Nooks and Corners of the New England CoastDrake, Samuel Adams
History
Nooks and Corners of the New England Coast
Drake, Samuel Adams
New England -- Description and travel
The visitor will not leave New Harbor without hearing of sharp work done
there in the war of 1812. The enemy's cruisers kept the coast in
perpetual alarm by their marauding excursions in defenseless harbors.
One day a British frigate hove to in the Bay, and in a short time a
number of barges were seen to push off, fully manned, for the shore. The
small militia guard then stationed in Old Fort Frederick was notified,
and the residents of New Harbor prepared for action. As the leading
British barge entered the harbor, it was hailed by an aged fisherman,
who warned the officer in charge not to attempt to land. "If a single
gun is fired," replied the Briton, "the town shall be destroyed."
Not a single gun, but a deadly volley, answered the threat. The rocks
were bristling with old queen's arms and ducking-guns, in the grasp of a
score of resolute fellows. Every shot was well aimed. The barge drifted
helplessly out with the tide, and the captain of the frigate had a sorry
dispatch for the admiral at Halifax.
Leaving New Harbor, I crossed a by-path that conducted to the factory
road. Here and elsewhere I had listened to the story of the destruction
of the menhaden, from the fishermen's point of view. They apprehend
nothing less than the total disappearance of this fish at no distant
day. "What are we poor fellows going to do when they catch up all the
porgees?" asked one. The fishery, as conducted by the factories, is
regarded by the fishermen proper as the introduction of improved
machinery that dispenses with labor is looked upon by the operative.
Although the oil factories purchase the catch that is brought in, the
owners are considered intruders, and experience many petty vexations. As
men of capital, possessed of all needful appliances for their business,
they are really independent of the resident population, to whom, on the
other hand, they disburse money and give employment. The question with
which the political economist will have to deal is the expected
extinction of the menhaden.
I went through the factory at Pemaquid Point, and was persuaded the fish
could not long support the drain upon them. The porgee begins to
frequent these waters in June. The first-comers are lean, and will make
only a gallon of oil to the barrel; those of September yield four
gallons. A fleet of propellers, as well as sailing-craft of forty to
fifty tons burden, are kept constantly employed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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