't you
say word to Daddie Buxton about this. j."
THAI was one Of his characteristics.
l wonder how many of the gentlemen
present can recall the two headquarters
in ba
ties? In my mind S eye I can see wildly
before me the old shop of John Fenno, on
the corner of Fore and Union streets, and
the store of Lazarus Harlow, afterward
his son Edwards, who still resides on
Congress street, in this city, which was
on the opposite corner. At either place
you could hire row boat for Is cents an
hour, or sailboat-no yachts in those
days-whch would carry from & to 10
or 20 persons, for Il IL cents an hour or
81. 80 for the day of "a hours, with Gunner
lines, cod lines, salt clam bait, fry pan,
chowder pot and coffee pot thrown in;
and good old times they were, too The
yachts you have now, may cost great
deal more money, but hardly think you
have such jolly times as we did in those
days. Steamboats, to the Islands were I'M
| known at this time, and sail to Dia-
trip to Boston in the cars is nowadays.
The sailing boats in use about this time
as | recollect them, We're the sch Laurel,
sloop Fayonte, and sloop Helen Maria,
owned by Harlow. The Helen Maria was
named in honor of a lady friend of mine,
and ! had the pleasure of presenting a
set of flags, and stuffed st m cushion, a
great extravaganza in those days. | also
had the honor of inviting as large party
as she would carry, and sailing her down
the ha1bor on her first trip. 1t was a
lovely bright, clear day, with fine west
wind, and l suppose | thought at that
time, that | was a bigger man than Gen.
Grant. However. | managed TO bring
the party back all alive, and many times
after that occasion, also. Then there was
the sch. Mechanic, sch. Banner, which
met with such terrible disaster, sloop
Go Ahead, owned by Pettingill, and the
sloop Odd Fellow, owned by John Fenno
The sloop American, owned and run by
Harry Mcclellan was quite favorite for
practise.
On September s, 1910, the sch Ban
ner with a party on board consisting OF
nine young persons, three lads and six
young ladies, started down the harbor to
visit the U. S. fleet, which had been in the
! borbor for covoral daus IT was a beautl-