The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1934-06-15

Prepared by National Geographic society,"
Washington. d. C.-WNU Service
u ELLOWED by time, Whitby,
N N climbing the cliffs of the
lVl North sea coast to which it
has chung for centuries, draws
many visitors who are lured by the
atmosphere of old England.
Most of the old part of the town
remains as it was hundreds Of years
ago, dominated by the parish church,
st. Mary's-built in 1100-and the
famous ruins of Whitby abbey.
Today Whitby is fishing port only,
and it's real splendors belong to the
past: to the days of the old Saxon
monastery of ST. Hilda and Caedmon /;
to the days of the Great Synod in 1854,
when Saxon kings and the leading &C.
clesiastic lights Of the land met with
pomp and circumstance to settle the
vexed question of the date of Easter;
to the days of woodehsss ships and
wooden ship-building, when Whitby
was fifth port in England and her
sturdy, oak-built ships were famed
across the seven seas; to the days
when Whitby was one of the chief
bases of the Greenland whaling indus
try, and Cook and lScoresby sailed
from the port on their exciting enter
prises; to the days when 1900 men
were regularly employed mining and
carving jet "a black semi-precious
mineraD and twice this number were
engaged in the alum industry along
the coast
There is no shipping now. At the
dawn of the great Iron age some Of
the yards" turned to iron, and many
fine screw steamers were built on the
stocks which then lined the upper
harbor. But the shallowness of that
harbor and the distance from foun-
dries and rolling mills were fatal
handicaps, and Whitby found annihilat-
ing rivals in the ports of the Tees
and the Tyne.
The alum industry died with the dis
covery of a cheaper method of pro-
duction.
A trade which depends on the tickle
ness of feminine fashion is built on
sand, and from a peak Of prosperity
reached in that glum period of court
mourning that followed the death of
Queen Victoria's consort, Prince Al
bert, the jet trade declined, until today
1t supports scarcely more than a dozen
craftsmen.
Ancient, Crooked Streets.
The old towns streets are tortuous
and narrow. The names of the chief
ones, Baxtergate and Flowergate, sug-
gest that they were built when there
were no traffic problems. There is
documentary evidence of their exist
ence In the Fourteenth century. Flow
ergate climbs down the slope Of the
West Cliff. Baxtergate runs parallel
to the docks A steel bridge, original
~ a wooden drawbridge, conducts it's
bewildered traffic to the east side of
the harbor, and here is the equally an
cient and ever narrower Church street
again running parallel to the harbor
and leading to the foot of the famous
199 steps which the faithful must
climb to attend worship in the parish
church, ST. Mary's.
Whitby is the shopping center for a
wide rural area. Its shops are chiefly
In the two main streets and it's mar
ket backs off Church street. The mar
ket dav is Saturday.
Early in the morning the farmers ar
rive in their neat little traps, with
baskets of butter, eggs, chickens,
curds (filling for the famous Yorkshire
cheesecakes), trussed geese, rabbits,
and the like.
Chiefly in Church street are the
shops of the Jet and fossil dealers.
Jet is fossilized wood converted into
carbon. 1t is found in beds known as
jet rock. which crop out in several
places along the coast. 1t does not
occur in seams, like coal, but in iso-
lated pockets, which make its mining
a speculative business. A man might
dig for months and not find handful.
A good pocket, however. when the
trade was in its heyday. might have
been worth anything up to $3.50.
There is no mining now. What
craftsmen are left depend for their
supplies on the longshoremen. who col
lect the bits washed out Of the cliffs,
or from submarine exposures.
Its Jet 10 Distinctive.
While there is diverse opinion re-
garding the merits of Jet as medium
for the true artist, it has inspired
some very fine and original carving.
II is easy to work and takes on a love
" polish. as different from the glaze
W glass and imitation Jet as the polish
1 cheap furniture Is from the Datina