The Republican journal., 1901-10-24
nature. Here, too, for the time being,

nature. Here too, for the time being,
was the summer home of the writer.
The backbone of Cape Cod is the
New York, New Haven and Hartford
r. r., opened to Provincetown-a dis
lance of 12O miIes--July %, 1873, the
town celebrating the event by entertain
ing President and Mrs. Grant and party,
Aug. rs, 1874, the first visit of a chief
magistrate of the nation while in office.
The barrenness of Provincetown is re-
lieved by the shipping in its harbor. 1t
may be described as a good harbor, sur
rounded by acompactly inhabited beach,
where the fishermen store and cure
their fish and where, sometimes, people
are cured of eating them. 1t may have
been this olfactory notion which caused
Capt John Smith, i'll 1916, to refer to
the fisheries as This contemplate
trade of fish" In sharp distinction, -
when Edward Winslow solicited the
consent of King James for the colo
nists to go to America, the monarch
asked them, ''What profit might arise?'
He was answered in single word,
Fishing" Whereupon James replied:
$50 God have my soul It's an honest
trade, twas the apostles own calling
References to the cape fisheries in the
records show their value and import
ance, and its profits were devoted to a
purpose, which showed the far-Sighted
intelligence of the law-givers of the
tainance of free public schools. In
other words. the mackerel school was
taxed in order that the children school
might be free. and the controversy be-
tween the colonists and the mother
country, over the fish question. is a
part of the general history of the ma
ton. With the use of seines and sweep
nets, the business declined. Rudyard
kipling in Captains Courageous has
given some sketches of the real Cape
Cod fishermen, with true and unerring
touch.
Next to the fisheries. is the business
of developing cranberry culture, which
is indigenous to the soil, and is better
developed here than in any other local
ity in the country. The preparations of
the ground, the determination of noX-
ious weeds and insects, the manufac-
ture of packages for transportation,
and more especially the gathering of
| the fruit, give employment to hundreds
of persons OF both sexes and all ages,
generally of the young.
Cape Cod captains and officers are to
be found i'll every port of the earth.
They are Of a type of sturdy strength
of mind and muscle, not easily surpass-
' ed. They are the expression of an
! enviable freedom and independence of
spirit, which is begotten by their many
battles with the elements. They are
men of few words, yet they are never at
loss for a marvellous establishment
of the funny side of life, nor for a
swift and cutting blow for shams and
| pretences.
| Even the uninteresting beach grass,
which covers the entire beach, has a
| history. The n. w. winds move most
sand because they are the driest, and
the attention of the government was
| called in 1925 to the danger whic
| threatened Cape Cod harbors from the
inroads of sand, and after deliberation
| the government recommended that
| beach grass, which is very firm, and
spreads rapidly, and holds the sand, be
set over a space five miles long, as a
| protection to the harbors, and seed was
| imported from Holland.
A canal across the cape, to avoid the
outside passage with the shoals and
! dangerous distinctions, has been a
favorite scheme at times for two cen
turtles, five or six charters having been
granted. Under the last, in 1884, opera
lions were vigorously commenced, the
security promptly paid, land bonded,
and a mile of channel excavated at
Sandwich, but at the end of two wears
| the work was abandoned, and the Sc
curity devoted to payment of expenses.
The people of the cape are we'll pre-.
served, as if by the sadness of the
atmosphere. They are said to be more
| purely the descendants of the Pilgrims
than the inhabitants of any other part
of the State, and here are to be found
the ancient customs of New England
growing out of the conditions of life
imposed by the forefathers. This is
| due to the fact, that, until late years,
the cape has been cut off from the
rapidly growing towns and cities, by its
meagre travelling facilities, and because
it has been, and probably always will
be, free from the effects of a fluctuat.
ing population. They ARE people of
strong convictions, and undertaking
principles, and to be regarded as good
citizen of Cape Cod ought to carry with
it sufficient endorsement.
In some respects our vacation had
been unique. Wandering over the
habitat of the paternal parent of John