The times., 1901-06-02
UNDIOMAYED BY THE FOGS
How an Old Schooner Sailed Down
East From Boston.

Graphic Description Of the Voyage
by Her sI<ippcr-An Antiduated
Vessel With Sense-E<neyy the Way
Over Her Oft-TrnveIed Course.
When the forty days fog settled down
over the coast OF Mains this spring thero
was nothing for the lumber hookers to
do but hang right on wherever they hap
pened to be at the time. for to go to sea
was simply to invite disaster-to be run
down by steamer or. maybe, to be piled
up on the rocks along shore Thus, for
six weeks. there We're few eomings or
goings, and the big heaps of new spruce
boards on the wharves at Bangor grew
higher and higher every day, waiting for
the Sehooners to come and bear them
away TO Boston or New York
The coastwise steamers running on
time courses, managed to make their
trips. rather irregulariy. but no one ex-
pected any of the sailing fleet to show up
until after the fog had been chased away
out past Nova Scotia by smart north
wester. And so 1t caused no end Of won
der when. right In the thickest part OF tho
fog. the old schooner Napoleon came into
Bangor, having made good run down
from Boston and come right along just
as If the weather was as clear as in fros-
~ October.
The master Of the Napoleon. Capt ST.
las Gripdle. was looked upon as the
greatest Of all pilots. and the people
along the wharves congratulated him
when he came ashore upon his ability
to see through fog as thick as a board
How'd you do it. Si-how'd you manage
to sneak that old sled down here in this
NF .
chandlery And the captain of the Ma
poleon made answer:
'Twan't me. 1 couldn't see nothin-
couldn't see the foremast I'm where
stood at the wheel The Napoleon s a
great vessil, she is and tho you may MT
believe it. 1 tell you she jest come along
herself. That old critter s made so many
trips tween here and Bost'n she jest
knows the way-shore's you borni When
we was at Bost'n L heared there was no
vessils on this end at all, and says to
myself 'Freights must be good down to
Bangor. and l guess III travel down
there Well, when 1 told my fellers TO
get the anchor short and hist the mains'l
they looked at me 5 tho they thought 1
was crazy. but then they was new hands.
and they wasn't used to the Napoleon
did MT know her like do
We'll, sir when we come out OF Bost'n
it was that thick you could lean against It,
and all we could hear was horns and
whistles a-blowing and a-tooting all
around US. One time. of Thatcher's, one
of the Bangor boats shaved US pretty clost
and 1t made my fellers look scairt as
WeaSels- | kept one Of them footing a
horn for'ard. one at the wheel and one
cooking grub, and ! put in the time try
ing to ind out I'm lot O. papers I got In
Bost,n what in thunder Rushy and Japan
fry n 4 in
They couldn't see how / could set
cooked up in chair in the house, reading
and smoking. with the Napoleon going
six knots and likely TO bang into some
thing any minute But. sir, I've tried her
before in jest such weather, and she new
er went back on me- Says to the fell
lers, says l., You people jest hang to
what you re doing. keep her as she is. and
first thing you know you'll see Monhegan
looming up ahead of you. And il came
out jest as | said. Second morning out
echo and heard the whistle. Then It was
all plain sailing for anyone. even without
the help of such a vessel as the Napol-
con, with her good sense.
Sense? Yes. sir; some vessils has sense.
jest Ike a dog, or hoss; and some is
slow and blockheaded. jest like some meE
and cows. The Napoleon 5in't the only
one. There was the Tarrynot of Salem,
that used to lug so much ssenlock bark
outen Bangor. Why, sir, that old hook
er d feel her way over any course she'd
sailed a couple of times; and Tooker-
that's the man went in her-he knew il,
and never fretted in thick weather And
for sailing-well, there never was but one
vesSil that'd stay in company with the
Tarrynot more'n a hour or two. and that
was the old TELEGRAPH that | first went in
myself. l mind the time when Tooker
and myself come outen Bost'n together.
me loaded and him flying light bet him
so that the TELEGRAPH d beat him into
Bangor and he took me up
well, sir. we had the wind west-s'th-
west, and plenty of it, and the way We
come along was q caution TO steamboats,.
The katahdin-thats one the Bangor
boats, she come out of BoSt n about the
same time, and was due in Bangor at
D clock next afternoon. Cap'n Homer was
master of her then; and coming down
BoStn Harbor he sang out that he'd tell
my consignee l was a-coming. | sang
back that 1 guessed I'd spare him the
trouble and be there with him; and he
Jest iafTed at me- He didn't know the
Her strong pint of sailing was with the
wind jest a little aft the beam, and that's
the way we had IL that night. She came
along like a racehOrSe; and all night we
never lost sight of the Katahdin's lights.
In the morning. If you'd belive it, the ka-
tahdin was astern OF US, and what she
gained running up under the land. where
we got the wind lighter, she lost in Rock
and. where she had 10 make 9 landing
Time she got out of ROekland we way
lway up to Camden. and she had to dodge
n there. so We drawed away I'm her
again Making a long story short. We
lad q good following breeze up the river.
Ind come into Bangor at quarter past 2.
With the Katahdin jest whisling round
High Head mile down the harbor. Talk
bout carrying newsI huhl
What about the Tarrynot? oh. she
-ot along that night. so l won the bet
Didn't do me much good, tho. / meant
o told you that the Telegraf. after she
.ot to going, dIdn't seem to want to stop.
We got sail on her all right and quick.
nd let go an anchor: but she kept right
n goin and banged plumb into the bridge
Iier taking the bowsprit outen her. Cost
ne fifty dollars to put in a new one. so 1
vas forty dollars out. That was the only
ad pint about her-she didn't seem TO
now when 10 quit But she was hum
1er.''-L T. Smith, in the Boston Tran
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