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Newspaper
Bath Independent
Location
Bath, Maine, United States of America
Date
Apr 20, 1939
Page
5
Long, vivid reminiscences tell of Frank L. Daley a Bath shipwright who rigged and repaired hundreds of ships. He recalls perilous voyages the endurance of a lone Black seaman and the fall of Bath shipbuilding era. He values memories over retirement and credits Bath ships with his life a public tribute to Baths famous seamanship.
Miss Jean Dennison and Mr and Mrs William W Dennison of 1084 Middle Street hosted a Friday supper party at Hotel Sedgwick before the Mohiba ball. Attendees included Miss Marjorie Grace Miss Ellen McCall Miss Margaret Sampson Miss Alice Dennison Sumner Hawley Dwight Pierce Richard Dennison Parker N Moulton Jr of Orono and Richard D Sampson of Augusta.
The Kan-Doo Klub met Tuesday afternoon at Beacon Street church under Miss Doris Crocker. Members reported selling boxes of occasional ecards, with all proceeds to go to a Chinese orphanage for relief and aid.
The veteran rigger recalls lifetimes of craft like the 244 foot oak and pine lumber carrier and the six master Eleanor A. Percy. He recounts the Boston Bay collision between the Percy and the George W. Wells, where an anchor ripped through the Wells. He details duties installing everything above the rail and bending sails, a tiring yet rewarding task. He preserves ship photographs, including a Bath bound Challenger with missing topmasts after a gale, and shares memories from 1887 aboard the schooner M. K. Rawley with a diverse crew.
A longtime Bath Iron Works veteran recalls three retiring foremen from the plant. Cap Neal of the machine shop led with 44 years in the yard beginning in 1892, followed by Harry Richardson of the Pipe shop and William Haggett who rose from apprentice to foreman.
Mr. Neal recalls six ten hour workdays at the plant with Saturdays off a half hour early and paid. He notes the hours of 6 30 to 11 30 am and 12 30 to 5 30 pm. Cap praises Gen Hyde and his sons John and Ed for their popularity with workers and personal recognition. Cap says there were 400 to 450 employees then. He describes eight years in the machine shop interrupted by private boat duties for Pres John S Hyde and Treas Edward W Hyde.
Cap arrives in Bath after Thanksgiving 1892, describes a dismal rainy day, visits the machine shop led by Elmer Davis who traveled from Cramps Philadelphia to start the shop, and inspects the gunboats Machias and Castine, freshly launched and covered in red lead before beginning work.
The narrative traces Cap Hyde’s five Summers overseeing E W Hydes craft on the New Meadows and his roles with the New Meadows Steamboat Co and E W Neal Boat Shop. He sold the Neal shop for highway development, worked at Washburns garage, and moved through St Croix Paper Co and Fore River ship yard before returning to Bath Iron Works. He supervised and built BIW’s sole engine, a triple expansion for the lighthouse tender Hickory delivered in 1933, marking a unique achievement by the new firm.
Mr Davis sought Cap on the boring mill but a new machinist won favor with the boss and sent him to the erecting crew in the outside machinists department. He worked under Sam Hinckley, then H D Haverfield, as the ram Katahdin marked an interesting phase in Mr Neal's early plant association.
Cap recalls the ram Katahdin built for harbor defense, taken to New London for acceptance trials, failing to meet speed due to a design fault not construction. He describes plans to bring in expert firemen from the North German Line, the engineering crew, and safety valves sounding during trials as the speed lag persisted. Congress later provided a special appropriation to Iron Works to settle payment in full.
Mr Neal notes Bath Iron Works remains busy building shafts boilers and deck gear while praising the Ranger of 1907 for Harold Vanderbilt as the finest class yacht and recounts the plant's toughest project the torpedo boats with early reciprocating engines prior to Parsons turbines.
Bath residents note hospital gifts a winter retreat in Florida and fresh fruit. Winter Street church adds 27 new members with five more to join later. Memorials are offered for Fred Curtis. Fireside club showcased Maine moving pictures with Jane Stevens reporting strong attendance. Bath Aerie hosts another Eagles smoker with officers Norton Dunnell Martin Gowell and Boucher coordinating.
Six torpedo boats were awarded with four to other plants and two completed at the Iron Works before the rest. The radical design aimed for ultra perfect work, given cramped spaces aboard. The boats reached about 30 knots, signaling a rapid build at turn of the century.
The piece recalls Neal’s 40 year view of the Iron Works evolution led by William Newell and associates. It notes postwar stripping left only overhead cranes, praises Gen Hyde, Newell, and colleagues as wizardlike. It recounts Wetherbee’s high standing in marine machinery and a humorous naval inspector anecdote, plus Neal’s family details and local lodge memberships.
The United States Civil Service Commission announces an open competitive examination for Hospital at the Veterans Administration Facility Togus Maine with a $1020 yearly pay minus quarters. Due to insufficient applications the exam is reannounced with closing date May 8. Alonzo Harriman of Lewiston was a business visitor in the city Saturday.
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