Radio Script #228
Little Talks On Common Things
May 23, 1954
The pessimists among us declare that the day of opportunity has gone, that gigantic corporations so control Industry that the Individual no longer stands a chance for adventure and advancement. It is not so. Industry itself Is constantlyon the watch for brain power and ingenuity. Because the alert young men are aware of this, they know the need of adequate preparation. Going to college Is not simply the thing to do for the able youth. It Is the road to effective participation in our society, both as a worker and as a citizen.
Note what has happened in one single Industry since 1920 — the making of chemicals. Before 1920 we had very few trained chemists in industry, and those with advanced degrees were as rare as I umps of radi urn. At that time Germany led the world in scientific education, and if one wanted to study advanced chemistry, he went to Berlin or Vienna. In 1920 fewer than 50 doctor’s degrees In chemistry were awarded by all the unlverstties in America, and most of those went to men who Intended to teach chemistry in colleges. In 1953 American universities awarded more than 600 doctorates In chemistry, with many of the recipients planning on careers in the great chemical Industries of our nati on.
And don’t forget how those chemical Industries have developed — Dupont, Nati ona I Chemi ca I, and a II the rest, to say noth I ng of the cheml ca I research di vi sions of sma Iler compan ies like our own Keyes Fibre. Thl s opportuni tv for young men and women is the result of the American system of private enterprise.
Mr. D. E. Decker of C linton gl ves us amazi ng i nformatl on about old time methods of packing eggs for shipment to the Boston market. He has sent me a 75 year old circular published on April 12, 1878 by A. W. Butler and Company, oommission merchants of Boston. Here is what the old ci rcular says about eggs:
“No article shows so much depreciation from injudicious management and unski 11-ful hand Ii n9 as do eggs. I n the fi rst place, the eggs must be fresh. The motton of the cars over long distances so muddles all eggs not entirely fresh that they wi II appear cloudy and sta Ie and will soon spoi I. Do not hoi d lots after they are packed. Ship them at once whi Ie they are fresh. For packing, use very strong, STiff barrels. Put a little long, soft straw, two or three Inches thick, over The bottom of the barrel. Cover this with fine, ki In-dried cut straw or hay, to the depth of another two or th ree inches. Then p I ace a I aye r of eggs on the irs ides, even I y embedded t n the packi ng, with the ends toward the barre I, but at least an I nch from the staves. Cover the I ayer with more cut straw, pack I ng I tin between the eggs with the hand. Shake the barre I gently after each layer is put in. Place three inches of packing over the top layer of eggs, cover th is wi th long straw, as in the bottom, ft Iii n9 it so high that the barre I head must be pressed in p lace by a lever or other mechanlca I power. Don’t try to crowd too many eggs I nto the barre I. For an ordl nary f lour barre I 65 to 70 dozen are qui te sufti cient.”
Evidently, in The early days of rai Iroadlng, eggs were sometimes shipped by frel ght, because the last sentence of the I tem I n the ci rcul ar says: “I n warm weather eggs sent from a distance should be forwarded by express.”
Mr. Decker says this method of shipping eggs In barrels Is too old even for his reco Ifectl on, wh I ch dates back at least to 1890. He says, “When I was a young man around 1 890, I used to pack eggs I n boxes wh i ch he I d about 100 dozen, us i ng straw Jus T as the artl c Ie descr I bes • I neve r saw eggs packed In barrels, but I can see how it can be done.”
What were the Boston cOlTlTllssion merchants paying for farm products In that spring of 18781 Fresh laid Eastern eggs were bringing 12 cents a dozen; choice dairy but1er 28 cents a pound; maple sugar 8 cents a pound and maple syrup 50 cents a gallon; New England dried app le~ 5 cents a pound; potatoes 35 cents a bushel; choice lambs 10 cents a pound; choice veal 9 cents; choice hind quarters of beef 10 cents; dressed hogs 5 cents; corn 55 cents a bushel; oats 40 cents; spring chickens, live, 10 cents a pound; wi Id pigeons $1.25 a dozen.
A Ithough the heyday of the potash industry was long past, ashes were sti II in demand as la1e as 1878. The Boston merchants paid 5 cents a pound for pearl ashes and 4 cents for pot ashes.
Inland Maine has had its legendary Paul Bunyans, its giant woodsmen and log dri vers, but down On the coast they a Iso te II stories about pretty rugged characters. As you drive on Route 32 from Waldoboro to New Harbor, you pass through the town of Bremen. There in a little country cemetery lies the body of Captain Tucker, who owed much to a local Paul Bunyan charac1er named John Poland. suspect the man came from Loud’s Island, Just off shore from the mainland village of Round Pond, because Poland Is a prominent Loud’s Island name.
During the War of 1812 Captain Tucker gathered three or four sai lors, including John Poland, and suggested they board Tucker’s schooner, go out and capture the first Eng Ii sh vesse I they shou I d encoun1e r. Near Monhegan they sigh ted an English ship. As they drew near, they saw that she carried a larqe crew, aga i nst wh I ch the i r ha I f dozen men seemed pretty feeb Ie • When the Eng I i shmen demanded that Tucker surrender, Tucker maneuvered his schooner alongside the Briti sher. Meanwh i Ie Poland shouted orders to an i maginery crew.
Poland was a huge man, over seven feet tall, 250 pounds of bone and muscle. His strength was prodigious. When Tucker orderedgrappling irons thrown out, Poland, knowing well that they had no grappling irons, promptly picked up an anchor that 1en other men could scarcely lift and threw it over on to the Eng II shman ‘s deck. “Fi re when you are ready, Poland” 1 shouted Tucker. And what do you sup~ pose they fired? Not guns, nor cannon, nor even pistols. They fired pump tacks. Numerous kegs of those tacks were on board. Tucker’s man empTied keg afTer keg of them on to the Briti sh deck.
In those days British tars habitually went barefoot. Soon curses and groans fi lied the air. Spri ngi ng over the rai I, Pol and and Tucker had the enemy at their mercy. Thinking a large American force manned Tucker’s schooner, the English put up little fight. Armed with two sticks of cordwood, one in each hand, Poland belabored the already tack-pestered British crew. They were soon dri ven be low decks and the hatches battened· down. Proud Captai n Tucker sa I led his pri ze into the port of New Harbor.
A few years ago on th i s program I to I d you about So lyman Heath’s memorab Ie journey across the continent to the gold fie Ids of Cal i fornla, a journey made in The ve ry year of 1849. Recent Iy , have learned that as I ate as 1892 there was sti II living at Hinckley a man in,:hls 80’s who was said to be the last of our Kennebec 4gers. It would be interesting to knOll how many young men from the Kennebec Valley yielded to California’s lure of gold. We suspect there were many more than people have been inclined to believe. Every time we see an old diary or letter or newspaper clipping about some boy of this region who went to Cal ifornia in ’49 or 150, we find in It mention of the names of neighbors and acqua i ntances who a I so made the journey. Young men went from Wate rvi lie and Fairfield, from Norridgewock and Skowhegan, from Sidney and Belgrade. AItogeThe r as many as a hundred of them may have left Kennebec homes for the di stanT gold fields. Some traveled as did Solyman Heath by prairie schooner across the plains. others encountered the fever-infested jU!1gles of Panama, half a cenTUry before the cana I was bui It. And a few made the long, hazardous voyage around Cape Horn.
Orlando Bowman of Hinckley was one of those who, like several members of the Hoxie fami Iy, went by way of the Isthmus of Panama. Bowman was only nineteen years old when he made that Journey. Returning to Hinckley, he married EI len Goodw i n of Fai rfie Id, and they had a happy life together for 52 years. After his wi fe’s death, Orlando made his home with his son-in-law Ernest Joy. A point of interest about this last of our 4gers is his relationship to the Fairfie Id pioneer, EI ihu Bowerman. H:! was the man whom I have mentioned several times on this program — the man whose fami Iy starved in their first rugged winTer at North Fairfield in 1794.
It seems that, as the years went by, severa I branches of the Bowermans changed the name to BOfIman, and pronounced It variously as “Boman” and “Bauman”.
Orlando Bowman, the 4ger, was a grandson of Elihu Bowerman, the pioneer. His father was Joseph Bowerman, who seems to have been one of the family who changed his name from Bowerman to Bowman. Orlando himself was the first master of VI ctor Grange of Fa I die Id Center, that fi ne organ I zatl on wh Ich won so many prizes at The 1952 sesquicentennial here In Watervi lie.
An unnamed inqui rer asks if know where the Reverend Adams, Getche II Corner’s famous preacher of the early 1800’s, preached in Winslow on the occasion that I quoted from the Adams memoi rs a few weeks ago. I twas in the old Congregational Church on Lithgow Street. Though several times remodeled, the fundamental structure of that church is the same as when it was fi rst built more than 150 yea rs ago.
I am to I d that the house now situated at 24 Monument Street in W Ins low was once used as a church. Does anyone know about that? I f the house was so used, what was the religious denomination?
Did you know That Colby Col lege once operated a printing press? That was long ago, when the name was Waterv! I Ie Col lege and the number of students was very smal I. Our record about this matter bears the date of 1838. In fact in that year the college press changed hands twice in rapid succession. On April 21 President R. E. Pattison, on behalf of the prudential committee of Watervi lie Col lege acknow ledged receipt of $100 in cash and $200 in promissory notes fromA. S.Patten, Samuel Palmer, IsaacBlethan and J. R. Leighton, for which President Pattison handed over what he called “our press and the type belonging to the saffe”, On May 15th of the same year the four buyers transferred the press to G. V. Edes, who himself seems to have had intermediaries, for the document reads: ‘”lie hereby transfer al lour rights and interests in and to our printing press to G. V. Edes by virtue of a bill of sale, in consideration of an obligation given us by Sewell Cochran, Daniel Bryant, Charles Wingate, G. W. Sawyer and S. P. Brown to release us from our liabi lities as sureties on two notes for two hundred dol lars payab Ie to the Trustees of Watervi I Ie Col lege.”
Apparently the college finally got the two hundred dollars due on the notes signed by Patten and his three partners, but even on that point the record Is not clear. Perhaps the initial $100 in cash was all the money that President Pattison and his board ever saw for the old printing press.
You will perhaps recall my surprise at learning of the popularity in Scotland, a generation ago, of a song called “Riding Down from Bangor”. f’Iore recently I have been interested to learn that this particular song has been a topic of controversy in the columns of the Harvard Alumni magazine. Four of the latest issues, carrying letters on the subject of the song, have been called to my attenti on by Professor Mi Iton of the Eng Ii sh D3partment at Colby Co liege.
It seems that The song which begins “Riding down from Bangor on an Eastern train” was written by Louis Osborne of Harvard’s Class of 1873, whi Ie he was a sophomore at Harvard in 1871. The ori gl na I vers i on of the words was pub II shed in the Harvard Advocate on November 10, 1871, but with no music. Words and music together seem to have been fl rst pub I I shed not In th I s country, but in Scotland. They first appear in the Scottish Students’ Song Book in 1897. Although many books of American college songs were published between 1870 and 1900, “RIdi ng Down from Bangor” I s not I n any of those co Ilecti ons.
How did the song get to Scotland and become popular there? This recent Harvard correspondence has unearthed the i nterestl ng fact that Loui s Osborne, who became a minister, left a Chicago pastorate, took his famlly abroad, and lived for six months near Ed i nb urgh, Scot I and. I tis qui te poss i b Ie that. the author himself Introduced the song to students at the universities of Edinburgh and st. Andrews.
You w I II reca II that an important pol nt in the 0 I d ba II ad concerns a tunnel on the railroad line down from Bangor, and there is no tunnel between Bangor and Portland. Aware of the long tunnel near the Salem station of the Boston and Maine, I hesitated to say that the song referred to that tunnel, because of the word “down”. One does not go “down” to Boston from Bangor and Portland; he goes “up” to Boston. Yet the first line of the song slays:”Rldlng down from Bangor on an Eastern train, after weeks of hunting in the woods of Maine”. In the Scottish Students’ Song Book the word “Eastern” is spelled with a capital “E”. Now the early name of the rai I road from Boston to Portland via Sa lem and Portsmouth was the Eastern Ra i I road, and on Iy a few years ago it was stili ca lied the Eastern Oi vi s Ion of the Ebston and Maine.
Imagine my delight, therefore, when I learned that the original version of the song, published in the Harvard Advocate in 1871, read: “Riding up from Bangor on an Eastern tra In”. The tunne I where the student fe II ow captured the gl rl ‘s earrl ng in hi s beard was the Eastern Rai I road’s Sa lem tunne I.
Year: 1954