On October 20, William Hodgdon, off the steamer Grayling, was pickpocketed at the Topsham Fair. The Good Roads League may have been running into a little resistance since there was a front-page appeal for support from everyone, even those who owned no horses or cars. The high school formed a track team, with Douglas Knight as captain, and Joe Dodge as manager. The Register asked if anyone could equal J. R. Giles of Dover Road having 28 sunflowers on one stalk!

The Charles R. Pinkham house, rented from Lyman Merry, burned at Spruce Point while Charles was at the sardine factory. All the Pinkhams' winter supplies were stored and “The charred barrels of flour as much as anything made the scene after the fire a really piteous one.” Saul Hayes planned to run benefit movies for the Charles Pinkham family, 10¢ admission.

On October 27, the obituary for another William Hodgdon, born at Mill Cove, appeared. He had been a grocer and apple dealer for 22 years, having an apple cold storage facility on Howard Street. (Lester Barter remembered it as an egg cold storage also.) The phone company was setting one 30-wire cable, replacing the jumble of 15 double wires and, thus, eliminating the need for pole arms around town. Students at Trevett's school #13 (lower half of island) had their hares and hounds race. The Marrs of Southport were finally returning to Melrose after having put off their return because of the polio epidemic.

C. I. Barnes of Wiscasset was in town again with his portable mill, cutting the Frank Blake woodlot in North Boothbay, just south of the present site of the Railway Village. The lumber was hauled out to a scow at Back Narrows.

Death, Votes, Turnips, Launching Parade

On November 10, the obituary for Civil War veteran David C. Adams, dead at 82, was printed. He had lived on the back side of Adams Pond. The presidential election results were given, Wilson having defeated Hughes. The oldest region voters were 85-year-old Southporter Abial W. Gray, who voted for Republican Hughes, and Granville Seavey, 84-year-old East Boothbay resident and retired sailmaker, who voted for Democrat Wilson.

Harry Nickerson brought a 20 1/2-pound turnip, a yard across, to the Register office. The first snow fell and mail carrier Hiram McDougall had slippery trouble on the hills with the delivery from Wiscasset. The new Catholic Church was in progress; Elbridge Giles had moved the house on the site back out of the way, and Ben Coolen was in charge of building the church. A parade of the Good Roads League took place, with 30 car owners taking part. They drove from Boothbay to Wiscasset and back; it was such an unusual sight to see so many cars at once that there were bystanders along the route. The unique fish packing activities of H. I. Phinney (later Poole's wharf, later still Fisherman's Wharf area) were described.

On November 24, the 50-man committee formed to plan a launching celebration for the fish hatchery's new vessel Halcyon saw the fruits of their labor. Speeches were given at the Opera House, followed by a parade escorted by the Fleur de Lis, Uniform Rank, Knights of Pythias, who celebrated their 34th anniversary. The parade arrived at the Townsend Marine Railway (now Boothbay Harbor Shipyard), and the vessel was launched, with hatchery Superintendent Hahn's daughter the sponsor, while hundreds looked on. The paper announced that Captain John Seavey had his best fishing year ever, even though he started late, awaiting his new vessel.

From Blake's Boat Models to the Wyoming

On December 8, the paper covered Arthur Blake's boat model business. He had built 1,200 models at his McFarland Point home, now gone, but then located off Eames Road near the water. The Adams shipyard in East Boothbay launched the 119-foot Elizabeth Howard, the largest mackerel fisherman yet built. Irving Reed had boat work to follow a 122-foot steamer in process: a 35-foot cruiser, and a 66-foot cruiser for a Cape Cod Nickerson. His crew was expected to go from 10 to 25 men. Captain Gregory Campbell was coming home for Christmas, taking leave of his position on the Wyoming, the largest wooden vessel afloat.

A Stormy Christmas

On December 22, the paper reported on a big storm that had a hard impact on the town. There was no mail from Friday to Monday, and no lights (electricity for those who had it) from Friday to Tuesday. The storm had driven Brewer's 75-ton schooner Louisa Frances of Southport aground at Ebenecook. Other Southport news consisted of George Huff of Edgecomb setting up his portable mill on the island, and Zina Pierce dressing out his 6-month pig at 268 pounds. The paper challenged anybody to slaughter a larger pig. Harbor storekeeper Joseph McCobb's obituary was printed. His store had been located where the bank building was later built.

December 29, the sad news of Captain Courtney Gilbert's death was printed. While in Portland signing men up for work on the lobster smack Dorothy G., he was accidently gassed at a lodging house. Dewey Spofford printed a front-page thank-you to all of his ice customers. Superintendent Alpheus Dodge at the Knickerbocker iceworks was coping with more damage to the ice elevator, 250 feet of it having been destroyed in the storm.

Christmas spirits were dampened by the inability of the steamer Nahanada to get to Boothbay Saturday, December 23, with passengers, mail, and express packages. She attempted to get away from the wharf at Bath, but because of an unusual low tide caused by strong west winds she kicked up so much mud that she filled her condensors. After cleaning them, she headed out the next day, but ice and strong winds held her time down. It took two hours and forty minutes for her to get to Westport Upper Landing so she gave up.

The end of the year brought bad news for the Harbor. Squirrel Island had taken its case against the town of Boothbay Harbor to the P.U.C., complaining that it had received “inadequate and insufficient water service.”

The year closed with a report on the Christmas pageant held at the Congregational Church. Some of the participants were Mary Kenniston and Dick Hallett, with wise men Judge Brackett, Dr. Gregory and Bill Keefe. Shepherds and Bethlehem boys and girls were played by 28 other people. Preceding the show was a program put on by the Sunday School.

That’s the news of 104 years ago.