The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1910-09-01
THE PORT OF MISSING SHIPS.

The old wharf lies slowly crumbling
The posts are eaten away with the
chating of many hawsers. Inside the
gate the old Waterman dozes away the
afternoon in a cloud of tobacco smoke.
He is bow legged old fellow trousers
tucked in boots and slightly stopped as he
taps along with his cane His weather.
beaten face and frowsy beard are capped
with faded felt hat.
Here, SIR" he says, ''is where the
odds and ends of shipping comesH' They
are of all kinds-great steel ships md
weather beaten wooden barks and bark
entines with white saints for fgureheads
They hail from Castellmare, Bremen
haven, and Narvick. The crews are all
foreign sailors, swarthy fellows with red
sashes and sabots, thickaset, sea-booted
men of the North Sea ports. with a
sprinkling of all-nation crews.
Il generally tells where they come
FROM" says the old Waterman, ''by the
ballast, whether it be sand or pebble or
dirt. Another way is by the cock-ight-
ers, bird-cages, or flowers they have
aboard. Then the ships that's ever had
grain cargo has the rats-them that s
brought bones from Buenos Ayres has
the worms. Always sorry" he went on,
ito see them bring bone-ship, so many
flies come along with it. Aboard 'em,
sir, the crews sleep covered with fy-net-
tings, and they don't feed 'em any bet
ter than the pigs on a steel ship. Then
there's the cryolite ships that comes
here from Greenland; they're nice and
clean, though. The mates aboard 'em
tells me o the strange sealskin people of
Ivigtut. The other day fellow on one
of the Greenland barks got a letter all
covered with postmarks that had follow
ed him about for over two years. -
The old fellow took me into the
tumble down store and pointed to the
list of ships that had locked in the last
year My eye fell on the San lgnacio de
Loyola. "What was she like?'' l asked.
"oh,, a dirty brigantine hailin, from
Cuba" he answered, with a skipper
"And what was the Foohng Svey?' /
questioned.
ga fine four-masted bark a-fyin' the
American flag. She has me guessing, "
he said, ''till the mate told me she was
an Eastern trader owned in Honolulu,
and when the islands became American
she got the registry along with 'em. -
So we went through the list-"this one a
tramp steamer held up for libel proceed
ings; that one-let me see-oh yes, the
Gibson was derelict that was towed in
and sold at auction. You We heard OF
missing Ships" he said. 'Well, here's
where they start from. Many ships have
left this dock in my day and never reach
ed port. On that list, them with the
| black line drawn around the name is the
ones that was lost after leavin' here.
There's the Jules Henry, the tank bark
she blew up in Marseilles; the Calcium
was burned at sea; 'em that's got the
question mark alongside are ones
doubted if they would reach their desti-
nation, they was so worn out. "
Looking closely, saw that the doubt
full marks and the black lines usually
went side by side.
1.-The old East-Indiamen, he went or
FUSED to dock at this wharf with spices
and tea, and ships with sugar and molas
ses came from the West Indies. Yes,
remembers them all - remembers the
day when forest O. mastS lined this
water front, when ships came to the
wharf under sail, and the crews came
ashore from twelve month voyage"
The old fellow lighted his pipe and pre-.
pared to go out to his chair again. His
great misshapen hand on my knee, he
turned and said, There's heap o
ships come to these docks in my day, ane
l often wonders who sees the most-'en
at travels around, or me that's stayed
here, seven days week for more thar
thirty-two years. '-George Harding, il
Harper's Magazine for September,