Radio Script #267
Little Talks On Common Things
May 22, 1955
Every once in a whi Ie some new voice complains about the teaching of communism in our schools and col leges. What these wei I intended people want is what we al I want — to be sure that communist doctrine is not advocated by our teachers. But the way these critics go at the worthy task is wrong, because too often they advocate the old never curing remedy of censorship and si lence.
In order to be sure that communism is not advocated, they insist that our chi 1- dren and youth shall never learn what it is.
Not to know a national enemy is to hand him a powerful weapon with which to defeat us. Only by knowing what communism really is can we effectively combat it. Any student likely to be attracted by the ideas of Marx and Lenin wi II soon be struck by the glaring contradictions between communist theory on the one hand and Soviet conduct on the other hand. I n the words of the great Supreme Court Justice, Oliver Wendell Holmes, nyou needn’t fear to handle truth roughly; she is no invalid. TT In spite of smooth Soviet propaganda, the truth about communism shines through in the Kremlin’s ruthless deeds.
Let us never be afraid of opinions hosti Ie to our own. Ninety-two years ago the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia invaded the state of Maryland. The Command i ng Genera I issued a proc I amati on to the ci ti zens. I t sa i d: “:No constraint upon your free wi I I is intended — no intimidation wi I I be allowed. Marylanders sha II once more enjoy thei r ancient freedom of thought and speech. We know no enemies among you, and wi II protect all of every opinion.!! The man who proc I aimed that message was Robert E. Lee.
An interesting old item is the account book of George Hussey, who used to operate what he called the Rai I road Dining Saloon in Lewiston in 1879. This restaurant was conducTed in property owned by the rai I road, for on June 10, 1879, Hussey set down in his book a charge against the Maine Central of $2.00 for a large pane of glass for his front window and 50 cents for setting it.
He seems to have opened the place the first week in June, 1879, for on June 7 he made the following entries concerning his employees: !:Mrs. Jordan commenced work at $4 a week, Mrs. Libby at $2.50 a week, and Mrs. Torsey at $2.00 a week.”
Hussey had a number of regular boarders whom he charged by the week, but the rate seems not to have been uniform. Daniel Torsey was charged $3.50 a week, but Joseph Libby paid only $3.00. These men were the husbands of his two employees previously mentioned. Perhaps women didn’t eat as much as men 75 years ago. Anyhow for a week’s board Hussey charged Miss Davis, Mrs. Newton and Mrs. Gould only $2.00 each. A man and wife together were usually charged $5.00 a week, but one husky couple got away with paying only $4.25. Hussey’s price for any single meal was 25 cents, but he sold me,al tickets that gave 21 meals for $4.00, a little less than 20 cenTS a meal.
Among the papers preserved with the account book is a return for special tax paid as a retai I I iquor dealer, but the only liquor sold in Hussey’s restaurant seems to have been beer, and apparently most of it was disposed of for cash. Only once in the account book is there a charge for beer against any boarder, and that is for ten cents.
At first the proprietor bought his beer in small quantities. On June 12 he noted, HPa i d cash for beer 45 cents; on June 17 it was 75 cents. But on June 26 he must have put ina who Ie barre I, for the record reads Hfre i ght on beer 79 cents.Tl
Except for meals, Hussey’s most commonly charged iTem was cigars, usually five centers, but occasionally three for a dime. Apparently he didn’t stock the J ittJe penny-a-piece stogies so popular twenty years later.
Guests fared we lion those twenty cent mea lsi f we may judge f rom the p ro- . prietor’s purchase of supplies. The time was the heyday of the oyster house, and Hussey used a lot of oysters. Beef, pork, veal, ham and lamb were repeated purchases, along with the usual supplies to make bread and pastry. Fresh vegetables and berries in season, fresh fish (mostly cod), apples by the barrel, boxes of oranges, and about once a week a lUxury wh i ch he spe I Is f!ch i ck i ngs n •
What did this man pay for his supplies? Eggs cost him 13 cents a dozen, which would have disturbed the old lady whom mail carrier Frank Ellis once told me about. She refused to se II her eggs at more than 12 cents a dozen, because they were easier to figure at that price. Hussey usually paid 20 cents a pound for butter, so when, under date of June 1, 1879, we read !!4k pounds of butter 42 cents”, we suspect that part i cu I ar lot of butter mi ght have been strong enough to walk alone down to the corner of Main and Lisbon Streets.
On June 3 the proprietor of this Rai I road Dining Saloon paid 96 cents for 12 pounds of corned beef. He paid 9 cents a pound for pork, 15 cents for prime roast beef, and 20 cents for steak. Fresh codfish cost him five cents a pound. In early June he was paying only three cents for cucumbers, which couldn’t possibly have been garden grown natives. Flour was $6.75 a barrel, sugar 8 cents a pound, cooking coal was $6.75 a ton, and the big ice box could be fi lied by the iceman for 45 cents. When the mi I kman left the da i Iy quanti ty of mi I k for Hussey’s restaurant, he got 3t cents a quart.
From a September item in the account book we learn what Hussey paid the Maine Central for rent of his restaurant. It was $100 a year. The entry reads:
“M.C.R.R. by one quarter’s rent $25. To putting on door spring $1.00; cash to ba lance $24. We can understand such paid out items as five cents for a lamp chimney, another nickel for a clock key, $1.50 for repairing shoes, and 20 cents for a bed cord. But what was Hussey doing with what he calls a “college book!!, for which he paid $2.001 Perhaps some Bates graduate can inform us.
Anyhow those are some of the facts about Lewiston’s Rai I road Dining Saloon in 1879.
From ti me to ti me I have to I d you about va I i ant Capta i n Samue’l Foster: who sai led his ships out of Boston in the 1780’s and 1790’s. So tonight let me read you a tender letter wri tten from Martha’s Vi neyard in 1785 by Po I Iy Foster to her husband, whom she had expected home from Boston before he sai led to far away ports, but had just learned that he was sai I ing immediately, without fi·rstcoming home. This is what Polly Foster wrote 160 years ago:
“It is with pleasure that I acknowledge the receipt of your very acceptable favor by E. Turner. It was a cordial to my drooping spirits to find myself so affectionately remembered by one I hold so dear, and in compliance with your request I take my pen to write you a few lines, as it is ever “my wish to do everything in my power that may contribute to your happiness. It was rather unexpected to me, your pursuing your journey before you returned from Boston, but as you think it best I do not wish to discourage you. I should think, on account of your clothes being dirty, it would be best to set out from home, but you wi I I be the best judge of that, whether you are prepared with things suitab Ie or not.
“As you ride about the town, p lease wear your b lack small clothes, as the others are not decent. I want you to look smart among strangers. You desire my advice respecting your journey, but I do not feel myself capable of giving much, but desire that you feel entirely at liberty to act yourself with freedom, be i ng we II assured that you wi I I wish to do that wh i ch will be for our mutual advantage. I am wil ling to commit al I temporal concerns to your better judgment.
“I do not see any just cause for you to be discouraged. Only consider what is best, then pursue it with courage. Before I dismiss the subject, must mind you to ask counsel of Him who is able to direct in temporal as wei I as spiritual things. Let come what may, we must do what we think best and leave the oUTcome to a kind Providence and be resigned to His wi I I. I mention these things only to strengthen you and to encourage you to press forward toward the mark, forgetti ng the th i<ngs that are past. ttl have but one restri cti on to I ay down, that is not to cut ourse I ves off from the sweet Society of Friends and their meetings. In our fel low Quakers we shall surely find friends indeed.
rTf f you cont i nue in your p I an to set out from Poston without fi rst comi ng home, be sure to leave a letter for me. Write particulars, what point of compass you mean to steer for, and make some calculation of the time you expect to return. The ti me will seem long.
nOn your thinking more about it, you may decide it is best to come home before you sai I. It would be very agreeable to me to see you fi~st, but I leave it to you to do as you think best, desiring to have no wi I I of my own in it. If you don’t come, can you enclose a fine comb in your letter? You can send the leTTer by E. Turner, a safe person for honesty. The money and other articles which you sent a few weeks ago came safe.
“The tender care and sol i ci tude you have a Iways attended to me are favor enough. I have just returned f rom Hanover, whe re I went by advi ce of my father, thinking it would be for my health. The chi Idren are well. NON, after wishing you a prosperous journey, I m,Qst bid you adieu for this time, that is if you decide to go on at once. But I am hoping to see you first. send your coat and a good pair of draws, two shirts, four handkerchiefs, and two pairs, of stocki ngs. It is re luctance I leave writi ng, but time fai Is me. Do write parti cu lars or I sha II be di sappoi nted. From your eveFcffecti onate wife, Po fly Foster.”
Year: 1955