vo. 
Aug. 11, 1916. 
Me 
Bea “The windows of the wayside inn 
Gleam red with fire light.” 
OUR forefathers, noted for their seriousness, possessed 
a trait which, added to their Puritanism, laid the 
foundation of society in the long ago. We refer to the 
human interest as indicated by the building of churches 
at an early date, where the sad-eyed and melancholy 
Puritans could meet with others as melancholy, and listen 
to long sermons on just how much they must suffer here 
“and then die. But when taverns came, with their good 
cheer and sociability, they commenced to think less about 
dying and to pay very much attention about living. The 
._ beautiful North Shore appealed strongly to our ancestors. 
They saw it and believed in it. 
There was a tavern at Beverly Ferry, known until 
1819 as the “Old Ferry Tavern.” Every town was ex- 
pected to maintain a public house; if not, it could be fined 
by law in the General Court of Massachusetts. There 
__was one qualification, however, that the tavern should be 
“>eare ye meeting house.” Everyone who has heard his 
grandfather talk about the old-fashioned meeting house 
can appreciate this point, for in winter the faithful ones 
kecame so cold that they were only too glad to have a 
E tavern nearby for thawing out. It was alleged in some 
places that the church members partook too freely of 
the good cheer of the neighboring tavern, but I, for one, 
should not have blamed the congregation if it had risen 
as one man and completely succumbed to the “potent flip 
and toddy” of the tavern-keeper. In summer the meeting 
“houses were insufferably hot and it was necessary to repair 
to the tavern again—this time, however, for something 
‘cool and refreshing. Time went on and it seemed that the 
tavern was likely to prove a better drawing card than the 
church until, finally, the General Court passed a law re- 
quiring all inn-keepers within a mile of any church to clear 
) their houses “during the hours of exercise.” 
Many old-time taverns were kept by women, for 
widows abounded, since the men of that period were cut 
down in great numbers in middle life owing to hard work, 
_wars and so on. In 1760 a Salem widow was granted a 
ee eee 
NORTH SHORE BREEZE and Reminder ) - 11 
The Romantic Road 
Incidents of Old Stage 
Coach and Tavern Days 
. HELENE SHERMAN 
license as inn-keeper providing, however, that she employ 
a “godly man” to manage the business, but this lady had 
a turn for trade and her factotum remained usually in 
the background while she sold wine and playing cards 
“at reasonable rates” and did a flourishing business with- 
out any assistance from the “godly man.” 
The old Ellery tavern at Gloucester was used for 
town meetings. In 1744 there were five selectmen and 
their salary for transacting the town’s business was five 
dollars apiece. The cost of their entertainment by the 
tavern was thirty pounds, old tenor. This did not sound 
well, and we learn that the following year the selectmen 
were voted a salary of five pounds apiece and to “find 
themselves.” In 1749, nevertheless, Ellery tavern pre- 
sented to the town of Gloucester the following bill: “Ex- 
penses for Selectmen and Licker, 3 pounds, 18 shillings.” 
Meetings of good cheer continued for many years. at 
this tavern. 
There were many good reasons to explain the attend- 
ance of so many townspeople at the old-time taverns. For 
one thing, the only newspaper that came to town was 
often kept there and eagerly read by the erstwhile guests. 
It saw hard usage, for many were slow readers; in fact, 
some made only a pretence of it. In Newburyport, for 
instance, a man who could not read cried out to his 
friends excitedly, “Bad news! Terrible gale! Ships all 
upside down!” This was the information gleaned by our 
friend holding the paper wrong side up. The newspaper 
served another purpose, also, in those days, that of a 
spelling book. Over the mantel shelf in one tap room, the 
following notice was posted: “Gentlemen learning to spell 
are requested to use last week’s paper.’ History leaves 
us in doubt as to just how “gentlemen learning to spell” 
were able to decipher this polite request. 
Indian tramps, the last of the great tribes, gave a 
picturesque touch to tavern life in the old days. Many 
posed as fortune tellers, and the “counterfeit presentment” 
of Deb Saco may now be seen in the East Indian museum 
at Salem. 
(Continued to page 47) 
ie eee © 
THE Supprr-DANCE at the Essex County club last Fri- 
, day evening was the most successful from the social 
standpoint in years. Covers were placed for 96 at dinner, 
and when supper was served at I! o’clock there were 175 
present. Dancing continued throughout the night. A 
dinner-dance is scheduled for Friday night of next week, 
‘the 18th. A band concert yesterday afternoon was a 
‘big drawing card, despite the inclement weather. 
Tennis has been attracting many to the courts this 
week. A.mixed doubles tournament started Monday 
“and a ladies’ handicap singles Tuesday. Because of the 
antense heat Monday and Tuesday and the bad weather 
Wednesday and Thursday, the progress has not been 
good. It is expected the finals in the singles will be 
reached Saturday afternoon, and in the doubles, Sunday. 
Miss Alice Thorndike beat Miss Eleonora Sears in the 
singles Thursday, which eliminates one of the strongest 
players. p 
A foursome tombstone tournament was the golfing 
feature yesterday. This was won by Mr. and Mrs. Paul 
Moore. Miss Eleonora Sears and Ector O. Munn were 
second. 
An amateur dog show (16 classes) will be one of 
the interesting events of the latter part of August and 
something new for the North Shore. The show will be 
at the Essex County club on Thursday afternoon, Au- 
cust 24, at 3.30. 
3% OO 
Mr. and Mrs. James Means are at Peterborough, 
N. H., for a six-weeks’ stay, when they will return to 
their cottage in Manchester for the autumn. Lloyd B. 
Means is one of the North Shore young men at the 
border. He is a member of the Mass. First Field Artil- 
lery, Battery A, at El Paso, Texas. 
3 
W. W. Caswell, Jr., has joined his parents at the 
Brownlands in Manchester. His friend, George M. Fuller, 
who has been camping with him, is also a guest. Mrs. 
John L. Grandin of Beverly Cove was a dinner guest 
Mrs. Rufus F. Greeley last Sunday. Mrs. Grandin 
formerly spent her summers at the Brownlands. 
