Cap'n Webb Recalls When
As the Shore prepares to move right into the middle of north-south traffic and the space age, Captain Bill Webb, of Webb's Island, eastward from Machipongo, looks back to yesterday.
At 84 he still works each day in his seafood business, but he remembers clearly the time 37 years ago when he and his son, Jack, who now operates a store at Machipongo, took a trip to the city and described to reporters the joy of living on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.
Following is the report as carried by the Philadelphia North American on July 31, 1921.
"Greatest town I've ever seen."
The sentiments were those of Captain "Bill" Webb, of Pine Island, Machipongo Bay, Va., on his first trip to a city of over 3,000 inhabitants. Captain Webb is spending the week-end here with Everett A. Schofield, an attorney, one of many Philadelphians whom Cap'n Bill has taught to shoot ducks when the season is on and the great flocks of wild fowl sweep over the Machipongo district.
It was in return for the many pleasant times at Cap'n Bill's home that Mr. Schofield had the Cap'n "come on" to Philadelphia with his 13-year-old boy, John. Father and son are tall, erect and clear-eyed, with the glance of those who can spot a duck at a mile and tell whether it be canvas-back, black or mallard.
Arriving here Thursday night, the Cap'n's breath has been taken away by the kaleidoscope which Philadelphia presents to the hurried visitor.
"I'd never be able to live in a place like this," the Captain said slowly, as he gazed out of an office window at South Penn Square with its jam of motor traffic. "I don't see how so many people can find ways to earn their living" he continued.
"Your movies are wonderful here, but I like the music they have in the theatres best of all. If I was dying, music like that would inspire me to come right back to life again. I get lost here if I go 100 yards away from Mr. Schofield. Yet down in my section of the country I know every inch of waterway from the Virginia Capes to the Maryland line."
The captain had a reputation of being a baseball fan in his community, and formerly was first baseman on the Red-stocking team of Virginia. The mention of baseball brought a smile of enthusiasm to his bronzed face. "I'd drive twenty miles to see a good game," he said. "I'm going to see Chicago play the Athletics this afternoon with Mr. Schofield, but I'll wager they won't play as smart as some of the games I've seen."
Mr. Schofield interrupted to tell how one time Cap'n Bill had sighted a convenient storm during a morning's fishing which threatened to cancel his chances of seeing the local ball game that afternoon. Once ashore, the "storm" mysteriously vanished and captain saw his ball game, while the Philadelphians in the party grinned good-naturedly at his ruse to get ashore.
The talk swung to duck shooting, and there the captain was in his element. He possesses a unique flock of ducks and geese which he has tamed and trained to act as decoys.
"I call them my boys", he said, modestly. "It isn't very much to train them to act as decoys, but they sure do get results. Their wings are clipped and sometimes if they won't stay in one place, I have to anchor them with a little lead weight and a cord. I set out wooden decoys with the live ones in between. The live ones are generally content to swim about, or float on the surface and preen their feathers. When a flock of wild ones appears way off, they start to call them and the old drake in charge of the wild ones says 'Boys, here's good feeding,' and down they come.
"It's a curious thing, a duck is not afraid of any rigid object. But the minute you make the slightest motion, he is away a mile a minute. Ducks are fast flyers, but the geese are faster. A flock of geese will pass a crowd of ducks flying before the wind like an express train passing a freight. The geese, contrary to their name, are among the wisest of the birds, and the most difficult to shoot because of their speed on the wing. A German count came down to Machipongo one time and went out to shoot. He wouldn't take a guide as he knew all about shooting geese. He started out with 200 shells, and came back without one and not a duck to show for it, all because he did not aim ahead of the goose when he fired.
"When I get through with a day's shooting, I call my live decoys to the boat, and they all come at the first call and perch about on the gunwhales. They know it is feeding time and they are going home. It's curious but when they get about a quarter of a mile from home, they all jump overboard and swim for the shore. I think it is because they can see their feeding place at that distance. It's a sight my friends from Philadelphia never tired of watching. It is comical too, to see all those ducks and geese going through the water as hard as they can and flapping their wings as they run up the beach to the house."
Captain Webb has eight children. He stands 6 feet 1 1/2 inches in his stocking feet. One of his sons is a half inch taller than his father. The captain admits that he never touched a drop of liquor and attributes his wonderful eyesight to that fact, also, to his moderate use of tobacco. At home he goes to bed at 7 o'clock each night and is up at 4:30 in the morning.
"One of nature's noblemen," is what his Philadelphia friends call him, and his straightforward glance and sturdy handshake verify that estimate.
John, 15, is his father's son, but is tongue-tied at the sights of the big city. He shyly admitted liking the Navy Yard which he saw from the deck of a Wilmington steamboat.
Last night father and son were shown Willow Grove. Today they will take a look at Atlantic City, where, perhaps the captain's keen gaze will be of service to the revenue men in spotting offshore liquor smugglers.