New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1923-03-02
By sEABuRY LAWRENCE.

10y sA@FS~sNs e&s~ "
WEARS ago. in the days of the
clipper ships and whalers, H.
tustrious Yankee skippers-or
40 the legend goes--on reaching the
proyerbial "threescore years and ten"
were wont to retire to rose COW
cred cottage in or near New Bed
ford, Newburyport, Salem or Bath.
perhaps. and spend the sunset years
calmly smoking the old pipe and con-
templating the golden adventures OF
"bygone days" The hold OF the sea
Is strong and captains OF the old
days seldom retired before reaching
an advanced age. Some, OF course,
quit the quarterback for the build
Ing yard In the prosperous days OF
the clipper ship era, but these cases
were comparatively few, Some re-
tired, but didn't stay retired.
A case In point In that connection
was the noted Capt. Jim Murphy OF
Bath, Me. one of the few latter day
clipper captains the writer was priv
legged to meet. Capt. Murphy. a
commander of famous Bath ships for
years, and native SON. of Emma
Eames's home town, on giving up
command Of the great Shenandoah
said he would have no more OF the
sea, which was not anything like 1t
used to be anyway. He would re-
tire to the rose covered cottage" at
Bath-and what lovely cottage 1t
was! and, by the great horn spoon,
tread the quarterback no more. But
he couldn't stand it. Hale and
hearty, and not much over sixty at
the time, Cap'n Jim found he simply
couldn't sit and calmly smoke. Soon
he was outward bound once more in
command Of fine new steel 1our
masted bark built by the Sewalls--
the Erskine NJ. Phelps-a beautiful
vessel, though not as feet as the
Shenandoah, and sister ship to ths
William p. Frye, sunk early in the
war by the German raider Eitel
Friedrich. Il was some years before
Cap'n Jim could make up his mind to
retire again. and for good.
Unsafe on Broadway Reaches.
Another clipper captain OF our
knowledge-Capt. Walter Joscelyn,
skipper for many years of the Amer
lean bark Nuanur--was one OF those
commanders who felt safer on a
rolling deck off Cape Horn than
navigating the uncertain reaches OF
Broadway" or so he often said. His
vessel made a round voyage a year
between New York and Honolulu.
Well over seventy when he died. ne
was still in active command and nad
INST returned around the Horn TO
Philadelphia and had no idea OF re-
firing when a sudden stroke of heart
failure caused his death.
If the captains of the old sailing
ship days generally sought the seciu-
sion of country cottage after leav-
ing the sea it may be fair question
to ask what course latter day cap
tains pursue under the same circum-
stances. Do the ner who wear goid
braid and walk the bridges Of the
great liners. or small ones, have more
ambitious IDEAS about the after
years? Because of possible Close
contact with men Of great AFFAIRS
travelling as passengers on their
ships do these more aristocratlc
shippers have more ambitious plans
than the old cantains did for the
after retirement period?
The answer to this question in the
main is tina. your modern skipper,
for all the gold braid and the gla-
mour of great command, when the
shadow line" is reached when he
must break away from his long sea
life. does just wha. the old time skip
per did--lays a course off for the
rose covered cottage For there are
no more home owing men in the
world than shipmasters, majority
Of whom want the snug anchorage