Radio Script #149
Little Talks On Common Things
May 18, 1952
Not all of the economic news these days is bad. On May 2 U. S. News and World Report came out with the information that the cost of living is on the way down; that food, clothing and nearly everything else is cheaper. Its leading paragraph reads this way: “Your money is worth more all of a sudden. Prices are down a little — sometimes a lot. Careful shoppers can find real bargains in clothes, appliances, furniture. Even automobiles are a bit cheaper. It doesn’t mean a slump. Business is brisk by most standards, but the buyers’ market s back once more.”
“Buyers”, says this account in the course of its detailed explanation, “flare back on top. Sellers are being forced to scramble for sales and to make attractive offers. The publicist much more price conscious, much less inclined to accept the take-it-or-leave-it attitude of wartime. As a result a person’s income goes a bit further. The dollar packs a little more power for clothing, furnishings, appliances, and some kinds of foods.”
U. S. News is sure, however, that this does not mean the beginning of serious deflation or depression. Business will continue to be good, they assure us, and prices relatively high throughout 1952. A corollary to the story of a slight break in prices, and one of the causes of it, is the rise in savings during the past year. In 1949 only 3.4% of the national income or about six billion dollars — were salted down in savings. This year it is being put away at the rate of 18 billions, or nearly eight per cent of the national income. More cautious about buying, and with a lot of money in circulation, people are saving more. About 16 billion dollars are said to be in the custody of the savings banks, the savings departments of national banks and trust companies, and the building loan institutions. When you add to this the pension holdings, the annuity policies, the commercial bank deposits, the currency, and the securities held by private individuals — as distinct from the holdings of corporations -we find total savings of more than 200 biIIion dollars owned by American people.
When I first mentioned narrow guage railroads on this program, a number of listeners said there used to be a narrow guage at Old Orchard. My investigation failed to reveal any record of such a road. Now one of our best informed local citizens on the subject of 0ld rail roads, Mr. R. H. Gay of silver street, comes up with a photograph taken in the 1880’s, published in the Biddeford Journal less than three weeks ago, to be exact on May 1, 1952.
The picture shows the locomotive and open cars — like the old summer street cars — of the railroad that ran between Camp Ellis and Old Orchard Beach between 1880 and 1923, most of that time as a branch of the Boston and Maine. In the legend under the picture appears this surprising statement: “The railroad was narrow guage at first, and the locomotives burned wood. The track was later changed to standard width, and coal-burning engines were introduced. The line operated only in summer.” So the memories of some of our old timers were not so faulty as we had thought. They were right. There once was a narrow guage railroad at Old Orchard.
One of our regular listeners has a question that I too would like to see answered. What is the origin of the old time measure called the milk quart? Plenty of folks remember that, when milk was delivered by the 0ld milk carts before the day of bottles, it was dealt out by a quart measure larger than the standard quart of 32 fluid ounces. Why? Does anyone know the answer?
John Burgess manages to keep the editor of the Peebleshire News over in Scotland Informed about our mention of Peebles now and then on this program. As a result that Scotch newspaper, In its Issue of March 28, 1952, published the following paragraph:
”We in Peebles are indeed grateful and appreciatIve of Mr. Marriner’s reference to Peebles and his broadcast talk on the Beltane Festival. More so as to our community he is a stranger, but one with a difference, one whom we could term a friend. We too extend our thanks to Mr. John Burgess, Jr. for his acting as a live connecting link. Peebles March Riding and Beltane Festival Committee are showing their indebtedness by presenting to each of the two gentlemen a copy of the Beltane Book, and we could state that they would be welcome guests at our festivities if ever they can visit Scotland during the month of June.”
Those kind words reached us just as we were thinking about mentioning Peebles again. We had just read in an issue of the News the report of the Beltane committee on the finances of their 1951 festivities. What do you know? They actually apologized because their surplus was smaller than it had been in 1950. What In the world would they have done if they had followed the American practice of having a deficit? Well, for one thing, they wouldn’t have been Scots.
More than once I have expressed Interest on this program in similar family names. You may, recall that I once asked if the Pishons and the Pushards were once the same, as were the Poulins, the Poolers, and the Poirlers; the Rancourts and the Roncos? Now, to my complete surprise, learn that two well known family names of Waterville and Oakland were once the same family. I refer to the Shoreys and the Shores.
In 1775 Reuben Shorey bought land and built a home on what is now the Ralph Stanley farm on the Second Rangeway. The next year his brother James Shorey settled the farm where Clarence Shores now lives on the Oakland Road. Another brother settled in Benton on the river road between Benton Station and Pishan’ s Ferry, and all of the present Shoreys and Shores of Benton and Clinton are said to be descendants of that brother. The present Carl Shorey of Oakland is a fourth generation descendant of the original Reuben Shorey, but so also are some of the Shores. It happened This way. The descendants of Peuben Shorey — or most of them, at any rate — kept the name Shorey, but the descendants of his brother James changed the name to Shores. James’ son Tom was still living when the present Carl Shorey was six years old. Tom lived on the Hiram Corn forth farm on what is now the County Road.
The 0ldest man in Waterville when the centennial was celebrated in 1902 was George E. Shores. He had been born in 1812, about ten years after his father moved here from Berwick. At one time he owned most of the land between College Avenue and Main Street, above the railroad station. When Waterville celebrated; ts hundredth anniversary, George Shores was the connecting link between the old Waterville and the new. Now as we celebrate the 150th anniversary of Waterville, another man is the same sort of connecting link. He is our honored and beloved elderly statesman, Harvey Doane Eaton.
Was there ever a paper mill in any of the Vassalboros? have never heard of one, but then I find every week there are a lot of things never heard of. Now what about it? Does anyone know of a pape r mill one of the old, small rag paper factories — at the North, or the East, or at Getchell’s Corner?
Did you know there was once a time when a traveler had to have an official passport to go from Eastport to Machias? I have seen a very old piece of writing which is indeed such a passport. The old name for Eastport was Moose Island, and Indeed at the bottom of this old document appear the words “Moose Island (J .e.) Eastport”. Here is what the document says:
“Town Major IS Office. September 14, 1814.” William Whiting, an American citizen, has permission to leave this place for Machias, with his baggage (wearing apparil) on his private affairs. They said William Whiting is in height 5 feet 8 inches, dark hair, small nose, rather dark complexion, age 18 (or 16), eyes black.
“Duly reported, J. Wi I Iiams, Town Major, E. Gubbins, Colonel Command. Gratis. ”
On the reverse side are the words: “British Passport, September 4. 1814. Eastport Gratis.”
Someday we must try to put together the story of the War of 1812 In Maine. In our opinion it has never been adequately treated. From June, 1814 to June, 1818 Eastport was under British rule. Nearby Machias was still under the U. S. flag. We suspect young William Whiting was a native of Machias who got caught in Eastport when the British captured the town. Quite naturally he wanted to get home, and somehow on September 4 he succeeded in getting a passport from the British commander. We aren’t sure who William Whiting was, but we suspect he was a member of the family for whom the Washington County town of Whiting was named.
More than once have mentioned the awful year of 1816, a year so cold that it came to be known as the year of no summer. Through the kindness of Mr. J. E. Connor of Lublow Court, Waterville, I have seen a newspaper clipping which refers to that fatal year. The clipping is unidentified and undated, but an ad on the reverse side makes it clear that the paper was the Boston Globe. The Globe quotes an article which it attributes to the Ipswich Chronicle of September 20, 1884, so we can claim that North Shore paper as the source of a few amazing items about that year of no summer. The Chronicle’s account emphasized that the cold of 1816 was not confined to New England, or even to the United states. It was said to be the coldest summer ever experienced in modern Europe as well.
In June, 1816 snow fell to a depth of ten Inches in Maine and Vermont, and there was some snow as far south as Hartford, Connecticut. Frost and ice were common throughout the month; almost every green thing was killed. The wind blew steadily from the north, cold and fierce. Mothers knit extra socks and mittens for their children in the spring, and woodpiles that usually disappeared in front of houses were built up again. As one comment put it, “planting and Shivering were done together”. The farmers who always worked out their taxes on the country roads in mid-summer did so that year in overcoats and mittens. On the 17th of June, up in Vermont, a farmer set out at noon in the teeth of a raging snow storm, to look for his sheep, for whose safety he feared. When night came and he did not return, his family became alarmed. In the morning, with the storm over, a searching party was organized. Not until afternoon did they find him on the side of a hill, with both feet frozen, unable to move.
July was just as bad as June. On the 5th ice formed the thickness of window glass allover New England. The little corn that had managed to live through June was now all destroyed. August was even more cheerless. Ice was now half an inch thick. Allover the northem half of the United states and through all middle Europe and the British Isles almost every green thing was destroyed. On August 30th a deep fa II of snow covered the area outside London, and the British papers stated that 1816 would surely be remembered as the “year of no summer”. Com was so scarce that only small lots left over from the crop of 1815 were obtainable for seed in the spring of 1817. It brought the unprecedented price of $5 a bushel.
In our own locality Deacon Simpson of Winslow was the hero of that tragic time. He had a little corn Jeft over from 1815. What an opportunity for profiteering on that five dollar price! But Deacon Simpson lived long before the era of mink coats and deep freezers in Washington. He was a friendly, generous humanitarian of the kind that has made America great. The poor farmers who had somehow survived that terrible year of 1816 came from many miles around to the home of Deacon Simpson over on what is now Benton Avenue, and whether they could pay anything or not, none went away empty-handed. Each received the precious kernels of corn to assure all up and down the upper Kennebec Valley a harvest for 1817.
Year: 1952