The Republican journal., 1915-01-07
A "Reminiscences.
An amusing Incident as well as Brief De-
scription of the Wage Farmers Willing
,,oee 41, I ,bos IaH Conf,ru ado


scription of the Wage Farmers Willing-
ness to Labor Half Century ago.
[Capt. George L. Norton in The MarineJournal]
During our early xperi nee as cook
in coasting schooner, carrying lumber
between Bangor, Me-, and Boston. we
happened TO be employed by skipper
who could not resist guzzling liberal
amount of Medford rum, the popular
drink before the Civil War. He would
begin his usual orgie after cleari g the
Penobscot River and would keep it up
until the mate threw the jug and its con-
tents overheard. The cook stove and
utensils were in the forward end of the
CABIN separated by buIkhead, while the
only table for meals as well as the cook S
use was in the cabin, which contained,
in addition, four hunks, the skipper &C.
cupying the after one on the starboard
side, as was the custom, and in which he
would lie nursing his jug of rum unu he
got well soaked.
The incident which suggested this
al llCle OSCuIIt lledl HIliiNdS vi puI lIlSt
day out on trip from Bangor to Boston.
| hash for dinner and had peeled the pota-
toes (they were boiled) and separated
the bones from the fish, which were
plentiful with bits of fish clinging to
them, and had left the deblis or the
cabin table while | was frying the pork
in which to warm up the hash on the
other side of the bulkhead. The skipper
! in the meantime had crawled out of his
| berth and in a choked voice called,
"StewardW l hurried into the cabin,
/ and there he sat, in the act of putting
the second handful of potato Feelings
and fish bones into his mouth. He tried
to tell me what he had called me for, as
well as he could under the conditions of
his articulating machinery. What l
managed to understand was this: Stew
ard, this is very good hash, but you
have got little too much fish in it,"
Immediately called the mate, and We
managed to get the trash he had cram
med into his mouth out of it before he
had swallowed enough to choke him to
death. He was sufficiently frightened,
however, TO sober up, and although he
repeated his drinking habit, he never in
dulged in attempting to eat anything
again that was temporarily left by the
cook on the cabin table. When not I'M
der the Influence of liquor he was first
I class coasler and a clever man.
| The average coasting vessel in those
days was of about 100 gross tons meas
urement. They carried in their crews,
| captain, matetwo men and cook, while
| all hands, including the latter, loaded and
discharged the cargo (green and heavy)
by hand, whether it was boards, joists,
small timber, laths, or shingles. Siren
uous work and no opportunity or desire
to shlrk it. We did what we were told,
as we knew it had to be done. There
was no back talk, either. The b lasted
from the time the Penobscot river be-
came clear of ice in the spring until it
froze up in the early winte, when the
smaller coasters laid up, ana those who
had families, or the care of old folks, re-
turned home and went into the woods,
telling trees all winter, with the snow
up to their knees sometimes, cutting
sufficient wood for the winters and fol-
lowing summers consumption.
The winter evenings were long, and
the nights longer, but with big roaring
fire, couple of barrels of flour and other
necessary provisions that our hard earn
ed money of the summer had purchased,
and with the best of health, we were
filled with desire to do something con-
tinually; in fact, craved work, a condi-
ton that caused US to be as happy as a
bird s song.
Where are the men, young or old, to-
day, that would undergo what those of
us had to undergo to be comfortable in
winter and we'll fed in winter and sum-
mer, half a century ago? There are not
any; while those Of the New England
States at the time referred to are easy
to locate. The readers of these lines will
find their names Chose who were not lost
at sea- on tombstones. Few are now
living. Is it any wonder that this nation
has prospered with such men to start it
going?