Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1924-12-31
CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS"
BIuehill Man Would Furnish Model
for KiplinS's Story.
(From the Boston Transcript

Each day or two he would complete
a chapter, and in the long winter
evenings he gathered few friends
together and read aloud what he had
written In this small audience there
+ was a boy. He had never crossed
the ocean. He had never sailed a
small boat. But each night he heard
a section of as delightful story as
has been ever written. 1t made an
/ indelible impression upon him and
made him love the sea.
BY the end of the winter the book
was published, and it appeared in the
shops under the title of Captains
Courageous. The book is a tribute
to the brave men who sail the sea in
frail ships. 1t is not the only tribute
that has been written, but it is the
perfect one.
There are thousands of men who
have deserved the title of Captain
Courageous, but there is none more
worthy of it than Captain Otis M.
Candage His title to the badge of
honor of Courageous comes not
through his forcefulness in facing the
perils of the sea. 1t is through his
determination ashore-through his
strength in the face of apparently in
superable obstacles. The sea Grip
pied him, but he has faced life as
cripple with as much buoyaney as
two average men.
Captain Candage's story is swiftly
told. He was born in South Bluehill,
Me. in 1860, and attended school
there. The ocean was too near at
hand to be avoided, so at the age of
fifteen he gave up his schooling and
signed as a hand on the schooner Sa-
marian of Brooklyn, engaged in the
lumber trade between Calais and
Boston Later on he signed with the
ship Kate Grant of Ellsworth, trading
between Philadelphia and the West
indies. After several voyages he
changed ships again. and was on the
brig Starlight of Philadelphia, trad
ing between United States and South
American ports He continued on
the Starlight for two years. In 1879
he made one voyage in the bark Mary
c. Han, from Bangor to Palermo,
Sicily, and in 1880, at the age of
twenty took command of the
schooner Ariel of Ellsworth. For
three years he was in command of
the Ariel; then transferred to the
schooner Susan of Castine for year.
From 1854 to 1904 he was in com
mand of the schOoners Daniel Web
ster Of Bangor, Gold Hunter of Blue
hill and G. w. Reed His last vessel
was the three-masted Jennie a.
Stubbs. 1t was in 1897 that he was
stricken with rheumatic fever, and
for seven years he suffered with it,
but would not give up the sea. Dur
ing the winter of 1904 his ship was
lying idle in Baltimore; his crew had
long since been discharged, and
Captain Candage was alone on board,
waiting for anything that might turn
up. In the late winter the Jennie
was taken under charter. The boat
had lain in the harbor for so long
that the anchor had sunk deeply in
the mud and it was quite job
weighing it, When it was hauled in
short the captain of the tugboat that
was alongside to tow the vessel to
new moOring asked Captain Candage
to stand by the windlass brake while
he went to look over some other JOB
There was a coating of ice on the
deck, and as the captain moved for
ward he slipped and fell. He was
taken to an emergency hospital,
where it was found that he had
broken two ribs. He was then trans
ported to the Johns Hopkins. There
he remained for a long time after
his broken bones were healed, in the
hope that he might get rid of his
H. 4 no
turn home and to give up all thought
of ever going to sea again. He has
remained in South Bluehill ever
since, and five years ago was forced
to take to crutches.
1t was in 1916 that the captain
had his first big chance in his par
ticular line. Up to that time he had
devoted himself to making model
boats for the children of summer
people who throng South Bluehill for
three months of the year. But in
1916 Bostonian, interested in
model ships, picked up few old ship
models and unrigged hulls, and went
in search for someone to restore the
old boats and rig the hulls. Captain
CaR1age was found at his home, and
after a short talk agreed to take over
the work. AS a result of his eX-
cellent workmanship on this first
venture he was given orders for the
construction of several model ships.
His fame as a craftsman became
widely known, and for the last nine
years he has had all the work he
could handle, turning out model
after model.
The story is simple enough, but it
is an inspiring one, too, when one
knows the details. The captain can
not walk without crutches. He can
not raise his hands high enough to
brush his hair. Yet each day he goes
out to his little shop in his wood shed
and all day long works over his
models. His wife takes his lunch to
him and when his work is done he
crawls back to his little house Cap
tain Candage is an example of the
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