Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1925-07-01
HEREDITARY GREATN ESS.
-. CrinGic f.lei.s the E,sbbic of An

Teddy rond Well, the pond flows on
| and on, just as it aid seYenty-llVe
years ago. But how about its useful
ness then and now? At the early
date, us usefulness was principally
for those who lived or owned land on
| its shores. say principally, for in
addition to this, it was useful as the
| ideal home Of the loon. The Teddy
pond loon can "holler' in "A way that
no other loon on earth can match
But the ponds usefulness now Is
only to make electricity to light vii
| lages many miles away from its
shores. In the early period, the
shores, for miles inland, were COW
cred with heavy growth Of large
spruce and pine These trees were
cut in the fall, and as soon as the ice
on the pond was strong enough to
| hold up a team, the logs were hauled
on and arranged for rafting.
The way these RATS were made is
so interesting to me that | Will
describe it. They were built very
| narrow, not more than fifteen or
| twenty feet wide, but in some cases
more than quarter Of mile long.
And they were built so strong that
no roughness Of the pond could break
| them up. They were held together
| by small binding poles Of spruce or
hardwood These poles were
stretched across the raft and fastened
with "gluts" and 'lockdowns.
"L.ockdowns" were small bows or
loops made Of green ash wood
Holes were bored in the
outside logs and some in
ner logs. it'll a " inch auger
Then the Touchdown" was forced
down over the binding pole into the
auger hole and "a "glut" driven firm
ly into the hole with it.
These RATS were built on the ice
near the shore, to which they were
| fastened until there came time to
move them down to Mason's mill at
| the foot Of the pond.
| NV father was an expert at build
| ing and running these RATS. With
| pickpole in his hands, he would jump
onto any log which was sufficiently
large to hold him up and pole himself
around over the pond. When he was
to move a raft down pond, he would
raise a mast on the head end OF
| the raft, and when a favorable wind
came, hoist little triangular sail,
and with his pickpole move 1t along
quite rapidly.
Here ] must drop the threads Of
my story, for | am engaged in con
troversy. 1t comes about in this
| way. A friend said to me: an your
last letter. you did yourself and your
| family an injustice"
/ said: GLOW is that"
"Why, you left your ancestors
thousands of years back Had you
investigated, probably you would
have found some good and great
| Grindle who had lived and died in
obscurity. You should have brought
him forth into the light"
said: "My friend, it was no over
sight. | had thought it all over. |
know what the poet Gray says about
that:
Gem Of purcst ray serene
The dark unfathomed caves of
ocean bear;
Fun many "A flower is born to blush UNI
seen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert
air"
''The truth is it is no small task
.,
they don't want to be gathered Or,
to state ii in simple prose, | will say
that do not know any Grindle who
really wants a great and good an
cestor, because they do not have any
faith in hereditary greatness. But,
as you make the request in
friendly way, to crafty you, ! will
try to discover some good and great
Grindle Of the past
Well from Appleton's American
Encyclopaedia, volume s, page 259,
learned that in the reign of Queen
Elizabeth, there was an Episcopal
bishop by the name of Edmund Grin
die, and that he conducted religious
affairs in such way that the queen
ordered him to "break up these
prophesyings." But the bishop
thought God called him, and he
would preach straight gospel, so the
queen "bounced him"
1t seemed to me that Grindle was
right but that "Liz" had the power
and as Lord Dudley and Walter
| Raleigh would surely help her, there
seemed little reason to think that
Grindle would get, or did get,
square deal.
So here was a worthy man who
had been treated unjustly, and / de
| cided to adopt Bishop Grindle as the
good and great ancestor Of myself
| and as many other Grindles as desire
to participate in this hereditary
| honor.
But | soon awoke from the dream
of hereditary greatness, for suddenly
| II c1np into NV mind that Bishop
| Grindle's son was only one-half Grin
| die, and that he married an Ames,
and so his grandson was only one
| fourth Grindle; and he married
| Burns. and 50 his great-grandson was
| one-ciehth Grlndle; and he mar
ried a Clark. and his son was only
| one-sixteenth Grindle. and this son
married Dow, and his son was only
ne-thlrty-sccond Grindle, and so on
| to the end Of the alphabet. But to us