Velocipedic experiments in Gorham

In reading through Hugh McLellan's History of Gorham (1903) I found a tidbit about the venturesome attempts of some local citizens to find out what those there new-fangled velocipedes were all about. It sounds like they created a monster! I can only imagine what it looked like.

About the year 1820 an attempt was made to manufacture a velocipede in Gorham. The idea was suggested by a rough woodcut in an English magazine which had come into the possession of some one in the village.

A number of men subscribed small sums toward defraying the expense, and Mason Frost and George Hight undertook its construction; their only guide being the picture and its description in the book. The machine was built in the shop afterwards owned by Capt. Bailey, and which at that time stood close to the street, but was moved back about 1840 to its present location in Alfred Bailey's yard. Mason Frost, who was a carriage maker, got out the frame and wheels, while George Hight undertook the iron work.

The machine consisted of a stout piece of white oak, supported at each end by a sturdy oak wheel. The rider sat astride of this backbone, and propelled the vehicle by striking his toes against the ground. There were no pedals or other machinery to it. It was steered by an iron bridle, attached to the forward wheel; and, as represented, was able to go up hill as fast as an active man could walk, while it could spped down a moderate slope at the rate of about ten miles an hour, and on level ground nearly as fast.

At last the thing was completed, and a trial was made of it in the presence of a throng of interested spectators, but no one could do much with it, excepting to amuse the crowd. At this time there was no saddle or seat on it, but one was afterwards added. Frost was the only one able to make any headway at all on level ground, and he but little, while as to riding up hill, it was no go. The velocipede was finally stowed away in some corner, and the experiment abandoned.

Gorham Times Blotter rules!

Okay, here's some good blotter fodder for the past week from the Gorham Times!

Blotter

Douglas Street caller reported finding footprints around their residence. It also appeared that someone had been peeking in their windows.

South Street caller advised that their child was at the library and one of their child's friends set his hair on fire.

Western Avenue caller reported they had found a gun in their mother's drawer and wanted to know if it was registered.

State Street caller wanted to speak to an officer regarding the Do Not Enter sign and their customers entering the wrong way.
[...]
Caller reported their vehicle was "broken into" sometime during the night or early morning as they found a paper clip in the ignition when they went to leave for work.

Murray Drive caller reported that their spouse has been receiving unwanted sex messages and comments on their cell phone and they wanted the messages to stop immediately.
[...]

Read full Blotter here: [Source]

Blackhawk no mystery

Those of you in the area of Gorham may notice some Blackhawk helicopter activity today between 9:00 and 11:00 am. The chopper is part of a series of pre-planned ROTC exercises taking place near the University of Southern Maine campus.

Sorry, no Men in Black this time!

Image from http://www.wallpaperbase.com/

Police blotter cornucopia!

Kudos to the Gazette Editor who runs the Gab with the Gazette blog, which archives the Police Blotter returns each week in the area. I've read a lot of police blotters, and the best editors really go the distance in titling their entries, making the reading all the more entertaining. These guys really take the cake! (You can read other culled police blotter reports that Strange Maine has stumbled across before here.)

DON’T SHOOT THE MESSENGER
A caller reported being harassed while delivering newspapers.

ATTACK OF THE GERMS
A caller reported they had a sneezing spell, drove off the road, and hit a sign with their vehicle on County Road.

[Source]

SO IF I PAY, DO I KEEP THE ORANGE JUMPSUIT?
A caller from Main Street requested to speak with an officer regarding their bail conditions.

BRITNEY SPEARS IN MAINE? PART TWO
A caller from Ossipee Trail reported a suspicious female carrying an infant that was not properly attired.

WATCH OUT FOR MY KID
A Ridgeway Drive resident requested to speak to police in regard to their child’s driving behavior.

[Source]

The Gazette Newspaper serves Gorham, Buxton, Hollis, Limington and Standish.

Maine: The Python State?

Bangor Daily News reports on the second mystery python found in Maine in less than a week! Illustration from gutenberg.org

Pythons found in Maine
By The Associated Press
Tuesday, July 22, 2008 - Bangor Daily News

LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — A Wilton man is having trouble sleeping since he found a python snake about 9 feet long under the engine of his pickup truck.

Harley Burgess’s shocking discovery Saturday is the second of its kind in less than a week in Maine. Last Wednesday, a Gorham woman found a snake — also identified as a reticulated python — in the washing machine.

In Wilton, Burgess says he’s still shaking when he thinks of the python found under his truck. He’s had nightmares about the snake getting his grandson, who was with him the day the python was discovered.

Burgess has been searching for clues as to how the snake got loose in his truck. Reticulated pythons are illegal in Maine without a permit.
[Source]

Tornado in Gorham?

Well, the weather in Maine is known to be strange at times, but this week it's gotten downright out of control. Wil of the "Where There's Wil, There's Always a Way" blog posts about the aftermath of what everyone seems to think was a tornado that swept through Gorham in the midst of Friday's torrential thunderstorms.

This isn't the first time Gorham has been subject to tornadoes. Back on October 18, 1855, a Mr. Niles was featured on page 2 of the New York Times in an article about the twister that moved his house for him.

Thus far it saved Mr. Niles a good deal of trouble and expense, for he intended to move his house back to the very spot where the tornado left it. But he was not quite so well pleased with the freaks the wind played with his barn: it took it completely apart and carried the timbers, boards, &c. up a hill some two hundred feet and left them there! [...] Mr. Niles and his family were in the house at the time of its sudden and unexpected removal!
[Source]

In sadder news, there were two fatalities from the storm due to lightning strikes in nearby Standish. Read the full story on the Portland Press Herald's site, which has a bunch of dramatic photos as well. Some of the sadness of these deaths is in their seemingly innocent cause. As reported by the Press Herald, "The man and woman were struck by lightning when they went outside to retrieve a pair of eyeglasses that had been taken by the family dog, according to the sheriff's department."