ASK, RANT OR PRAISE, BUT NEVER IGNORE

This is the heart of our web site, the place where readers reign. So many of the best ideas come from you. That's how we measure our success and draw in our advertisers who pay for this all to happen -- in our NINTH year.

JUMP TO last month's mail 

April 19
MORE CASWELLS
As a second great granddaughter of Lemuel B. Caswell, I find your articles about him and his life on Gosport very interesting.  And in most aspects the accounts seem to compare to what I remember my grandmother Henrietta Emogene Brewster Hersey(the 4th Henrietta Emogene in that line) telling us about her days at the shoals, and some of the folk lore that was passed on to her.
Patricia Holt 

April 17
LONGFELLOW HOUSE PC
Your Longfellow piece, with those postcards, is wonderful.  It never ceases to amaze me, how you crank -- and it's all great stuff!,   postcards just perfect with the piece. We just had our living room painted.  That meant returning all books to bookcases. Came across my Longfellow books. My mother was a Longfellow freak. I have her “Tales of a Wayside Inn” which i think she got at the Wayside Inn.
Jane Wingate

EDITOR’S REPLY: Thanks. Now that you mention it. Those postcards came up accidentally while we were killing time at a giant flea market in Maine. There were thousands of them and the Longfellow cards just kept appearing. After an hour of poking around, we suddenly had a new web page, having recently visited the house in Portland – and forgotten to bring a camera! 

April 16
NO UNIVERSAL SEACOAST CALENDAR
I am hoping to get a listing of September events on the Seacoast this year. I am planning an event for the Great Hill Horticultural Foundation, and would like it not to conflict with other major Seacoast attractions. Do you have a list of September events only?
Lynn Felici-Gallant

EDITOR’S REPLY:  Thanks for your note. There is no central online Seacoast Calendar. There is ours, the one at the Herald, PortsmouthNH, the Portsmouth Chamber (there are 14 chambers in the area) and hundreds of small individual calendars, Many like ours are set up so that readers can enter their own events. Scroll ahead and you’ll see what has been entered. But the calendars are only as up to date as readers make them It is our experience that many organizations don't post their events until weeks (or even days) ahead of the event. And event dates changes.    

April 16
ANOTHER COASTAL DEFENSE SITE LOST 
Have you read about this one? The former WWII station at Rye Ledge (the fancy house on Rt 1A) was demolished by its new owner back on Feb 22. I just caught the news online. What a shame. I guess New Hampshire residents just don't care about historic preservation. I know they are kind of ugly, but there are some towers still out there that have been preserved and made "liveable", so it can be done. Examples, Moody Point and Nubble Point in Maine, Great Boars Head in NH, Coolidge Point, Gales Point, Brants Rock, Halibut Point in Mass, and several others elsewhere.
Pete Payette, editor
Portsmouth Forts

April 12
SEEKING ARTIST MARY SAWTELLE
Hi. I saw your site while googling to find information on the artist Mary Sawtelle. It said the name "Joe Sawtelle" , folk artist....is this person maybe related to Mary Sawtelle. I found a painting of the Hillsborough River in Fla in my basement, it is signed and dated 1940. My aunt (who passed away from alzheimers) used to say she had a "treasure" in the basement. Was this the treasure?I can't find any place on the net with more information. I've seen where her paintings have sold at auctions. Can you help?...Thanks, Bob  

EDITOR’S REPLY: I fear we cannot, but sometimes another reader searching on Google will find us and pass a message along. The image on our sites was a sculpture of philanthropist Joe Sawtelle by artist Sumner Winebaum located at the Portsmouth Athenaeum.

April 11
CRUISE SHIPS RESPONSE 
You web site is a great forum! So much for Mr. Duffy and the others who keep saying impossible, for their own ulterior purposes. Whether it is the Pilots who don't get work from cruise ships, the scrap company, or all of their friends/supporters, it is clear that we have done and can continue to host these size cruise ships. The Cruise Port owner certainly appears to think we can. The large group of small business owners that will benefit need to be as vocal as the small group that currently benefits. The Pilots aren't needed after several trips, and could lose work if scrap ships are replaced by these mid-size cruise ships. The Port exists to be an economic engine for the entire region, not a single group. (See article in Foster’s Daily Democrat by Michael Goot, March 22, 2007 entitled "Cruise ships could mean boost.")
Regards, Bill

April 10
BARLETTS OF BARTLET STREET
Before setting off on our journey to California, I just had to send to you a brief word of praise for your most captivating story in the Gazette of your never-ending search for the Bartlett after whom the current Bartlett Street is named. So interesting, so humorous ... just great! Many thanks for making my day!
Lee.Roberts

April 9
KEN’S VOCABULARY
Ken used the word "vagarious" to describe April's weather. That's a good one! I'm definitely adding it to my lexicon.
Jim 

April 9
IS PORTSMOUTH SHIPYARD IN MAINE?
Is the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard located in New Hampshire (Portsmouth) or Maine? What is the PHYSICAL address? I am considering applying for a position there. Both of my parents worked there years ago. I was young, but I remember the tragic Thresher/ incident.) My concern for this involves taxes. If it's in Maine, it would be out of the question. I would have to pay Maine State Income Tax. I already pay in Massachusetts, since that's where I live. I would end up paying TWO state income taxes.
Theresa G in MA

EDITOR’S REPLY: Yes, it is in Kittery, Maine and yes you have to pay Maine state tax too. In recent years the state of NH disputed the border in an effort to save NH shipyard workers the tax. They took it all the way to the Supreme Court and lost.

April 7
BOOK SIGNED BY WHITTIER
When my father passed away in his possessions I found  a book of the essays of Francis Bacon.  The book is very old, but cannot fine a publication date.  My father always told me he had a book inscribed by I think the mother of a famous poet.  The book is signed by J.W. Whittier - could this be any relation to to John Greenleaf Whittier.  How can I find out more information about this?   Thank you
Kathie Sherwinski

EDITOR’S REPLY: We've been asked that question before. If you go to THIS WEB PAGE and scroll way down, you will see a copy of Whittier's signature that you can use to compare yours. Whittier signatures abound and are, as far as we've seen, not of significant value (maybe $50- $100) on eBay auctions. So the value is sentimental. You could consider giving it to a local museum or library or hang on to it as a nice family keepsake.

April 6
NOT SEEN PORT CITY SINCE 1959
I am a 62-year-old Portsmouth native now living in Maine. I love the book, The Rambles of Portsmouth by C.W. Brewster and I am doing historical research on Portsmouth history. Is there a Portsmouth historian that I could contact for information and maybe where I could obtain old maps of the city?
Gregory Coad

EDITOR’S REPLY: We’re happy to answer questions and will forward a list of books you might want to read and libraries to contact. A lot has happened to your childhood town, mostly for the better, but you will still recognize it. There are hundreds of photos and articles about historic Portsmouth on this web site, so it too is a good place to start.  

April 3
GLOBAL WARMING SCIENCE PROJECT
hello my name is alyssa and i an doin a sciece fair project on Global Warming and i want to know if you have any suggestions of wat type of experiment i could do......i am want to do something with the green house effect or natural disasters that is cause worse each year by Globa warming...if u could e mail me back i would absolutly appreciate it sooooo much. -thank you!!
Alyssa C 

FROM BILL BURTIS @ CLEAN-AIR COOL PLANET: Hmm. That's a tough one! How to conduct an experiment related to something that occurs over long periods of time?

How about this:
Question: will sea levels rise as a result of global warming?

Hypothesis: scientists tell us that rising sea level is one likely consequence of global warming, and that measurable rise has already taken place; their belief is based on the law of thermodynamics that says that something heated will increase in volume. So, water in a container that is in an environment that is growing warmer, growing warmer itself, should expand and fill more of the container.

Experiment: Tape a clear plastic ruler to the side of a large test tube. Fill the tube half full of ROOM TEMPERATURE water, and mark the level of the water on the outside of the tube, and write down the measurement from the ruler.

Next, place the test tube and a thermometer inside an overturned fish tank or aquarium. Place the whole project in the sun, preferably outside on a warm, calm day, but in a sunny window if not. Come back and check the temperature in the tank and the level of the water in the glass every 30 minutes for two hours.

What do you see? IMPORTANT: You need to make your observations from outside the tank.

If the temperature goes up inside the tank, the water should expand and rise up the sides of the test tube. You could also use a thermometer in the test tube to measure the change in water temperature. Or, you could use a glass of water for more precise measurements, since the water will be heated more slowly and rise more slowly.

April 2
ABOUT THAT SOAP FACTORY
Hello Dennis - I am looking at the photo of the house in today's paper. I can't figure out the location - did this house stand where the gas station is now? And also - in many old photographs there seems to be alot of open space - was the land cleared and then built on, or was the area naturally lacking the abundant amount of trees we seem to have now? I really enjoy the photos you submit and can't get enough of the history of the original houses in Portsmouth. I love to go to Strawbery Banke, and I wish that I could live in an old colonial house. Thank you !
- Robin Baker  

EDITOR'S REPLY:  I'm afraid we don't ahve the  resources to check out the location of every early photo posted on the site (hundreds of them), but the Portsmouth Athenaeum and Portsmouth PUblic Library have maps and trained assistants to help you find those locations.  (SEEe The Bartletts of Bartlett Street) 

April 2
FOUND AN OLD POEM
Looking for help. In a lot of old papers from the new castle area i found a hand written and unsigned poem titled "a dream and a question". I was wondering if this was possibly a unpublished poem written y celia thaxtler. if any one could id the hand writing please contact me.
Joe R

EDITOR'S REPLY:  I suppose it could be, although I don't know of any Celia connections to New Castle. More likely to be John Albee, also a poet, or any of a zillion other people. Depends on the era. Almost everybody dabbled in poetry in the Victorian era. Can you make a really good scan of it as a jpg? There are lots of samples of Celia's handwriting to compare to. Could be an interesting "find", but again, lots and lots of poetry from that era. Often these are poems children copied from books as part of a school assignment.

April 2
LILAC FESTIVAL?
If so, when thanks for any info
– Frogden

EDITOR’S REPLY: We try to stay updated, but those dates keep changing. Our article on the Wentworth Coolidge Mansion is here. At the bottom is the link to the official site with annual updates on the festival and dates.

April 1
HOW MUCH FOR THE DECALRATION? 
I was trying to locate the value of a print of The Declaration of Independence by John Hancock Insurance Company. Your assistance would be greatly appreciated. Have a blessed day.
Trish Hunter

EDITOR’S REPLY: We tend to focus on history, not the value of objects. My guess is that the item is worth about a dollar. There were thousands printed and there are hundreds of thousands of reproductions of the Declaration available, past and present. The wonderful little history booklets from this insurance company sell for about 25 cents to a dollar on Ebay because they were produced in large quantity and are readily available. But we're no experts on price. 

April 1
FELL OFF DESK AT TUG SHOP
Hi Dennis, Just read your article about Regal Cinema and thought it was right on. Had me falling off my desk chair laughing. Thanks.
Captain Bob and Natalie
Tugboat Alley, 47 Bow Street
Portsmouth, NH

April 1
SEEKING NEXT PRESIDENT
Are there any Town Hall meetings, in New Hampshire, for any Democratic Presidential candidates coming up?
Don Hakey

EDITOR’S REPLY: Steve Fowle, editor of the NH Gazette, recommends the following web site.

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