Alone at Sea : The Adventures of Joshua Slocum (9780385674072) (34 page)

“a little dippy”

— Ibid.

“a good hand …”

—
New Era
of Riverton and Palmyra, N.J., undated clipping

“The old sailor was …”

— Ibid.

“There was no …”

—
New Era
, June 1, 1906, p. 2, col. 5

“Senator John G. Horner …”

—
Mount Holly News
, July 10, 1906

“I am very sorry …”

— Mount Holly Court notes, Judge Gaskill,
Mount Holly News
, July 10, 1906.

“scared to death …”

— Teller’s notes from interview with Mrs. Walter Mayhew (née Doris Flanders), August 31, 1953, TC

“because on further investigation …”

— Ibid.

“almost a Greek tragedy”

— Ibid.

“He looked like …”

— Letter from H.S. (“Skipper”) Smith to Walter Teller, March 6, 1953, TC

“I can patch up …”

— JS to
Louise B. Ward, Jamaica, 1907, as recalled in letter to Walter Teller, July 10, 1957, TC

“Archie is off …”

—
The Letters of Theodore Roosevelt
, selected and edited by Elting E. Morison, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1952, Vol. 5, p. 347

“Archie is one …”

—
New Bedford Standard
, September 10, 1906

“Of course we saw …”

— Archie Roosevelt, Memorandum for Walter Teller, “My Recollections of Capt. J. S.,” February 2, 1953, TC

[Archie Roosevelt recalled his time with the JS as “a marvellous adventure for a child.”]

“My dear Captain Slocum …”

— Ibid., and
New
Bedford Standard
, September 10, 1906

[In a letter to Walter Teller dated February 17, 1953, Winfred Scott Clime recalled that Slocum had the letter from the president framed and hung on the wall of the
Spray’s
cabin: “On the left hand side as I went below I saw a framed letter from President Theodore Roosevelt, written from the White House.” TC. The framed letter probably went down with the
Spray.] Pg. 229

“That yellow journalism …”

— Grace Murray Brown, letter of December 14, 1952, to Walter Teller, TC

“Captain Joshua Slocum …”

—
Vineyard Gazette
, August 16, 1906

“I think he was bitter …”

— Grace Murray Brown, TC

“He was lazy and mentally sluggish …”

— Letter from H.S. Smith to Walter Teller, March 10, 1953, TC

“Beside the bowsprit …”

— Letter from Garfield Slocum to Walter Teller,
TC

“Father was a changed man …”

— Victor Slocum, correspondence with Walter Teller, TC

“When he returned …”

— Grace Murray Brown in undated letter to Walter Teller, TC

“It was a long time …”

— Alice Longaker, in undated correspondence with Walter Teller, TC

“Captain Joshua Slocum …”

—
West Tisbury Miscellanies
, July 30, 1908

“I don’t think …”

— H.L. Coggins, in undated correspondence with Walter Teller, TC

“the Lone Navigator”

—
The Gleaner
, January 29, 1907

“I can patch up …”

— JS to Louise B. Ward, Jamaica, 1907, as recalled in letter to Walter Teller, July 10, 1957, TC

“The
Spray
shall be …”

—
New Beford Times
, September 10, 1906

“He will tell …”

— Letter from Vincent Gilpin to Walter Teller, December 8, 1956. “The dodger on his lecture read Thursday, January 23, 8 p.m. This letter fixes JS’s visit to Miami, as Gilpin relates that Slocum signed his copy of
Sailing Alone Around the World
, January 10, 1908, “aboard the Spray.” Gilpin sent Teller two prints of the
Spray
in Miami, including the one showing the exposed hull.]

“The captain is as full of …”

— May 1907, newspaper article out of Oyster Bay, TC

“Once a year …”

— Undated clipping,
New York World
, TC

“Captain, our adventures …”

— as cited in PANS

“This boat was the most …”

— Archie Roosevelt,
Memorandum for Walter Teller, “My Recollections of Capt. J.S.,” February 2, 1953, TC

“There was a quantity …”

— Ibid.

“pungent with the odor …”

— PANS

“they both were neat …”

— Ernest J. Dean in correspondence to Walter Teller, TC

[Dean also wrote: “It was most interesting and educational, to lay out the proposed courses with him, and also amusing to see him run his index finger (I think every finger and thumb on both hands was knuckle busted, set back or crooked — they looked worse than the fingers of an old time ball player) over miles and miles of ocean chart, and listen to his running chatter of his experiences in different parts shown on the chart …”]

[Dean Wrote to Teller of his memories of JS in Nassau harbor. Of Slocum’s strength in his last years, Dean commented: “I had one of my sailors row me alongside [the
Spray]
, and when Slocum recognized me, he let out a loud, ‘Come aboard!’ grabbed me by the arms and fairly swung me on deck. I was amazed (and still am) at his strength. Dean also witnessed Slocum’s ornery side, when Slocum got into a scrap with a Bahamian. “Slocum seemed all nerved up. I asked him what had happened, and here is his reply: ‘I was splicing some rigging on deck when they came along — ginned up some — and started talking about the Spray and its size and running it down in general. One of them said loud enough for anyone to hear, ‘Any mon that says he sailed around the world in that thing is a goddom liar.’ I looked up in time to see which one said it, made a pier head leap, and with a couple of side-winders,
unshipped his jaw.”]

“Slocum was much run down …”

— Letter from H.S. Smith to Walter Teller, March 6, 1953.

[Smith recalled a comment made by one of his companions also visiting JS aboard the
Spray:
“I would hate to sail that old trap across Long Island Sound if a stiff wind was blowing.”]

“He was thrifty and …”

— Letter from Vincent Gilpin to Walter Teller, December 8, 1956

“I do not ascribe …”

— Grace Murray Brown in undated letter to Walter Teller, TC

Anecdote about the Victrola

— Mentioned in letter from Pierce D. Brown to Teller, October 24, 1952

Talk about seeing JS last set sail

— Teller’s notes of talking with Horace Athearn, June 30, 1953, TC

“her sails and rigging …”

— Letter from Vincent Gilpin to Walter Teller, December 8, 1956

“considerably dozy …”

— Thomas Fleming Day,
The Rudder
, January 1911, p. 62

“Folks used to say …”

— Letter from Reginald Norton to Walter Teller, August 12, 1953, TC

“disappeared, absconded …”

— Probate Court of Dukes County, TC

“He sailed from …”

— Ibid.

[The Absentee Petition and Decree was filed April 1912, and allowed July 21, 1913. Recorded in General Book 29, p. 432, Dukes County Court House, Edgartown, Mass. Hettie was appointed receiver of JS’s assets: real estate and personal estate (royalties due).]

“I am on the Spray …”

— Letter from JS to Victor, supposedly dated September 4, 1909, not
in TC. Teller wrote in his notes that letter was in possession of Ben Aymar Slocum. His granddaughters, Carol Slocum Jimerson and Gale Slocum Hermanet have other artifacts belonging to Ben Aymar, but have not seen the letter.]

“Feared that Captain …”

—
Fairhaven Star
, Thursday, September 30, 1909

[The obituary for Hettie Slocum, by Mrs. Ulysses E. Mayhew, was presented as a special in the October 20, 1952, edition of West Tisbury’s
Standard-Times:
“Sea veteran, 90, Dies on Vineyard.” It noted, “In 1908 Captain Slocum left without his wife in the Spray for a journey from which he never returned.”]

“that was on July …”

— CJS

“In 1909 the
Spray
…”

— Ibid., p. Ibid.

“The
Spray
did not …”

— Letter from L. Francis Herreshoff to Walter Teller, December 30, 1952, TC

[L. Francis Herreshoff also ventured an opinion as to cause of death: “His son says in his book that he thought the Spray was run down and sunk, but my opinion is that he was going to visit the Amazon River and I believe very likely was overtaken by fever up some of the unexplored creeks.”]

“the water was …”

— Letter from Francis Mead, Edgartown, Mass., to Henry Hough,
Vineyard Gazette
, June 19, 1953

“Some faraway places”

— Letters to the editor,
Vineyard Gazette
— B.H. Kidder, Friday, July 17, 1953.

“Captain Slocum sailed …”

—
Vineyard Gazette
, July 24, 1909
Pg. 241

“I believe beyond all doubt …”

— Hettie, in the
New
Bedford Standard
, July 24, 1909

“I am sorry …”

— Hettie’s letter to Mrs. Alfred McNutt, Nova Scotia, August 28, 1910, PANS

William Nickerson

— Letter to
Maine Coast Fisherman
, April 1959

“The letter says 1908 …”

— Letter from Kenneth E. Slack to Walter Teller, March 7, 1960

“Capt. Joshua Slocum …”

— Letter from Alice Longaker to Walter Teller, August 6, 1953

“I’m afraid we must …”

— Thomas Fleming Day,
The Rudder
, January 1911, p. 62

“Captain Slocum probably …”

— H.S. Smith, “Quite Another Matter”,
The Skipper
, March 1968

“Spray’s
planking …”

— Ibid.

[In a letter to Teller dated March 4, 1953, Smith adds, “To tell the truth, Slocu was very much what I term a ‘hammer and nails’ carpenter …” Apparently he never made repairs until their absolute necessity became apparent and on going below I found many evidences of serious deterioration.]

“The last person …”

— Teller’s notes from an interview with Captain Levi Jackson on August 13, 1952, Edgartown, Martha’s Vineyard, TC

“I had sailed over …”

— Ibid.

“I am always deeply …”

— Hettie’s letter to Mrs. Alfred McNutt, Nova Scotia, August 28, ?1910, PANS

“Have been picturing …”

— Letter from Garfield Slocum to Teller, TC

“Lone mariner reported …”

—
New Bedford Standard
, May 27, 1911

“Mr. O. J. Slocum …”

— Letter from Alice Longaker to Walter Teller, August 6, 1953

Story of Slocum with a wooden leg

— PANS

“No one can make …”

— Ibid.

Story of three or more wives

— Ibid.

Capt. Slocum Story

— Edward Rowe Snow,
Quincy Patriot Ledger
, 1959

“One of the world’s …”

— Ibid.

“But Captain Slocum …”

— Ibid.

“it had been a …”

— Ibid.

“There is no one …”

— Ibid.

“Peace to Captain Slocum …”

— Thomas Fleming Day,
The Rudder
, January 1911, p. 62

“Not in the churchyard …”

— Poem on plaque on Pew 13, the Southern Family Pew, in Westport Baptist Church

[An old leatherbound Psalmody was found in the attic of what JS called the “little church on the hill.” In the book was an anonymous verse (from which the stanza is taken) entitled “The Sailor’s Grave.”]