The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1907-05-23
A Renaissance.

~ NlIVu0lVAOVllVVL
CALLED TO MIND THROUGH SEEING
THE NAME OF AN OLD SHIPMASTER
AND A FAvORIrE SHIP IN PRINT.
Capt. George w. Tapley of West Brooks
| vile writes to the Ellsworth American:
| "TO-day, looking across to Castine village,
| there is not one vessel to be seen at its
docks, where sixty-ive or seventy years ago
it was common sight to see two or three
tull-rigged ships at the docks discharging
Liverpool salt, and forty or fifty small YES
sells fitting out for the fishing grounds OF
the whole fleet of full-rigged ships once
owned in Castine | know only the end of
One-the ship LOchinvar. She went down,
back in the COS, while crossing the Bay of
! which was her sailing port, toward Almar
cha, Spain. The ship Castine was the last
to 60, sold foreign"
The foregoing was placed on the desk
of the editor of the Marine Journal
with numerous other clippings from
various exchanges for our information
i and comment.
The words "Tapley" and "Lochinvar"
revived memories in our early life while
forming the sea-habit, which set us to
thinking. Our first voyage to the West
Indies was made with. George w. Tap
ley as mate of the brig Beaver of Ban
gor, Me-; his brother, Captain Thomas
| Tapley, was in command. Two ADLER
seamen never trod deck; the former
was the nervieSt first officer we ever
saw, one of those men who had acquired
the business of a seafarer to perfection
from turning in a gang of rigging"
fishing broken spar, making a suit of
sails, or setting the ships dogs broken
leg. He is the only man we were ever
shipmates with that appeared happier
during a gale of wind and shortening
sail than when running down the trade
winds for days with little to do in work
ing ship.
In those days sugar was shipped from
the West Indies to the States in hogs
heads, and Mate Tapley was an expert
in slowing a cargo of this kind, as we
can bear witness. AS result a man of
his experience was not long awaiting
promotion, and it was only a short time
after this, about the time of the break
ing out of the civil war, that Bangor
parties built him fine bark called the
Ironsides, which vessel when completed
took cargo for the government to Hill
ton Head, S. G., and after discharging
it was chartered by the Navy Depart
ment as a store-ship and lay for many
months across the bay At that time
the writer was first officer of the army
transport Saxon, then acting pilotboat
off Hilton Head, and many pleasant
evening we spent CANNING" with
Capt: and Mrs. Tapley, who before her
marriage was Lizzie WATSON, then
belle of West Brooksville.
There were several Tapley brothers
| Prnn oil H.
men, and successful in the extreme; in
vessel, although they had many mar.
row escapes, as do all successful mari
ners. Those of the brothers we knew
personally were Robert, Thomas,
| George, Abram, Jerome and John, all
masters of vessels early in life. For
many years Capt. Robert Tapley COM
manded ship built and named for
| him.
The ship Lochinvar referred to above
was painted-port ship, and when she
occasionally sailed into Castine, salt
laden, she looked to us as large then as
the Sewall ship Shenandoah, of 1854
tons, which passed in sight OF our office
recently, does now. Our deep-sea-
going uncle. Capt. Galen O. Norton,
/ commanded this ship at one time, a
shipmaster who was better known af-
! terWard, say from 1860 to 1880 out of
| this port in command of the ships
Grahams Policy, l. F. Chapman, and
the Aurora, which vessel he was in
when he died in 1880 in San Francisco.
The Grahams Policy was the smallest
full-rigged ship we ever saw. Some of
our veteran Sandy Hook pilots will re-
member her
No CHI bo @.
ones in their day, which bore testimony
to his value as shipmaster. Capt
Norton was in Lochinvar some time
previous TO her loss, and the writer was
not aware of what became of her until
he read Capt. Tapley's statement as
printed above.
We trust that through our Maine
contemporaries who are on our ex-
change list, the foregoing "reminiscences
Will reach the eye of some of
our old shipmates and friends, whowill
recall the incidents mentioned, and es-
pecially those with whom we sailed and
received our early sea training in the
folloWlng-named vessels: Brig Beaver,
Capts. Thomas and George Tapley; in
the brig Elmer, with Capt. Abram Tap
ley; the brig Abner Taylor, with Capt.
Jerome Tapley, all belonging to Ban
gor at the time. The Abner Taylor
was dropped from the list of vessels is
sued by the U. s. Commissioner of
Navigation only few years ago. She
had then reached the ripe old age of fif-
ty or more, if we remember right
Capt. Geo. L. Norton, editor and mana
ger of The Nautical Gazette, New
York.
.