Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1918-10-23

Capt. y. n. Means of Ellsworth will
Celebrate Birthday rriday.

Capt. y. n. Means of Ellsworth will
Celebrate Birthday friday.
Capt. n. II. Means will celebrate his
ninety-fourth birthday Friday. Oct. Is.
Capt. Means has remarkably good health
for his years, and is about town every
day. Since last May he has sawed and
split six cords of wood. he made his
garden and cared for il himself, and feeis
amply repaid for his labor and materials
used.
OF his boyhood days and early manhood
ne says: If was born in Surry, Oct. 70,
1924. Ny fathers name was Jesse Means.
He was the youngest @, family OF
eighteen children. He followed the sea
all of his life, and was called one OF the
best pilots that sailed ont OF Union RIVER.
s'The schoolhouse wss near my home.
Ny education, though, was very limited.
A minister, living in East Surry, came
to this schoolhouse every four weeks to
prssch. His name was Benjamin Lord.
Many people living now will remen' Der
hIm. His wife vas Polly Means, my
fsther's sister. He and his wife would
Nb4nC AON II N@a ~
member well those Sunday mornings
While mother was getting the beams and
brown bread out OF the brick oven, my
father would set upon the table decanter
about half full of Medford rum, and say:
Ben, would you like glass; And after
they lad taken drink, the elder would
say; That is good, Jess
there was a short recess. The house was
always full and there would be fifteen or
twenty teams hitched around the school
house. / can BOT place this date exactly,
but think it around 1889.
II began going to sea in 1887. At that
this side OF White Head. / went ten
years as sailor and mate. In ls47 took
charge Of an Ellsworth vessel, going my
own pilot. / had very good luck with
this vessel.
"About this time, Colonel Coggins, who
had built several vessels at his yard, Of
fered to build one for me. She was brig,
launched in September, 1850. ] loaded in
Ellsworth for New York. / sailed her
that year in the southern lumber trade,
and came home with her in 1851.
"Freights were very dull, but secured
q cargo OF lime in Camden for Charleston,
s. e. / sailed just after Christmas and
weeks. A small leak through the deck
had set the cargo on fire. We had lost
our boats and spans. Lying to undo
main tsyssil, in the early morning OF
January q, 1852, the bark Brothers Of
Yarmouth was sighted. lying TO on our
, weather beam. We set signals Of distress,
and Capt. Baxter ran down to US. asked
him to take US of, as our vessel Was on
fire. The sea was running so high that
the boats could not be launched, but he
lay by as all day, getting us OF just be-
fore dark. This is the only vessel / ever
lost.
1.-THE Brothers was bound for Trieste.
After thirty-five days she landed us at
Gibraltar. The mail steamer had just left
and stayed there two weeks Then the
bark Croton called there for provisions
and secured a passage home on. her. We
were sixty days crossing.
81 recall my first trip to Boston, which
was with Capt. Ray in the schooner
Branch. We had cargo OF cleft birch
wood, old growth. 1t netted the owner e
a cord, not counting stumpsge and labor
OF cutting. Some different from price of
cordwood this winter.
ave went through one bridge, then the
only one between Charlestown and Bos-
ton, and hauled up to long dock near
the city hay-scales on the square. The
streets then had plank sidewalks, and
were lighted al night by wooden lanterns.
The lanterns were square with panes of
glass set in each side. One side opened to
allow the lamp to be taken out. A Surry
man, Joseph Mann, had the contract to
trim and light the lamps in one section.
He carried small ladder about with him.
The lamps burned fish OIL"