The Bozeman courier., 1927-08-05


will begin, rolling his bit Of dark
plug in ludicrous fashion between
his toothless gums, "I mind the day
Stbley Carew shook reef out of foresail
in a hurricane Of wind on Peters Bank
and ev'ry man was droWnded."
Jess is always "minding the day." Then
he'll squint up at you sideways from
his trawl tubs and await a word Of en-
couragement. If you know Jess and have
heard the story you'll shut him OF quick
ly enough.
''Fine day. Jess. Had any word from
George Suttle?"
Or, more abruptly, if you lack reverence
for an old man of the sea who has lived
many Of the experiences in the relating
Of which he takes a keen delight: Pipe
down, you old wharf kibby! I've heard
that one three times now"
He'll shake his head at that last and
return to overhauling gear. But in an
other minute, unless you've passed on,
same eager light in his gray eyes.
Ever hear tell the Sassadowne?
Thomas Bailey's boat in the days when
young snipes kept hot tongue between
their teeth" Undaunted by rebuff, he's
off again on another tack, charged with
the spirit OF the adventure vivid in his
mind.
MAN. couldn't he sail her! Why say,
mind the day :"
Old men, you know, and their talk.
tions. Rather, it seems, these fishermen,
by nature given little to idle talk, grow
suddenly more verbose than all the rest
when the years begin to weigh heavily
upon them and they are no longer young
enough to work their shares OF trip.
Anywhere in the wide world where
there is green harbor water and an old
pier head and the mastS Of sailing ships
close by, you'll find old sailor men living
in a past adventure rich and sparkling
in telling of these tales. Hearsay some
of them; warped, barnacled, salt crusted
barks blown down the quick years. A
| few are fiction. Yet the yarns they best
love to spin are true enough despite the
incredulity with which they are oftimes
| greeted.
A Bank fisherman, Jess Tiverton, in
! the days now gone. A master in his
day, his halcyon day when the Blue
Belle, her fish in ice and her Windward
rail above the level Of the deck house,
raced many a market home from Georges,
Browns and Grand Banks Of Newfound-
| land. Old age caught him suddenly one
| trip and he never sailed again. And be-
cause he had never saved his earnings
and owned no share in the vessel OF
which he was master right up until his
last trip to sea-or perhaps for reason
deeper and more subtle-Jess Tiverton
became a hanger-on about the wharves
His fishing days ended just about the
|
the home Of the Boston fleet. When the
new fish pier was finished and the famil-
lar boats began to tie up there, Jess be-
gan to haunt the place, finding for hands
little weakened and unsteady although
vet skilled some measure of employment
the remuneration for which was sufficient
to keep him in chewing tobacco.
He became one Of those talkattve ole
men with always ready story for an ap-
preciative ear. Sail carriers? He ha:
NJ 4r@n He
Gene Ackerton and the Wanton Miss
John P. Doyle and his Flagaloon. Anc
others.
Some Of them sailed their masts out
some drowned themselves and their men
not few Of them are still alive. Best
Of all he likes to relate these stories o.
captains who refused to shorten sail OF
their we'll founded vessels. Many tr1l
of fish in gale Of wind he'll spin vol
and there's butter in your marrow If yol
] fail to thrill to the telling. Driving
, masters, weak masters, shoal water men
good FIN" men and bad, He has known
them all and about each, If you Civ
him half chance, he'll tell story.
But there is one story Jess Tivertol
does not tell. Hint, lead him with ques
. has caused him suddenly to become ston
. deaf. His turn then to parry.
whats that, mister? Yes, a bit o
swell on" It's the Blue Belle you'v
dSkeQ MIN dDOQJ!
He'll maybe start mumbling to him
, self and you'll think him daft other
y thought so once. He'll lift his eyes t
the narrow neck Of the harbor, gain
: of down the channel course, watchin
4 for the CLINT of sail he well knows.
One story Jess Tiverton never tell
d The story Of Jess Tiverton himself.
|. Ruth McKelvie was fair haired, win
: freckled, straight as young tree. 1t wa
her eyes, probably, eyes as blue as tn
: zenith Of a winter sky at sea, whic
= caught Jess TivertOn. She was twenty
q five then, Jess turning forty-seven. Afte
/ they were married Ruth continued
y teach the fifth grade Of the Bradle
school in Winthrop while her husban
- sought fish with the Blue Belle, secon
- best love.
is You might suppose considering tn
= difference in their ages and education
= that theirs was course precarious, de;
D tined by all odds to end up on some suk
1SS merged reef Of incompatibility. 1t W;
: not so. She was woman wise in man
* ways and not without a knowledge
& mans shortcomings. That which 81
St cleaned beneath the surface Of Jess til
erton's rough exterior remained foremo
S, in her vision when the false glamour
r counting days had worn of. There W;
= for her no disillusionment.
AS for Jess, those were no doubt I'll
"a happiest days Of his life, short lived day
- to be sure, but made up in part for the
brevity by their overwhelming sweetnes
Very often 1t is true that man who hi
- not known womankind until compar
- lively late in life discovers in the con
. panionship a happiness and understani
ing more complete than his fellows.
. He was a good man on the fishil
q grounds; his was well fartng, contents
10 crew, the Blue Belle one Of the stauncl
- est and fastest OF the fleets two-mastel
5c Never man to drive. he had yet a