“A Town of Boats”
father and mother were with me on that
first boat ride from Morehcad City to
Beaufort.
Father was coming as pastor of the
Baptist churches in Beaufort and
Morehcad City.
Л
centenarian recalls some pleasant
boyhood days in “Bofort.”
By DR. E. EMMETT REID
As a boy of ten I got into a sailboat,
the first I had ever seen, to go across
two miles of water to Beaufort, N. C.
It was love at first sight from that day
to this. Over one hundred years later
I have never lost my affection for boats,
little and big. from ocean liners in
which I have crossed the ocean, down
to row boats.
The boats, which were a novelty to
me, were fascinating; but I found them
less important than the people. My
People depended on fishing for their
living. The idea was that if a man ate
fish for dinner, he should go out and
catch it rather than buy it.
The Baptists had an attractive
church building on Ann Street, near its
center. Adjoining it was the Methodist
Church, a considerably larger building.
The Episcopal church was smaller, and
near the western end of Ann Street.
Beaufort, pronounced "Bofort.” was
a town of boats. The way to get there
was by boat and the way to get away
from there was by boat. If you wanted
to go anywhere, you went by boat. Why
should anyone want to go any other
way?
This was before the days of the out¬
board motor. Sure, that gets you there,
wind or no wind. Anyone with a strong
arm can crank a motor and hold a
straight course to another destination
which is all right if you are in a hurry,
but why hurry?
The “Sharpies"
It was a thrill to sec an expert handle
a sailboat. Of all the boats at Beau¬
fort, I remember the "sharpies" with
the most pleasure. I have never seen
them anywhere else, and I am grieved
to learn that the breed is extinct. There
were a few large ones, but the most
of them were small pleasure boats,
twenty to thirty feet long.
The name came from the fact that
the prow was sharp and rose straight
up three or four feet above the water.
The bottom was flat, with only slight
curvature from stem to stern. It curved
upward at the back so that it was above
the water. With few exceptions, there
was only one mast which carried a
triangular sail, the bottom edge of
which was fastened to a horizontal
boom. The small sharpies drew less
than a foot of water and could go al¬
most anywhere. They were easy to
handle but it took great skill to get
maximum speed without capsizing.
Of. E. Emmet Reid,
о
protestor emeritus of Johns Hopkins University, is colled "the fother of sulphur
chemistry" ond is a troil blozer in several scientific orcos. Lost year (June, 1972 1 when he reached
his 100th birthday, the appealing picture of Dr. Reid <obo*c> by Fred G. Kraft, Jr., wot the cover
illustration for the Baltimore "News Americon" Sundoy Magazine. Inside, a feature story by Vic¬
toria B. Obrecht recalled some of the highlights of the centenorion's remarkable life ond coreer. She
also mentioned the autobiographical book, "My First 100 Yeors," which Dr. Reid wot then writing.
Mrs. Obrecht ond Dr. Reid, both of Morylond, ho*e common ties in North Corolino. When he wot
a boy Dr. Reid lived in Beaufort while his fother served os pastor of the Baptist Church there; yeors
loter Mrs. Obrecht's father, the late Rev. L. B. Boncy, vos olso the Baptist pastor in Beaufort, ond she
lived there before going to college of Duke University. The Obrecht's still hove
о
home in Beoufort.
Dr. Reid's article vos reloyed to us by Mrs. Obrecht, who csploined; "My friend. Dr. E. Emmet
Reid, osked me to send this to you ... he wants you to have it because he lived in Beaufort for a
while when he was a boy ond has never forgotten it. In fact, he devotes
о
chapter to Beoufort in his
autobiogrophy."
The accompanying story is Dr. Reid's Beoufort chapter.
14
THE STATE. DECEMBER 1973
