Some of us have believed for a long time that one of the difficulties about\u00a0reducl n9 government spend i ng “es in a fee ling that has become increas i ng Iy\u00a0prevalent in the past twenty years. That feel ing Is that somebody is going to\u00a0get the handouts; so why don’t we get ours wh i Ie the gett I ng I s good? The danger\u00a0that lies In that attitude of greedy grab Is very well expressed In some\u00a0verses that come from the ag i Ie pen of that stormy petre I of the Ma i ne I e9 I s I ature,\u00a0Ed Chase of Port land. Here is Mr. Chase’s “Ep I taph Ante Mortem”.<\/p>\n
“Th I sis the grave where Freedom lies.
\nBorn of the faith in free enterprise,
\nLeery of debt and of money tricks,
\nWise to the pitfalls of politics,
\nGrowing in strength as he worked his way,
\nHe did qui te we II tl II a fata I day
\nWhen he gobb led that sugar-coated pill
\nWhich started him on the road down hi II,
\n, I f we don’t grab It, othe rs w I I I ‘ \u2022 ”<\/p>\n
How many present attendants of the Watervl lie Congregatlona I Church remember\u00a0the installation of their minister 44 years ago? It was on the evening\u00a0of June 8, 1908 when the Reverend Cyrus Flint Stimson was Installed as minister\u00a0of the old church on Temple Street.<\/p>\n
The program of that service has recently come to my attention. Unless\u00a0some of the speakers had better termina I faci Iities than the average clergyman\u00a0exhibits, it must have been a long service, well over two hours. There were\u00a0three hymns, two choir anthems, five prayers, and six addresses. The installation\u00a0sermon was del ivered by Dr. Warren Moulton, pres ident of the Bangor Theological\u00a0Seminary. Rev. Herbert Jump of Brunswick gave the charge to the new\u00a0minister and Rev. Langdon Quimby of Gardiner the charge to the people, whi Ie\u00a0Rev. David Evans of Gardiner gave the right hand of fellowship. Greetings from\u00a0what the program calls “ministers of the vicinage” were brought by Rev. Edwin\u00a0Carey Whittemore of the First Baptist Church and the historian of Waterville’s\u00a0centennial in 1902.<\/p>\n
The organist and choir director was Mrs. Wallace B. Smith. The four members\u00a0of the choir were Miss Adelaide Johnson, soprano; Miss Bessie Jones, alto;\u00a0Mr. Russell Lord, tenor; and Mr. Harrison Smith, bass.\u00a0Mr. Stimson was the sixteenth min isier of the Watervi lie Congregatl ona I\u00a0Church. Although organized In 1828, the church had no settled minister unti I\u00a01836, when Rev. Thomas Adams became first of a I ine of distinguished leaders.<\/p>\n
Unti I Mr. Sti~son came, the longest pastorate had been that of Rev. Ezra Smith\u00a0who served twelve years, from 1877 through 1888.<\/p>\n
Truly a minister had his saintliness sorely tried at the beginning of a\u00a0pastorate when he had to sit through one of those long-winded installations.<\/p>\n
I recently had a chance to examine some interesting official papers of\u00a0the Clvi I War, in the possession of Mr. Albert F. Drummond. The most important\u00a0of these papers is a document signed at Augusta on February 24, 1863 by George\u00a0W. Dyer, a I de de camp to the governor. It is addressed to LIeut. Co I. Isaac\u00a0Bangs, Jr., Appleton’s Regiment, Ullman’s Brigade. It reads: HI have the\u00a0honor to furnish you with a list of the officers designated by Governor Coburn\u00a0for Col. Appleton’s Regiment, with the places they are designated to fill.\u00a0!lCapt. Isaac Bangs, Jr. of the 20th Maine, for Lieut. Col. Commissary Sergeant\u00a0Charles B. Smi ley for Quartermaster. Russe II B. Tay lor for Sergeant Major.\u00a0“Company A. (Th is was w I de I y known as the Watervi lie company.) Second\u00a0Lieut. Elisha Besse Jr. for Captain. 2nd Lieut. George C. Getchel I for 1st\u00a0Lieut., Sergt. Dennis Foster for 2nd Lieut.”<\/p>\n
Li kew i se the off Icers of nine other compan ies of the reg i ment are appo inted.\u00a0On Iy one of those need cia i m our attent I on — Co. K because two of its\u00a0three officers were Fairfield men. The company commander was Charles M. Loane\u00a0and his second lieutenant was Loring Nye.\u00a0The document ends with these words: ”With such of these gentlemen as are\u00a0with you and with such as may join you on the way, you wi II please report to\u00a0Gen. Daniel Ullman, Brigadier General of Volunteers at his headquarters, 200\u00a0Broadway, New York.”<\/p>\n
This document, as I have said, was signed on February 24, 1863. We have\u00a0already noted that it made George C. Getchel I first lieutenant of Company A. To\u00a0a fellow like Getchell promotion came fast. For another of those old papers is\u00a0a commission signed on August 25, 1863 by no less a worthy than the noted Major\u00a0General Banks. It is headed “Headquarters, Department of the Gulf”, and commissions\u00a0Lt. Getchell as Captain of the Ninth Regiment of Infantry, Corps d’Afrique.\u00a0Gen Banks’ headquarters were in New Orleans, and there, only a few weeks\u00a0after winning his captaincy, George Getchell died of yellow fever.<\/p>\n
You wi II recall also that a commissary sergeant by the name of Charles\u00a0Smi ley was elevated to Quartermaster of the 20th Maine by Gov. Coburn’s orders\u00a0of February, 1863. On that same 25th of August he, too, was honored by Gen.\u00a0Banks. Getchell’s commission was No. 384. Smiley, in No. 389, was made first\u00a0I ieutenant of Getchell’s Ninth Regiment, Corps d’Afrique.<\/p>\n
The excellent Old Folks Concert given a few weeks ago at the local Baptist \u00a0Church under the direction of Mrs. Mary Manter is remindful of another concert\u00a0given in Waterville 65 years ago. On November 8, 1887 was given an old folks’\u00a0concert, an advertising filer for which has just come to my attention. It reads:<\/p>\n
“a I d Fo I ks Concert. At ye Town Ha I I, on ye Street ca lied Ma in, on ye 8th day\u00a0of November, in the year of our Lord, 1887. Doors opened at early candlelight.\u00a0The music will begin at 8 o’clock. Father Crawford will act as tymest, and\u00a0there wi II be a large number of goode singers. Songs both of ancient and modern\u00a0times. Mrs. Smithe wi II play ye harpsichord. Tickets of admission 15 cents.\u00a0People who desire to enjoy the music and supper too can do so on the payment of\u00a035 cents.”<\/p>\n
The song titles are listed In the form of a meal, headed by the word “menu”,\u00a0and the items are: mixed drinks, land of the crescent, unpropitious, preserved\u00a0in the ark, woman’s weapon, aciduous toes, to mi Idly steal, wholesome tears,\u00a0elevated fel ines, ludicrous pOSitions, what the Colby Nine did last summer,\u00a0greased staff, bog sass, fried holes, wilds of the desert, and paste.<\/p>\n
To our search for odd and little remembered items of local history, a valuable\u00a0contribution has been made by Mrs. Otto Knauff, who has dug up a copy of\u00a0a Watervi lie paper that I suspect few of our I isteners ever heard of. I, for\u00a0one, never knew it existed. It is a paper called “The Sharpshooter”, and this\u00a0particular issue is Vol. 1, No.3, February 28, 1884 — a little more than 68\u00a0years ago. It was apparently the official organ of the local GAR, for in the\u00a0upper left corner are the words “W. S. Heath Post No. 14, Grand Army of the Republ\u00a0ic”. and in the upper right corner we read: “Pub I ished at the Sentinel Office”.<\/p>\n
A fi rst page center spread advertises the G.A.R. Fair, featuring the\u00a0tragic cantata of the Grasshopper; also Grand Army songs and recollections of\u00a0the wa r \u2022 There was to be a camp scene, “Comrades, touch the E I bows” \u2022 The public\u00a0were admonished to come prepared to laugh, to get their fi” of an evening\u00a0of so lid enjoyment.<\/p>\n
Except for a few paragraphs here and there about veterans I items pi eked\u00a0up allover New England, the paper consists entirely of ads. Who were those\u00a0advert isers of nearly three quarters of a century ago? There was Mrs. O. F.\u00a0Mayo of Park Street, teacher of Kensington, Arrasene and Chenile embroidery,\u00a0who also did dry and liquid stamping to order. W. A. R. Boothby, conducting\u00a0an agency of the American Exchange in Europe, expressed his readiness to issue\u00a0drafts on England, Ireland, Scotland, and all points in Europe. L. T. Boothby\u00a0and Son — forerunners of the present Boothby and Bartlett firm — had their\u00a0insurance agency in the Phoon ix B lock, where they represented what they advertised\u00a0as the leading American and foreign fire insurance companies.<\/p>\n
I. S. Bangs announced his receipt of a car load of choice patent flour at\u00a0$6.40 a barrel. He said it was the lowest price ever made in Maine to introduce\u00a0the brand. L. H. Soper offered a new and complete line of dress goods in\u00a0black and colors. Redington and Company offered, in the same ad, carpets,\u00a0crockery, mattresses, and furniture for the I iving and a finely conducted funeral\u00a0for the dead. A. Thompson was giving away candy — but, walt a minute,\u00a0there was a catch in the gift. His ad read: “Every purchaser of a pound of\u00a0candy is entitled to a card. When you get 20 cards, present them to me and I\u00a0will give you one pound of any candy you se lect.”<\/p>\n
Opposite the Williams House, J. F. Connor offered millinery at wholesale\u00a0and retai I, declaring the best trades in feathers and ribbons. David Gallert\u00a0said he was now opening at his elegant and light store a splendid line of new\u00a0style American and Scotch ginghams, worsted plaidS, black and colo~d silks,\u00a0and fine hamburgs. C. A. Hendrickson, adjoining the post office, wanted the\u00a0public to come in and see his new designs In window shades, and reminded folks\u00a0that he made a specialty of artists’ materials. R. Loud offered bargains in\u00a0boots and shoes, because he said he wished to reduce his stock to make room for\u00a0spring goods.<\/p>\n
In 1884 the H. R. Dunham Co. had not been founded, but Hathaway sh i rts\u00a0were well known and had a prominent local distributor. His ad reads: “L. E.\u00a0Thayer and Son, sole agents for Hathaway’s Superior Shl rts in Watervi lie. Just\u00a0received — fifty different styles In Hathaway’s fancy shirts.” Then. as an\u00a0afterthought, the Thayers added: “We have on hand spring hats in all the latest\u00a0sty les.”<\/p>\n
Apparently Grocer T. C. Ellis discouraged charge accounts. After announcing\u00a0that he dealt in flour, molasses, sugar, coffee, tea, starch, fish, tobacco,\u00a0and canned goods, as well as crockery, glassware and soaps, he added: “Come\u00a0with your cash and get your money’s worth.”<\/p>\n
Mitchell and Company, jewelers, had an interesting ad. It said: “There\u00a0has been a plan under consideration for some time for a first class repair shop. \u00a0t wi II soon take effect. In place of our immense stock of si Iverware, watches,\u00a0clocks and jewelry, which we are now closing out, wi II be installed machinery\u00a0for doing first class repairing and manufacturing on order.”<\/p>\n
Mi Iler and Company bade the sneezer and cougher to come in and get a bott Ie\u00a0of Jadwin’s Tar Syrup for only 25 cents. B. G. Mitchell an\u00b7d Company told the\u00a0men folks to buy Jack Rose cigars and get a ticket on a gold watch. Miss S. L.\u00a0Blaisdell (By the way, I now I ive in the house once owned by her.) announced\u00a0IIkid gloves fitted to the hand by trying on”. The Pages — W. T. and T. B. -manufactured\u00a0fine driving and team harnesses In their shop, just three doors\u00a0from the Wi II jams House. Bri dge Brothers announced that they operated the on I y\u00a0tin shop on the ground floor; no stal rs to cl imb.<\/p>\n
Mark Gallert ran a big ad on the back page, offering goat button shoes for\u00a0$1.65, boots for $2.00 and $2.50, and the best kid button shoes for $3.00. His\u00a0specialty offering was Misses and Chi Idren’s Wool Lined Rubber Boots for $1.50.\u00a0The most dignified ad in this old issue of the Sharpshooter is Peavy’s.\u00a0It reads simply: “1853-1884. Visit the popular and rei <\/em>iable house of J. Peavy\u00a0and Brothel!”g,Watervllle.”<\/p>\n Finally I think you wi II be interested to know how this old paper came\u00a0to light. Mrs. Knauff tells me it was found in a chest of drawers which was\u00a0used for spools of thread in Knauff Brothers Dry Goods Store, which was where\u00a0the H. R. Dunham store now stands.<\/p>\n Year: 1952<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Read the script for “Little Talks” program #145, broadcast on April 20, 1952<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":405,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[787,35296],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7316"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/405"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7316\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}