The Washington times., 1902-01-19
THE visitor who seeks the bold
est points of the Maine coast in
summon paturo eoo,,. woo. ,xo,

summer nature seems most gen
erous and indulgent, and the con
ditions of native life appear easy The vo
cation of the fishermen set in the hazy hal
cyon days, is picturesque in the extreme
Propelled by strong, muscular arms, tn,
dorics of the lobstermen glide along shor,
in the still mornings. The satisfied occu
pants laZily haul their traps, and tho
product of their toll finds ready and re.
munerative market. Generous and i'm
provident, the fishermen are happy for
season, and their families are well fec
and clothed. But summer passes. the cot
tagers disappear, the local market van
ishes, and the conditions change. Pefore
suitable preparation can be made winter
is at hand. Storms rage fiercely along
the ice bound coast. Fishing gear is lost
and boats drift to sea. The houses, too
are mainly poor, and fuel is rarely gath
cred a day before the need. By early
winter the summer earnings are spent;
then want and hardship begin.
In recent winter. at point between
the Penobscot and the Kennebec rivers
there were unusual poverty and suffering.
ermen, and winter fell early, and was
severe and continuous. An ominous cloud
hung over the hamlet, and before winter
was well on the prologue to the tragedy
OF want was succeeded by the tragedy
itself.
Gran Jones was sturdy, typical fisher
man of the Neck. He had wife and six
children, stanch dorv good fishing gear,
and, such as it was, a home of his own.
He was Industrious and frugal, and his
family never wanted for the plain neces-
saries of life. But he did not live to come
to this winter of want. He was lost with
his dory in gale of early September,
leaving boy OF fourteen as the sole sup
port of the family.
1t was the last of September. Tom
Jones clumsily and shyly entered the groc-
cry. He shufied uneasily as he spoke:
Mother sent me up ter see if ye willin'
ter let out ye OIL dory."
''Old dory?"
Mother said fer me ter tell We as she
would give ye all tn aggs fer ter hire
TIL dory."
Eggs? All. well,"
a. Sides, We cork her and keep her
nice
And ye mother has how many hens?"
Fifteen. counting tn two big pullets
an tn rooster what don't lay"
The dory had been out of water for a
year. and was shrunken and unseaworthy,
but Mir. Dyer drummed the counter
thoughtfully. Eggs is droppin'." he said.
but ye may take the dory. She'll maybe
need a little fxin. Don't forgit the
eggs"
Tom paid for plug of chewing tobac-
co and some tea, and hurried from the
store. Early next morning he was at
work on the bottom OF the dory Three
days later he managed TO shove her off
the fats into the bay. She leaked at fifty
points, but the happy boy pulled her
home, and by morning the bottom was
fairly tight
Now wen git ready fer winter" he
said to his mother. "Terday I'll git bait,
an tomorrow III o'erhaul tn gear"
It was October before Tom began to
haul his trars. He looked like a man in
his fathers old clothes; and he worked
like man. He was at the shore by day
light, and not away from the cove until
dark. II was red-letter day in the boys |
life when the smack took his first car of
Holsters. paying him twelve dollars. This
was the first day of November. and win
ter set in early. The mother, pale,
overworked, worried woman, tried her |
best tc help. She toiled early and late, |
clans for the market, weaving
heads for the lobster pots, tarring gear,
or doing anything and everything to help 4
Tom.
The children were small, and the baby |
was nursing. The mothers nights were |
wakeful. Her GLOW mind was engaged |
with ways and means, and her every hour
was haunted with fears and supernatural
She had all the supersti-
ions of her class, fostered by narrow cx-
perience and constant contact with the
pecan, and she believed that Gran was
alive in the sea. She recalled that, as a
,hild on Outer "Hern," her father had
,ften seen her dead mother in the sea
1t night.
November continued cold and stormy.
The days were grey and dreary. Only
regularly now could Tom haul his traps
Many were shifting their gear into deep
water, five or six miles off shore, around
he White Islands and Damariscove.
Toms old dory, however, was too poor
or this more hazardous fishing, and he
,ept his traps along shore. By dint of
lard work and exposure he had gathered
mother car of Holsters. Prices were
ood and he expected about sixteen dol
ars for the car. The smack plying be-
ween Portland and Bristol was already
verdue. The tenth of November was a
old, bleak DAY. The east wind pierced
o the marrow, and the driving mist was
lmost a sleet. The wind had steadily
lsen since morning. By noon the fishing
raft and the small coasters were scud-
Ing before IT for harbor. BY night a gale
as blowing and screaming, as II bent
n destruction. For thirty-six hours the
"a ran high; then II cleared. The wind
hauled wes'lv" and beat down the waves,
nd the sea was calm and the sky smiling.
ut the gale had done its work for the |
'bstermen. Nearly every trap was lost.
he shore was strewn with wrecked gear.
ON saved nothing. Besides the loss of
Is traps, he lost his car of Holsters, on
hich he had built such hopes, and his
Dry. Only his skin was left. He spent
lie day on shore among others. but re-
,yered nothing. At night he turned his {
ce homeward, tired, cold, and hopeless.
Its no use. My gear is all gone, an
II an dory. Things is all agin u.s.
, said, as he dropped into a chair ex- I
lusted