The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-02-01
BATH TOWN
BY BJSBEE.

tdlly "Trip OH NCll4aSS,
and Fridays, (when it does not run on
Tuesdays, Thursdays and saturdays
did not run today, so 1 drove yer
the sixteen miles from Washington
through beautiful autumn woods and
fields, along a fine level rOad edged
here and there with patches Of heav-
emily blue gentian. 1t was delightful.
Quaint old Bath Town, stretching
itself along the water front, puts up
quite a brave bluff as you cross the
county bridge over Bath creek-a
stranger would say bay-and find
yourself at last in North Cardinals
oldest Incorporated town. 1t is full
Of charm and this afternoon Of coun-
try people as Well
In the hope of the coming OF the
railroad, the town has been lavish
with the Whitewash brush, and veneer
cradle germs Of two hundred and five
years, find themselves ruthleSsly and
nnceremoniOusly buried beneath coats
Of lime S1ung eVeryWhere-On trees,
fences, houses and ever roofs. But
St. Thomas church.. and the Marsh
House, or old Government House, as
it is also called, have been respected
and look as venerable and decrepid
AS anybody could wish.
Mrs. Marsh has kindly taken me IN
and | have a room with a Fireplace
in the big chimney. A little door
az ~ AAi( toES III lac l. >
which | shall enter and close on the
first alarm of the Indians, SO / can
sleep Secure.
one could almost fancy, from the
noisy Ountry men on the street that
Teach had landed his pirate crew.
riotouS with rum, and that BLACK
Beard himself was making a progress
up the street discharging his pistols
at everything he saw, and at things
he did not see as we'll, letting the
while such fiery oaths IS never man
heard BEFORE
Is it not strange that the surest
niche in the Temple Of Fame is in
fanny? for the evil men do lives af-
ter them Bath today has forgotten
the notable and worthy men OF early
times. who owned lots there, who
trod her streets and lanes, who fought
the savage back and built q republic
in the wilderness; 1t tells YOU of but
one man Of lasting popular memory,
and that man is Teach.
Some few whom the Nicissitudes Of
fortune haVc showed I'D against him
are also remembered. but only as they
touched peripheries with Teach-
pirate and freebooter. You will be
shown "Teach's Kettle" where he
tarred and fitted for his last voyage,
and Teach's house Cor where ii stood),
and Eden'S house, because Governor
Eden is said to have received Teach's
SLOlci4 SDOuS, anu lODldS knlSnt S
house, for he was friend and adviser
OF Teach; and l was even old that
the money to build St. Thomas church
was given by Teach, in q mOmen Of
drunken s~entimentalitE, though we all
knoW that Teach was killed in 1918
aDd the church was not built till 1884.
BLACK Beard," the pirate. and bucca-
necr, as Teach was called is d fasci-
mating figure. To a man OF great
physical strength add bold. fearless
initiative, cOnsumTnate impudence, the
foolhardineSs to dare anything; with
a makeup of ex~travagantly long. thick
black WhlSkerS plated into three
braids, fierce compelling eyes, a voice
Of command, and you viii have Teach,
the popular hero.
Nothing could be more picturesque
and lurid han his death at Ocracoke,
hen Lieutenant Maynard, of the
Kings ship "Pearle,' grappled with
him in death, cut Oft his head and
sailed up to Bath Town with his
bloody trophy dangling from the bow
spirit. and Teach's CORY vhiskers wav-
ing in the breeze.
Teach began the fight with hOrrid
i~mprecations," SO Williamson, the his
torian. says, and every writer down
the line has repeated it With bated
breath and aWe-Struck ears.
Now, would q pirate be & pirate if
he didn't wear?
Yet Teach did something much
more to the point than to swear; he
fired q broadside into Maynard as he
approached, that made his deck slip
perry with the blood of twenty men.
This was at Ocracokc-but to re-
turn TO Bath. About midway on
Main street, beautifully shaded by
oFerach1ng elmS, almost evergreen
with mistletoe, stands Old Sc. Thomas
church,, built in 1894. The English
ivy on the north wall Git Is often strip
ped off for wedding decorations is
said TO have been planted by Edward
Mosefey, who gave the land for the
church and glebc to the vestry of the
Parish, The church is q small. plain
brick building with simple gable roof
and without a stecp1e. The facade
alone remains Interesting, as the In
terror has been entirely eled.
,riae former windows. with small uaues