Evening star., 1935-09-29
EY THOMAS r. HENRY.

by THOMAS X. HENRY.
Dank grows the brown seaweed on
the Eastport wharves. Storm be-
draggled and unpainted are the
store fronts. Ghost like the fiocks Of
white gulls ny over the dilapidated
sea-front warehouses.
The old fishing town with its blue
harbor-the easternmost city In the
United States and days sail nearer
Europe than Boston-is waking out
Of a nightmare as government cars
dash over its rutty streets and
spectacled young men with gold keys
drawing tables In its public buildings
and churches. Eastport is the center
Of the "Quoddy" project. the head
quarters OF q new Army engineering
district, and one of the most pub
licized places in America.
Down the coast old-timers raise
questioning eyebrows when one speaks
OF harnessing the high tides Of the
Bay Of Fundy. Where will use for
such power be found in Maine. they
ask? What's the use of 1t all except
to buy the votes of the unemployed?
But there is no such questioning in
Eastport. For q long time the old
town has wondered what perversity
OF fate was to blame that it was not
q great city. 1t has the location, the
harbor. the natural resources. Some
how progress has passed it by But
today there is little question in the
minds Of Eastport folks Maybe not
as big as Portland, but certainly as
big as Bangor" says Roscoe c. Emory,
mayor and editor of the town news
paper who has been one of the most
earnest workers in securing the power
project.
Thinks It Can Use All.
Eastport is confident that it can
use, within the next four or five
years, every spare ampere Of the
power to be generated at Quoddy and
is afraid there will not be enough.
In this case, they say. all speculations
as to line wastage in long distance
transportation are Just empty talk.
We were able to get it, Give us
credit for being able to find ways
OF using it," says Mr.. Emory. Every
bit OF the power that is sent out Of
this vicinity We will consider a loss y
He is confident that there need be
no change in the Maine state law
against the export of power. 1t might
as well be forbidden by Washington
| county. insofar as 1t would make
any practical difference, he says.
Eastport was not always a dilapi-
dated old town. Up to about 1920
it was the center of Americas sardine
induStry-the biggest sardine town in
the United States and probably in the
world. Then the big decline set in.
There was intenser Norwegian compe-
tition for the sardine market. This
was accompanied by an increasing
mechanization of the fishing and
packing operations which threw many
cut Of work.
Then the biggest of all the sardine
plants went into receivership and
eventually moved to the rival town of
Lubec across the bay. And then the
depression. There was an unfavorable
Canadian exchange and folks stopped
coming from the New Brunswick hin
terland to trade in its stores. The
lumber industries suffered.
A series OF dry years struck the vast
blueberry barrens of the back hills
upon which = good share of the
towns income had depended. In 1894
some $50 heads of families. out OF a
total population of about $500. were
on work relief. Eastport was one of
the first towns in New England to set
up an organization to care for the
depression poor.
Paper Pulp Available.
But always there was the dream
and a rather vague dream it was until
this year-of "Quoddy" II this could
be realized. the townspeople said. it
would make Eastport one of the great
paper manufacturing centers Of Amer
ica in a strategic position to receive
pulp supply from two sources-first
the north woods and Second-strange-
" enough - due to its nearness to
Europe. Scandinavia and Finland
1t would also be a natural center for
the American aluminium and stainless
steel industry. due to the mineral re-
sources of the region. They pointed
TO the great power projects launched
in Quebec for aluminium development.
Suddenly the dream came true. The
actual building OF the dams lies in
the future. The plans have not even
been entirely formulated. But East
port citizens claim that already they
have prospects of enough new in
dustries to use all the power that
can be produced. The inducement
IS not power alone, but location plus
power. Mr.. Emory has it figured
out that. for example. phosphate bear
ing rock can be brought by sea from
Florida to Eastport cheaper than it
can be sent by rail from Florida to
Muscle Shoals.
Mayor Emory visions a new city
and already has named a board of
eminent city planners to make sure
that it goes in the right direction.
He thinks there will be very little of
the struggling old down-east town
left in \ few years. 1t would be, he
insists. an ideal naval base. II the
World War had lasted another wear