Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 19??-1918, 1916-12-26
old SHIP CARVERS
Their Occupation Gone, Theirs 10
Now a Lost Art.
FIeuREHEADs OUT OF DATE.

Thses Famous Old Fsneifui Figures,
Eiaborstsiy Fsshionsd In Wood, Find
No Place In the Decorative Scheme
ef . Modern Windjsmmsr
While there In u revival Of wooden
shipbuilding IN Maine. giving employ
meDt to the carpenter. rIgger and 'ssil.
maker. there Ia not on the whole length
Of the coast any Job for the carver
the sculptor In wood who used TO make
tho 1gureheads Tint IL IN occupation
now entirely gone. for the iigurebend
In out Of date and Its carving lost art,
One ~ the most famous Of the ship
carycrs was the late William l. Sea.
ycy Of Bangor. who fashioned figure.
heads for the best square rlggers that
ever left Maine. lie learned his trade
IN Bangor shipynrd when the banks
Of the penobsc0t bristied with new
vessel frames. piled Ills cleaver. chiseI
and gouge through NIL the years Of
Americas greatest maritime glory.
witnessed the decline OF our ocean
, commerce and lived 10 see his occupa
tion entirely gone
For forty years Or more did Seayey
carve angels and cherubs. kings and
queens, mcrmaids and dolphins, states.
men and warriors. not 10 mention an
occasional Hon and numerous eagles.
for the adornment OF down east YES.
sells, for every craft OF any considcra'
bio size carried flanrehend. some sort
Of ornament under the b0wsprit be
Ing regarded as necessary to complete
her OUTFIT But now al that Is gone.
owners can see no sense In spending
money on such gewgaws as a blue eyed
and white rolled queen wearing a, yel
low crown When they build vessel
now-square riggers are no longer
thought of--they whittle her on for.
wnrd TO billet bead and let her 20 al
that. Maybe eili scrollwork tops her
stem. but nothing more.
Thus II Is that Bangor knows the
wood sculptor no more. the sole re.
| minder Of Seavcy's art being broken
and faded specimen Of his work. once
carried by u big ship. hui for many
years mounted as sign over his shop
door In Exchange street. In the days
of her youth this stntuesquc lady.
whitfield and chiselcd from n pine log,
had golden trimmings on her Grecinn
robes aud In one dainty hand held alofi
q golden goblet. Now she Is weather
worn aud grimy. and the goblet hand
In gone, but she Is the most striking
memorial OF scavey. all his other paint
ell beauties being scattered 10 the
seven seas under foreign dags or gone
70 the port Of dead ships.
One OF the finest Hgurcheads ip It's
day was that OF the clipper ship West
ern Belle, II was the full sized figure
OF a woman. with her left arm ont
stretched. carrying few spears Of
wheat. Her right hand gathered the
folds OF her skirt. the drapery OF which
considering that the material wa
wood. wqs admirably executed.
From the general outline no less
than from the careless curl lying alonI
the breast II IL suspected that the car
yer had worked In marble or was
natural genius. His name was Samp
son. He neglected to cut his hrs
name ON his masterpieces, He livct
and toiled In Bath. tho home Of Amer
lean shipbulldlng. where the Westerl
Belle was built In 1916.
His handiwork was carried by Bait
built ships to the most remote part
! Of the world. and It is related that
south sen island chief was 80 impress
ed with the Yankee carver's skill tina
, he sent him commission by a friend
: " skipper to make set Of idols t
meet the theological needs Of tn
chiefs heather subjects
The Western Belle Is spending tn
evening Of her days as coal barge
: but the lady who graced her PROV wa
retired from the sea and now occupie
: a place In a garden. One Of her pecu
iiarlties was a detachable arm, the on
In which she held the wheat Durin
voyages II was unscrewed 80 that th
seas might not break II, being replaces
when the ship was about to make
port. This was not known In the NOR
elaborate OF the old wooden figure
heads especially Of men.of-war, wher
danger Of shatterlng was greatest.
Some agureheads were illustrativ
Of the vessels name, others wer
whims Of the owners or the captain
!. and still others symbolic Of events o.
curing at the time the vessels wer
. built. The schooner War Eagle, for II
' stance, was built In wartime, and sb
!. had for her ngurchcad fierce lookin
eagle. perched on a heap OF canno
balls and with arrows clasped In II
talons. The War Eagle was destroye
), some years ago at Boston by an expl'
sion Of ,naphtha In her cargo. III
: schooner American Eagle was decora
ed with a gorgeous bird OF freedom
and the brig American Union was III
orally ornamentcd stern and hov
with symbols Of this nation,
Y The old steamer Expoundcr had
: figure Of John Marshall holding Il
" constitution outspread, and the stean
A vxw III ala