New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-02-18
OLD SALEM CAPTAINS.
Il Picturesque Book about Them.

the wealth of the Orient. are falling to decay;
her splendid ships are remembered only by a
few venerable men who in their high mettled
youth commanded those rich argosies, and
here and there upon her quiet streets still Inger
a stately mansion two which in the late
eighteenth and the early nineteenth centuries
sheltered the dignihed merchants who man
aged the bulk of the New Worlds commerce
with distant lands. 1t is not easy in these
days to realize that Salem was once a famous
seaport rampant with enterprise and excite
ment, a pert which distanced Boston in COM
mercaI energy and success. The records Of her
East India trade full Of thrilling advent
ure, and Mr.. Trow has made of them a truly
fascinating volume.
At the end Of the Revolution the five large
ships which had been used as privateers were
ready to the merchants hand. and there were
plenty of sturdy and brainy young fellows to
man and officer them Some Of these captains the
author tells US. commanded ships when they had
barely attained their majority. and they showed
not only remarkable ability as officers. but in
the buying and selling necessarily committed to
their charge. The voyages were long. sometimes
lasting two years, nothing being heard mean
while from ship master. It is a bit Of the
romance of trade that the first cargo of pepper
ever imported into this country was brought by
a Salem vessel and was sold at a profit, amaz-
ing then. of several hundred per cent 1t
the secret venture Of a Salem merchant and
Of the clever captain. who a previous voy-
age had incidentally heard at Oriental port
that pepper grew wild on the northwestern
coast of Sumatra, and for all that was known of
the good ship Rajah for eighteen months she
might have gone to the bottom. For many
years after her return Merchant Peele's COM
mercial rivals tried in vain to discover and use
the new port of trade. The first Salem ship
to make the voyage to the Cape OF Good Hope
was Elias Haskell Derby's Grand Turk; that
was in 1854 Mr.. Derby was pioneer in East
ern ventures, and when he died was thought to
be the richest man IN the United States. His
fortune was probably not more than a million.
One Of the wealthiest of the Salem merchants
before his day was that Philip English whose
trade in fish from Newfoundland to Surinam
enabled him to build the Grandest house in
Salem. His Wife" says the author, was
overelated by their prosperity and forgot her
humble friends Of former days; she was called
'aristocratic,' and the prejudice thus engendered
against her doubtless led to her being cried out
against for witchcraft. Both Mr.. English and
his wife thus accused" Mr.. Trow might
have added shrewd Robert Callers record: "Afr.
Philip English and his wife having made their
escape out Of prison. Mr.. Corwin. the Sheriff.
SGlZSQ ms estate, " LLS Nd4uS VI dOOul i4ICSL
hundred pound. which was wholly lost to him
except about three hundred pound value (Which
was afterward restored)'-the restoration fol-
lowing the cessation Of the witchcraft craze and
Judge Sewalrs pueltc standardization.
The trade in Goldfish that reused the envy OF
Philip Englsh's neighbors was the first thing
to give Salem her Importance. One Of her old
time merchants, Benjamin Pickenan, had, says
thu author, such an affection for the cod, in
remembrance. it is presumed. OF what that fish
had been to him in the accumulation of his
riches that he caused to be painted on the sides
of the stairs in the front hall of his house exact
of it." This house. built in 1850.
still survives. AS to the fame OF commercial
Salem, in the opening years of the last century,
1t is wildly illustrated by the statement that
'one of the native merchants Of Calcutta had
map suspended on the walls Of his Office upon
which were only two names, Salem and Boston,
and that the word Salem stretched nearly across
the map, while Boston was designated by mere
dot" The strange experiences of the Salem cap
tains in visiting strange lands chronicled
with vigorous simplicity in their journals, now
carefully preserved by their descendants and
Mr.. Trow has made excellent use of this ma
terial We cannot read without admring pride
these evidences of the courage. tact patience,
ingenuity and skill of the New England ship
@4oeSbSl oOlie VI LHSS6 JOuTHdIS-WllleSS eSpG-
ciaIly that of Captain White off the Cochin
China coast-are almost as picturesque as the
famous story of Juan Fernandez. Thomas Full
Ter was another Salem shipmaster who had
many startling experiences, including a capture
by pirates in 1882. when he was mere boy
and an encounter with mutineers when COM
mander Of the bark Lucilla, That such tragic
happenings did not much affect the nerves Of
Salem men is shown by the fact that Captain
Fuller is to-day at ninety-one years of age a
hale and hearty man. AS for the distinguishing
characteristic Of the Salem captains of old, our
author finds 1t in their autocracy-"they did not
easily brook opposition or defeat" a little story
of the sovereignty they assumed has for hero
one Of the captains who was a man OF staIwart
frame and a strict disciplinarian on board his
ship.
He was leaving port in a tropical sea in COM
Of speed between the two vessels Seeing that his
to grow un w s es bs gaining gain on him he began
very tast saller SHOULD get the Of it, More
creature OF amphibous tendency, as is common
with the natives Of warm climates. The captain
he had a sheath knife in his hand suddenly he
o d6gh ne and wtb enq 6gt the painter Of the
seized the pilot and threw him overheard.
In the adventures Of the privateers that went
out from Salem during the War Of 1912 Mr.
Trow has found material for many exciting
pages Not the least effective is the story OF
the daredevil Captain Haraden. who. after four
hours OF desperate fighting. brought up his Grip
pied ship. loaded his cannon with all the powder
ne had left. and gave his antagonist five min
utes TO haul down his colors. It took only three
minutes TO get the colors down.
MIS- Alfred Ely's Another Hardy Garden
BOOK VIII be published on February % bv
Aiacmiiian II is two years since its prede
cessor' "A Woman's Hardy Garden" appeared