The Republican journal., 1904-05-19
THE NAMING OF CLIPPERS.
How Some Kennebec Ships Received thu
Names They Bore.

| The NAMING OF CLlFFEhS.
| How Some Kenuebec Ships Received the
! Names They Bore.
! The naming of a vessel is always i'm
portant and in the old days when many
handsome clippers were built on the
kennebec it was almost as important
a task to choose name for ship as it
IS to select one for the first baby. The
Richmond Bee tells in an interesting
manner the naming of some OF the YES
sells which were built in that town.
Speaking few days since with G. H.
Farrin in regard to shipbuilding times
in Richmond we ventured to ask how
certain vessels built here years ago
happened to be given the names they
bore. AS many of our readers are
aware, many of the ships built in Rich
| mond in the fifties and later bore his
| torlc names and little poetry and
| fancy was woven into the names of not
few of them.
Referring to the clipper ship Wild
wave Mr. Farrin informed us the name
was suggested by c. W. Larrabee, who
was then young lawyer of this village.
MT. Larrabee moved to Bath and is now
the Oldest living member of Sagadahoc
bar. He has been in constant practice
since going from Richmond, nearly fifty
years ago. The Wild Wave was built
by Mr.. Farrin in 1853 and was vessel
OF l ,547 tons measurement. She was a
full clipper and proved to be very fast.
Two other clipper ships were built in
Richmond about the same time. The
Pride OF America was built by William
Patten and was a vessel of 1853 tons
measurement. She was tall spared
and when she went down the river a
Richmond boy who went out in her was
sent up to lift the telegraph wire this
side of Bath, over her main topmast.
j. Southland. She was afterwards sold
to the French government for service
during the Crimean war. The story of
how she knocked the new French cap
tain off his reckoning by sailing faster
than he had ever dreamed of, is familiar
to our readers and need not be repeated
here.
The ship Southern Rights, was built
by Mr.. Southland, and the reader will
have no difficulty in guessing why she
was thus named. Mr.. Southland after
wards built another ship and called her
the Equal Rights, which name undoubt-
eddy sounded better to northern ears
than the first. The ship Gettysburg, of
$40 tons measurement, was suggested
by the famous field of Gettysburg The
name Hagarstown is secure in Ameri-
can history. A ship of that name was
built here by James NJ. Hagar in the
early seventies. The Highland Chief
was built at the north end in 1854. She
was vessel of S2S tons and her name
was of Scotch origin, the early High
landers having been brave and. hardy
people.
Lalla Rookh is a name with which
every scholar is familiar. The ship was
built here in 1853 and was a craft of
613 tons measurement. The Wizard
King, vessel built in 1854 by L. J.
Southland, was of 1898 tons measure
ment. There is something weird and
the poetic we also have the Sea Ranger
| and the Ocean Steed.
The most of the above named vessels
were built for the West Indian and
European trade, cotton being our chief
article of export to Europe. Our trade
with the West Indies was, of course,
large and profitable, and the same may
be said OF our trade with continental
Europe. Our national protective policy
destroyed this trade to a considerable
extent, but on the whole our gain as
nation has been greater than our loss,
and if we never build any more ships
the good Lord may eventually grant us
a business of equal Importance and
profit. Let US so hope.
The Clyde, the first ship built in Rich
mond, was named after the river Clyde,
in Scotland. AS is generally known,
the Vesuvius, built by T. J. Southland,
| was named after the famous volcano
| near the bay of Naples, on the south
west coast of Italy. The Miles Stan
dish, a ship built here in 1855, was own
ed in Boston and bore a name that is
familiar to readers of history. The
Old Dominion is another name of we'll
known origin. Monticello, too, was
famous in the early days of American
Independence as the home of Thomas
Jefferson. The ship was built in 1856.
The Moro Castle, built by 7. J. South
ard, was probably named after the
! famous fortress at the entrance to Ha-
vana harbor, which Admiral Sampson
was at one time expected to reduce dur
ing the Spanish-American war.