The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1899-12-30
A NATURAL DRY DOCK.
Awaits Uncle Sans Pleasure ON a His
torIc site at Esstport.


(Esstport Cor. Of Bangor Nsws.)
An Investigation Of the laad and excel.
lent shore privileges ip AID about thu
salt works, on Esty's Head in the south
err part Of the city, was recently made
By Western promoters, who were looking
over the CITY IN. general, Tbs salt works
oQys u about 1900 feet in length ana te-
is1 Wide and ropYqy, wodld make a
very ssfs dsy dosk By the addition Of 40
sbutmsat sorsss tho opening ct Esty's
head. Hess there 10 On entsaps Of 90
feet ct Low tide and fully. six fAthons o
water near the opeeing. AZ little expsrso
the cove could be- Changed Into q suitable
dry dock, which would foat tbs largess
OF Uncle eam's cruisers and on . oft
bottom, free from rocks. etc. This inte-
rior Of the cove 10 one Of IN, safest along
the Atlantic coast In al kinds Of weather
and ut little expense could b put In firgt
class shape. II was here that the attsn-
ton Of tbs government was direct,d
about year ago, when Rear Admiral
Belknap and other officials oamo Down
East on tbs lockout for q eosiina statien
for the big men-o'-war. On the day OF
the inspection of the coast here 1t Is well
known that the foggy weather and Other
causes prevented the real worth of the
above cove being shown up. Large
sized schooners have arrived and de-
parted there, loading or unloading their
cargoes of coal, plaster, fertilizer, bricks
and other things.
In years gone by or soon after the set
tlement of PASSPORT, a hundred years ago.
salt was manufactured there from the
crude ballast or freight at that time, but
this soon became Improbable and was
given up. Brick yards have been tried
with some success far up In tho cove,
where the plant now remains and there
is vet a quantity of clay and other ingre-
dents suitable for making the bricks,
that are always In demand.
MANY houses and several new smoke
houses, wharves and other building have
gone up In recent years along both sides
Of the cove and it il fact that property
there has improved considerably. In
value. There is no better place about
the island city for fish stand than the
salt works cove, and all kinds of vessels
or steamer can haul In to be loaded or
unloaded. Four new smeke houses have
been put up on the west side by Robert
Spear, s. Leonard, J. Greenlaw and
John NJ. Spear & Son. Haddock, her.
ring, cod and pollock are smoked, dried
sailed and otherwise cured by the en-
terprising fish dealers at this part OF the
city and many big shipments Of fish
have been made during the past year.
There IL collection Of wharves, many
Of former years, along the cove and on
the east side Is the former big fertilizing
plant of Il. Blanchard, which has been
bought up by syndicate No. l in this
city. 1t Is stated that the entire new
plant is to be built there for the manufac
turing Of pomice, or fertilizer, from the
herring heads Or refuse from the many
sardine canuiKa factories along the
eastern Maine coast, next year, There
is wharf tonnage OF about 500 feet 10
this property, where the big schesners
have been frequently hauled IN, IN the
upper part Of the cove Is NOW hauled up
five of the small steamers owned and
conducted in Passamaquoddy bay dur
ing the past canning season by tho Spa
Coast Packing Co., syndicate No. l. The
steamers are the g. b. Otis, Judge
Moore. Frank 4 Lloyd, Nellie Kane and
r. j, Killick. They are hauled up above
high water mark on cradles recently
built on three ship railways, which are
nearly 200 feet In length. Opposite the
Blanchard former fertilizer, near which
q new smoke house was built, this year,
the old two-masted schooner z. B. Paine
is hauled up ON the beach. Several
smaller schooners and boats are hauled
In for safety during the winter and tho
salt works cove presents an inviting look
to the stranger. In the early spring,
other buildings 70 to be erected and a
strong effort will be made to have the
w. @. r. R. officials extend a half-mile
spur track to the cove, where lumber
yard OF considerable size is being talked
of by interesting parties. During the
war Of 1912 English officers were located
in house near the fertilizer. which is
yet in good condition after nearly 80
years of Use.