{"id":8379,"date":"1964-03-15T21:56:36","date_gmt":"1964-03-16T01:56:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/specialcollections\/?p=8379"},"modified":"1964-03-15T21:56:36","modified_gmt":"1964-03-16T01:56:36","slug":"lt606","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/1964\/03\/15\/lt606\/","title":{"rendered":"Radio Script #606"},"content":{"rendered":"

Little Talks on Common Things<\/h3>\n

March 15, <\/strong>1964<\/h3>\n

<\/p>\n

It is time again on this program to mention the ancient Somerset County town of Norridgewock. I was interested to read, not long ago, an account of a journey to that town reported in the Waterville Mail in 1870. The writer was impressed both by the prosperity and the historic dignity of the town. He wrote: “Norridgewock Village is divided into two portions by the Kennebec, there being a fine street parallel with the river on either bank. The street on the north side is the more historic and many houses yet standing, if they could speak, could tell tales of happy gatherings of long ago. Benedict Arnold passed through this street on his famous expedition to Quebec, and was entertained in at least two of the houses. He stopped first at Thomas Farrington’s, where he saw Abel Farrington, the first child born of English parents in Norridgewock. Arnold’s army remained in or near the place for four days in October, 1775.”<\/p>\n

The Waterville writer went on to visit the ancient Indian campground at Old Point, on the road from Norridgewock to Madison. There was the site, still marked in this year 1964 by an appropriate monument to Father Rasle, who was killed in the British attack on the Indian Village in 1724. Of the place the writer in the Waterville Mail said in 1870: “Directly opposite the mouth of the Sandy River, the Kennebec turns easterly for a hundred rods, then flows northeast for about half a mile. The neck of land thus formed contains about 100 acres of intervale known as Old Point. Here, as the highest elevation, was the village of the Norridgewock Indians. They had a straight north and south street, about half a mile long and eight feet wide, tramped about eight inches below the surface of the plain, and worn smooth. The church, which was originally only a makeshift pavilion of fir branches, stood near the lower end of the village. The wigwams were on either side of the street, and at the upper end was a little chapel. A splendid spring furnished abundant water. On the fertile intervale the Indians raised their corn.”<\/p>\n

As we would expect, that 1870 visitor to Old Point took the British side in the controversial story about Father Rasle. He wrote: “Rasle was a devoted Frenchman as well as a zealous churchman. He aided the French governor of Canada to the extent of his ability, and so stirred the Indians against English settlers that the Massachusetts government came to consider him the chief instigator of trouble along the Kennebec.”<\/p>\n

The Waterville writer did have the good grace to put into his account a summary of the attack resulting in Father Rasle’s death as recorded in Charlevoix’s history of French Canada. That account, of course, exonerates Father Rasle and lays all the blame on the English. Having printed that summary, the Waterville writer goes on to say: “This account of Charlevoix, being from the French and Catholic viewpoint, is of course overwhelmingly partial to Rasle. Most historians find evidence that Rasle did stimulate the Indians to massacre English settlers, and that by the rules of warfare the destruction of that Indian village, from which many raids were made on the settlements, was indeed justified.”<\/p>\n

Then the writer cannot resist the temptation to go beyond the Norridgewock incident to comment upon the whole conflict. He said: “After years of hard fighting, by the Providence of God, the English finally won. The savages were employed by the French to kill and scalp the English. We do not believe that Father Rasle was purposely brutal, but his enthusiasm for the French cause led him to stir the Indians to terrible brutalities. It was a blessing to Maine and to all civilization that the power of the Indians was crushed and English rule assured to Maine. That the devout Father Rasle was killed in the attack was regrettable, but not unexpected.”<\/p>\n

As I long ago pointed out on this program, when I told the detailed story of Father Rasle’s death. as contained in the conflicting French and British accounts, even after more than two centuries the evidence is by no means clear. During the French and Indian war both sides paid Indian tribes to kill and scalp. That the French had rather the better of that bloody business was due more to their ability to win friends of the Indians than to any reluctance on the part of the British to encourage Indian massacres of French settlements. The truth seems to be that Father Rasle was a sincere, sacrificing Jesuit missionary who preferred to die with his Indian converts and friends rather than surrender to the hated enemy British. It is easy for us to judge the actions of people in early 18th century America by our own standards today. Let us only hope that two hundred years from now we won’t be judged by the standards of 2164.<\/p>\n

Did you know that 75 years ago in 1889 Waterville had an official station of the U.S. Weather Bureau? Its installation was the achievement of William S. Bagley, Professor of Geology at Colby from 1888 to 1905. At that time weather observations were made at 1,500 different stations and then compared. Thus there was made at 1 a.m. each day a weather map, and forecasts were predicted for the ensuing 24 hours. Those forecasts were telegraphed allover the country. Bagley made arrangements for signals to be flown by flag from a staff on top of Coburn Hall. A white flag indicated fair weather; a blue flag rain or snow. A flag with parallel stripes of white and blue meant showers. A black flag raised above the weather flag meant warmer; when below the weather flag it meant cooler. A white flag with a black square in the center predicted a sudden fall in temperature. The flags were six feet square, large enough so that they could be read clearly at some distance.<\/p>\n

Can some listener tell us when the practice of flying those weather flags from the top of old Coburn Hall was discontinued? They were not there when I entered Colby in 1909.<\/p>\n

It is hard to imagine a modern newspaper giving a column of space to a literary lecture, but that is just what the Waterville Mail did in February, 1898. And who was the lecturer? None other than the man who, ten years later, would be President of Colby College, Arthur J. Roberts. In 1898 he was Professor of Rhetoric and already exerting that inspirational love of English poetry which made his literature classes famous during my own college years from 1909 to 1913.<\/p>\n

Notice what headlines the Mail editor placed over that column. They said: “Departed from routine lines. Thoughtful criticism of Prof. Roberts’ lecture before the Woman’s Literary Club.” In part the account said: “Prof. Roberts’ illustrative readings were striking and appropriate. Especially happy was his introduction of Browning as one in whom much must be put up with, on account of friendship. ~oberts has the natural advantage of a voice capable of fine dramatic effect, which it behooves him to develop still further. His eloquent plea in behalf of poetry as an indispensable factor in a liberal education was extremely spirited.”<\/p>\n

Evidently Roberts delivered that lecture under some handicaps. The Mail said: “The members of the club are indebted to Prof. Roberts, not only for his generous gift of a free lecture, but also for the patience with which he endured the embarrassment of insufficient light.”<\/p>\n

A newspaper that flourished 90 years ago was the Portland Transcript. Recently I examined its issue of October 10, 1876. As usual, what interested me most were the ads, but before I talk about them, let me refer to two items that covered topics still listed daily in most papers. The Portland Transcript, unlike the Portland Press of 1876, was not a daily, but a weekly paper. Yet, like the dailies, it paid some attention to securities and to commodity prices.<\/p>\n

The security list was very short, consisting only of nine bonds and three stocks. Except for U.S. Treasury five per cent bonds of 1885, the list was restricted to Maine securities. As might be suspected. in the rising market following the end of the Panic of 1873, those government bonds in 1876 sold at a good premium, 118t. State of Maine 6% bonds were quoted at 108, and City of Portland sixes at 102. But other Maine bonds were selling below par: City of Bangor sixes at 98 and City of Bath at 99. Maine railroad bonds, though they carried high interest, could be bought well below par: Androscoggin and Kennebec sixes at 88, and Portland and Ogdensburg sixes at 85. Even the Maine Central 7% bonds were selling at 90. The three stocks listed were the Canal Bank, the Casco Bank and the Portland Gas Company, all at very good prices. Highest was the Canal at 145. The Casco stock brought 136, and the Gas Co. 140.<\/p>\n

Food prices, as listed in the Portland Transcript in 1876, were much the same as I knew them in my father’s Bridgton store in the first decade of this century. Flour and sugar were the only abnormal items. Flour was $8.50 a barrel. During the whole period from 1905 to 1915 I never knew it to go higher than $6 for the best grades. Sugar was 11 cents a pound. During the period I knew the store best, it ranged from 5 to 6 cents. But take a look at the meat prices of 1876. Sirloin steak 28\u00a2, rump roast 18\u00a2, corned beef 10\u00a2. leg of lamb 18\u00a2, salt pork 12\u00a2, smoked ham 16i. <\/em>In the fish line haddock was 6\u00a2 a pound, oysters 35\u00a2 a quart, and, believe it or not, lobsters 8\u00a2 a pound. The best mocha and java coffee sold for 35\u00a2, but you could get good quality for 25\u00a2, and that rank bitter coffee from Brazil that we always called Rio was 20\u00a2 a pound. Good oolong tea sold for 40 cents. Cheese was 16\u00a2 a pound, which was still the standard, unchanging price during the early part of this century. Butter was 20\u00a2, and potatoes sold for 60\u00a2 a bushel. The old Portland Transcript was, as I have said, a weekly paper, published by Edward H. Elwell. It consisted of eight big pages with six wide columns to the page. The subscription price was $2.50 a year, but only $2.00 if one paid in advance.<\/p>\n

Now let us take a look at the especially interesting ads. Here is one that is really ingenious: “Hospital for umbrellas. Ladies and gentlemen having umbrellas or parasols with broken ribs or dislocated joints should take such patients to H.M. Hatch, 531 Congress Street. Umbrellas ready made or to order. Recovering punctually attended to.”<\/p>\n

A popular musical instrument of 1876 is revealed in this ad: “Come to Small, Knight & Co., 154 Exchange Street, for the latest in parlor organs.”<\/p>\n

Facial adornment for men is referred to in this ad: “Dyer’s Beard Elixer will produce the most beautiful moustache ever seen.”<\/p>\n

Some of us older people can remember that as late as 1915 a famous person in Portland named Shaylor. then an aging man, was still engraving school diplomas. He was much younger in 1876 when he ran this ad in the Transcript: “Shaylor’s compendium of penmanship. Several styles of capitals, ladies’ styles. flourished designs. All for one dollar.”<\/p>\n

Only last year. in 1963. there appeared a sensational biography of Ann Eliza. the 19th wife of Brigham Young who left the Mormon Church and lectured against Mormonism allover the country. In 1876 she was at the height of her fame and the Portland Transcript advertised her book in these words: “Read the new book by Ann Eliza Young, Brigham Young’s 19th wife. now selling at the rate of a thousand copies a week. It is a full expose of the horrible system of polygamy.”<\/p>\n

Year: 1964<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Read the script for “Little Talks” program #606, Broadcast on March 15, 1964<\/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":[42956,35296],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8379"}],"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=8379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8379\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}