A View of the Town: Episode 15 -- Just a Couple of Tidbits

Welcome to A View of the Town, the adventures of Dr. Willis Fletcher in a small coastal town in Maine. Offering tidbits of local color and the lay of the land, we now return to Dr. Fletcher and the sleepy seaport of Misty Cove.

This episode of A View of the Town is brought to you by Horace Pickle's Liver Spot Removal Syrup.  If you've the spots, we've got the syrup.  Horace Pickle's Liver Spot Removal Syrup is guaranteed to remove those ugly de-beautifying splotches.  Just 50 cents a bottle.

Misty Cove, Maine, was founded in 1849 as a small port town. Lumber, shipbuilding, fishing, and limestone were the major industries at one time. Later the tourist trade boomed for big city folk who would come for the summer to escape the city heat.  The main street is East Street that runs north and south.  It was named after General East.  To the north of town was a forest that the lumber trade would not touch.  It was rumored to be haunted by a powerful witch by the name of Amaryllis Stemm. 

One of our major trades is shipbuilding.  Elliott Maston, Elliott Porte, and Elliott Starr formed “Elliott, Elliott, and Elliott, Shipbuilders”, the most revered and prominent shipbuilder business in town.  The three cousins each had started out with their own business and found that unifying they could do better ship building and better business.  When they joined together, they had a very important decision to make -- what to name their business.  The easiest and simplest answer came quickly to decide was…  Flip a coin.  This led to the first fight.  The second easiest and simplest answer took a little more time… Draw straws.  This led to an even bigger fight.  It was Mrs. Porte, mother of the young Elliott Porte, who came up with the best solution.  Alphabetical.  But the feud that ensued only deepened.  Finally, it was Ms. Dewey, the librarian and no relation to the one who came up with the idea of that library system…  Just use their first names.  This idea was the best solution but only after they lost control of themselves in the public library and each grabbing a volume of the encyclopedia set… Volumes M, P, and the one with XYZ.  Heads were slapped.  Names were tossed about.  And finally, Ms. Dewey took her ferule to them.  Out the door they went, but only after promising to replace the destroyed encyclopedia volumes.  When each of them got elderly, they passed the business onto their sons, who changed the name of the business to "Matthew, Matthew, Matthew, and Herb, Shipbuilders."  It was rumored that Herb got paid more since he came last.

Our wonderful newspaper in Misty Cove was established in the early 1850s, some say 1851, while others argue 1852, then there's Abigail Appleton, granddaughter of the founder, who swears that it was 1850.  “The Daily Truth” was the name of our bi-weekly newspaper, except around holidays when it was published tri-weekly to run the sale advertisements.  Their motto – “You never know what we will print.”  It was founded  by Winslow Appleton, a middle of the roader.  Appleton was notorious for playing Devil’s Advocate.  The city relied on him more that any other citizen when it came to solving a town problem.  When it came time to choose the location of the town hall, it was Appleton who studied the town layout, chose a location, and suggested the type of building.  Often he would write our solutions of the town's or folk's problems in an editorial that appeared "every so often", which was the by-line of the column.  Only once did he get in trouble with his editorial -- the time when someone would have to inform Widow Simmons that she needs to keep her window shade in the bath room pulled completely down, especially after her baths.

This episode of A View of the Town is brought to you by Horace Pickle's Liver Spot Removal Syrup.  If you've the spots, we've got the syrup. Horace Pickle's Liver Spot Removal Syrup will remove those liver spots. Don't spill on your clothes if you don't want them spotted.  Just 50 cents a bottle.

CSM