James Bibber Jr. Mentioned in another book
A Sketch of the Life of John M. Todd: (sixty-two Years in a Barber Shop) and Reminiscences of His Customers
By John M. Todd
Published by W. W. Roberts co., 1906
Original from Harvard University
"The summer I was fifteen, in August I shipped aboard the schooner Extra, Capt. James Bibber. She was a fine boat of
fifty-two tons and, as the captain would boastingly say, she was built entirely of white oak and hackmatack. I never saw a vessel that co beat her on the wind, or beating to the windward. On one occasion there was a vessel trying to pass us. I was a boy, but thought no one could beat me steering the schooner. I well remember her looks and name, the Brilliant of Belfast, Me. She was making her way across our stern so as to blanket us, or take the wind out of our sails. The old skipper saw at once that she would pass us. He came along, took the helm and, thinking I might feel badly, said, "Johnny, you are doing well, but she knows me, the Extra does, as you will soon see ; " and I did, for in a few moments she was eading up to the wind, shooting to the windward and away from the vessel. God bless the memory of Captain Bibber. I was with him two summers fishing from the Jersey Coast to the Bay of Chaleur, and by his teaching I saved the lives of eight of Portland's best citizens, together with my own. He taught us boys this important lesson — if we ever had command of a boat or ship, and saw a squall approaching, to be sure to take in all sails ; let it strike the bare masts, for it was easier to put on sail after a squall had passed than to take it down when the squall was upon us. Years after this I saved the lives of a company by carrying out this instruction, as seen later on.
On March 20, 1836, I sailed from Portland, Me., in the brig Alfred, Capt. William Woodside of Brunswick, Me. He was called by sailors a severe man to sail with ; he was to men who neglected their duty and to those who got drunk. He was kind to me. This was my second voyage. It was a cold, blustering day, late in the afternoon, when we left the harbor."
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Re: James Bibber Jr. Mentioned in another book
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Re: James Bibber Jr. Mentioned in another book