Norwich bulletin., 1916-06-30
sIpELIcHTs ON THE
 NoANK sl4EPYA ARp 4-@z4& Yard is as Alive as fi4e old Jaif Is
 Dead.
Providence Journaf.)

-
 1Providence JournafJ
 When you enter Noank, which Is over tlae line in Connecticut you enter n village famous for two things. One is that year and a half ago it found E itself So peaceful and good that 1t [ sold it's 1afl: the other that it's ship : | yard Is the biggest one in the United ! States wherein only wooden vessels ! are built the auctioneer had brought down his hammer for the third and last time ($75 was high bid) and the seleetmen had received the money to bind the sale. the structure was shorn of its cell carted away to another part of the village and conveyed into bar Der shop.
 On the spot where once it stood a little to the southwest of the railroad station and in full view of nassing around The barber is the sole bars i,fler between the jail and oblivion. And even he is never yoluble unless he has stranger in his chair. But the shfpyard Is pulsing with
 new life II is as alive as the old jail is dead The words, Noank built
 which have gone into nearly TOO xes- se1s 0f AT shapes and sizes, are conn Jf9 bAeh Into their own. Again they lnfe to stand forth in letters of gold; f HH8i1l LllcY s1YllL IEdEEf lE1S5 l<LAkAC pA
 f1oank up and down the coast. Il S6ln the last day of last month I Charles w.. Morse bought the ship
 Fard For weeks there has been ru< z lntors that the rejuVenated hnancler
 was planning to take it overt and for
 in the hope that he would bring his plans to favorable conclusion. That hope was Intensely personal. IL burny
 ed in every village heart; 1t amounted almost to 8 prayer.
 For the shipyard IS Noank,s life.
 hell fe ia busy NoanK is smiling and happy When work is slack and there ]. sno cheerful sound Of broadaxes ana lnallets waiting up from the. shore. b since the sloop Almona. was launched 1; i by Robert Palmer in 1e49, the ward : has been Noanks one sustaining 1n- ,, dustrv.
 ! Robert Palmer died three years ago 2 With his death Ii went inc head and the 5 heart of the yard. During the set 8 clement of the estate. business feI u awask to n0thi1g No new contracts | kcame For year and more the whole plant was at a standstin alle ' families bv inc dozens moved away z Several storekeepers natfed up taell l. shutters. Landlords looked rtlefull. .- at their idle houses and wished the1 {; had them in a place needed
 
 tthem Every bronnidfc visitor woul'
 remark on the conlm1lnity,s quiet an.
 every bromidic viiiager would reply: E .sYep The stipyard's shut down. z !.
 Less than a year ago New Hora :, firm leased a part of the yard for tn " building of a. big fore-and aft sehoon
 Fer That started the hroadaxes an
 the naal1ets sounding cheerfully agalI ls Then came contracts for several sIe' ~ coal harges of the Reading type an 'as ',sas finally, the modest entrance of M ~ ~ Morse.
 as MT. Morse is keeping his plans ks himself. But everybody in Noanl s and all about the shore from NVesterl ls 10 New London, for that matter, as looking to him as the man behlsad fa. of the Palmers, tsne Rathbuns and tf
 ELatharns Already it is being sprea se about that he will build a number { ~ freighters for nse in the oversee V s. trade.
 ne The present demand for such vel ne sells is greater than ever before
 American history. The withdrawal {
 ships of the warning nations for tram
 port purposes and the sinking N scores of others by submarines hal ln. eargo bottoms. The opportunity f
 American vessels is here. and NoaI
 is pinning it's faith on MT. Morse n ,,,s to let fl slip by
 1se If he follows in the footsteps or n nf predecessor, Robert Palmer he W Sa be no small contributor in the e hs s, fort to put the American flag on t -. -. water once more. If he builds sel -, - going ships as diligently as Mr. Pa srs 's mer built coasters he will be doil .- to restore that maritime prestt .gls sal which went glimmering when stea q =. sent the clipper ship into obhvition. raa MT. Palmer was for years the de s9 s.i of American sbipbuilders. He beg ssss sne as a boy first in Stonington and aA1 .s1s .lss in Noank. His father, John Palm ssl 45e was also a boat builder. John F. tFes' -e nnef specialized in small craft. s,as. sa.r open the yard in Noank some til 'ss1 in the 40's and passed 1t on to his
 in 1859.
 The first vessel to be launched fry
 the ways at Noank was the sloop / .a mona of 25 tons She went overboa in 7s49 Since that day half a hu tss dred sloops like her, or larger
 many fore -and-aft schooners, tn les, bfigs three Sound steamers and bar ger e ana car floats by the score ha 9z~ followed one another down the we let and out on the highways of coi liss ii 1881 Sfr. Palmer began his b, the East work of shipbuilding up to u Jn- time when he laid the keel of 1los steamer Rhode Island. He star RaA close 10 the waters edge and carr AAAvs the keel well aCrpSs pne Ioau anu
 on the hill on top of which star -tzd the ruins of the old water tower ler- yards particular Landmark ana Tne Rhode Island was 35z feet To F. knwna s7f fale TTsafa af f1la yard were nlzs the opinion that laying her down the t1ae Hqa5lable space was impessn
 But Mir Palrf1er smiled ana VI
 ahead E16 nxed the keel so
 there was plenty Of room ailae9' raR- flor horses and wagons % move ire nca along the road which goes pest laka aflpyard of1Acz and out to the hg asf- house on the point marking the Ws