Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1913-03-31
Oldest American Vessels.

Oldest American vessels.
Monuments Il the excellence of Am
erican shipbuilding are not found at
their best III our giant cargo carriers
and splendid modern vessels of war.
| Tile perfect tributes to the art in which
| this country has never taken second
| place are rather discovered in the few
! surviving pioneers of the merchant
| fleet which began their careers when
| the Hation was hardly out of its teens,
| and which are yet good for years to-
come. ~
| These venerable embodments of
/ sturGiness ard durability. though small
| IN tonnage are yet worthy representa-
| tiveg Of the erstWhile unnumbered fleets
| Of White winged argosies which play
cd very important part in winning
! America its commercial supremacy, yet
they have with few exceptions no APP
! parent prospects of attaining inches in
| the maritime hall of fame, and for the
| most part blush unseen III the humbl-
| est OF occupations.
| LOYAL GeVoteeS to things nautical de-
clare that only the comparative juve-
nility of the shipbuildinS industry il
| this comparatively youthful land gives
| Denmark the ownership of the Oldest
vessel in commission. the sloop Con-
| stance built in 1122. 1t is onl a coin
cidence that the same flag flies over
| the Oldest known product of American
| ship yards, though it is possible that
! stray craft of native birth are existent.
| unhonored and unusing, in more re-
| mote portions of the globe.
re that as it may, the clipper schoon-
er N.gilant of st. Thomas, D. w. l., is
! sufficient testimony to the superiority
| OF Yankee white oak and Yankee skill
| The Nigilant. vessel of ninety nine
| tons, was built at Baltimore in 1890. and
I was very soon afterwards sold foreign.
| Nearly all the time since she has been
| employed in trading about the Danish
! Antilles, though in the summer of 1909
| SHE came northward and made voy-
! a &c in command of Captain Jacobsen
| from Dysart Scotland to Spaniard 5
| Bay, Newfoundland. This was SEEM
| ingly an arduous undertaking for a
! schooner of her age and size. though
Sewf0qndland vessels of equally small
| tonnage are regularly employed in
! tr2ni4t lantic trade. During the war
| between Denmark and Great Britain
| in 1S97-ls14 the Vigilant was used with
slccess as d privateer against the
| English She is still in the pink oi
! condition.
AS small vessels are apt to changt
! hands with much frequency il is mo-
surprising that theirs ancestries are
often lost sight of especially if extend
ing far into the past. This was til,
case with the little schooner MARY ans
l Margaret, owned by c. W. Hand. o
: Port Norris, \. j., and engaged in tn
g monotcnous business Of oyster dredg
/ ing in Maurice River Cove. Her skip
= per. Captain Charles s. Peterson. lia
o none Of the air which might properl
= be worn by the commander of the old
: est merchant vessel flying the Star
and Stripes. for it is doubtful if he, o
o the other seafarers who daily rub IA
r bows, so to speak, with the arcEa
fi craft, know her as such. ~
! The Mary and Margaret was bitu
at Ncswport, \. j.. in 1904. but wire
I'll she wasxrebuilt at Bridgeton in 1856
# the latter year in some manner wa
= adopted as her official date of brit
; The original figures gradually passe
y into oblivion, but according to a rule a
a Lloyds the Mary Ann repaired all GU
s of the old into the new is still tn
f Mary Ann. Thus though the famou
: | frigate Constitution. except for he
starbCard mizZen topsail brace bitt i
not Der original SELF, the yearfof he
. launeling, 179S, is preserved -
The exploits OF the little schooneJ
Polly, built in 1898, at Amesbux
Mass, and generally considered Gu
oldest American schooner, have cause
her to be a much coveted craft in JaA
years. Plans were made for exhibtut'
, her at the jamestown Exposition,
they were not carried out. ReGeH |.
the Daughters of the American sH1-t
3 | luton ana Commander Pealy 3ef
r been negotiating for the possesS6 of /
, the famous vessel, but she hi AKJ
been puThased 'by j. H. Well 6
= Dighton. Mass, who also endure
serving her for. her historic bcia
9 The Pollyswas built for Capta Nil
). liam Spear, of. Amesbury. NJ and
4 WAS named fpr his wife, Rigf[ as 4
I'll sloop, she Was fitted out as aEl&Seer
in the warss5f 1912, and beigE fine
e sailer did Woman service foriier pat
:. riotic oWnerseintil she was eaptursd by
V the Britishsfrigate Phoebeeand E.ken
e INTO Gastlne. Soon after eh was cut
a out by Americans, and unler Boston
!. oWnership Was changed iate a schoon
t er ana placed in the CASTING trade
. which mas ever since been III employ
!, ment. z&xl
/ 1t was not the peaceIs3 occupation
+ which might have bdSH IN 6scted, how
ever, for she was &abbed Oft
: Cape Ann during "a nd year of
, | the war when ladouI1 - 49, f1n l1lber and
t fish on her way to H&f( Her cap
tor this time was theBritish privateer
, Wolverine, whose master forced Cap
IL The st. Louis water system Is saiu y
to have Melted in eight years a. loss "
, s1,022,6lS to the taxpayers by reason