Norwich bulletin., 1917-03-14

pike. He remained on the farm until | he came of age and then he decided to l don to secure employment on one of I the whaling vessels that then put into | that port.
 At this time there were 7s ships, brigs and other vessels registering | from New London and the tonnage ex- ceeded any other port in the United States, with the possible exception of New Bedford. MT. Williams was en- unused with the stories of the mar velous voyages made by these vessels, some of which had sailed around the globe. However. day in the harbor convinced him that he was more at the nautical appliances and he took the friendly advice of a captain and crossed the ferry to Groton.
 Here he found employment much to his liking with Landlord Rockwell, the hotel keeper of the village. who in ad- dition to his hotel business was con- ducting a line of stages along the
 coast One of these stage lines. car
 Stonfngton Point Mir. Williams was
 engaged to drive the stage over the
 route, which he did daily for three years. During this time he became, of Stonfngton. president of the Ocean Bank of Stonington. who later took an active interest in the building of the Providence and Stonington rail- road and also MT Williams had busi- ness relations with Charles Mallory, president of the Mystic River bank. One of MT. Williams duties was to transfer large amounts of currency to and from these banks for collection or redemption by the Suffolk Bank of Boston. His quick wit and fearless ness saved these banks from loss many times when roadmen were organized to hold up the stage which conveyed the money.
 In 1851, Mr. Williams decided to go
 
 to Panama and crossed the Isthmus l on foot, which was the only means of | transportation, taking another steam | ship on the other side. During this | trip across the IsthnUs he saw the | most wonderful spectacle he had ever | witnessed. This was a Spanish re- Hgious representation of the crucifx- ion of Christ. An immense building | incline led to the top where the spec l tac1e could be observed. MT. Williams | and others in his ships company were l forced by an armed soldier to kneel !! before entering the building. then they | passed on to a platform where an | image of Christ was shown, hanging | to cross made of rough logs. The | image yas covered with solid gold | casing and was fastened to the cross | by ships spikes. The attitude and | expression on the face of the image | impressed him deeply and he was pro- foundly affected by the whole specta- cfe.
 MT. Williams reached San Francis co by the steamship Golden Gate and proceeded to Sacramento. He was met | on the wharf by man named Gallup | who held in his hands a picture of | MT. Williams and a letter from Charles | P. Williams of Stonington, who had written to him to engage MT. Williams as soon as he put foot on shore
 Mir. Gallup was engaged in supply ing the miners with necessities and | had a large number of horses and teams which took the merchandise from Sacramento to the mining camps. | MT. Williams was placed in charge of transportation. He packed the goods, went on long trips of delivery and re- turned with gold dust. The trip to days. ttShad scale" was accepted by | him as $500 per ounce and gold dust with slight impurities was worth $16 l in exchange for merchandise.
 After three years life in California MT. Williams yearned again. for Con- nectfcut and he sailed for home. ar irving in Mystic just as a new steam Sound traffic. He was offered the com mand of this boat by George Green man of Mystic. the builder. He went to New London, qualified before In- T. boating career at once: His daily trips | along the shore in the old stage coach ]! gave him necessary experience to H navigate the boat which was called the route from Norwich to Westerly in opposition to the Tiger Lily The II older boat was charging 75c round II trip. Competition soon reduced the rates and finally Capt. Williams ad- vertised to take passengers anywhere Fl between Norwich and Stonington Point for a nickel. The boat was crowded svery day and hundreds were left on ihe dock because; they could not be accommodated. The boat was run ,nIy one season and was sold to run . ,n the Bay of Nicaragua and the com ,any made a handsome profit by the ;ale if they did not on the receipts