the sea still lingers about this seaport town, particularly along Derby Street, where, in the prosperous shipping days, social life was centered.

Plate> II.—Doorway, Oliver House, Salem, Mass. Built in 1802.

Years crept on apace, and the country grew more prosperous with the increase of population; and in the seaport town, more especially, came a demand for larger and better houses. Money circulated freely, and ventures proved successful. Trade steadily increased, bringing prosperity in its wake. Commerce was at its height, and the harbor was filled with incoming and outgoing ships, whose holds were stored with rich cargoes of household goods, furniture, and glass, intermixed with merchandise. Much of the valuable furniture is still to be found in the houses of to-day.

The story of those stirring times reads like a bit of romance. The tide still ebbs and flows at Derby Street, lapping the piers much as it did a century ago, when ships four tiers deep lay tied up at the now deserted wharves. The crews were boys, many of them, sons of the merchants, who, from sailing before the mast, rose rapidly to positions of importance, becoming captains of their ships at an age when the lads of to-day are just leaving school.

Like a dream seems the life of long ago. No more, save in imagination, do we see the jolly sailor lads with sea legs on, bowling along Derby Street, bound for Kit's Dancing Hall, there to indulge themselves in merry dance or quench their thirst at the flowing bowl. The Old Inn or Ordinary has long since passed away, as has the lumbering stage and jolly drivers, who snapped their whips and cracked their jokes around a cheerful, open fire while waiting for the incoming ships. The large, square homes of yesterday are now degenerated into tenement houses.

Three of the most prominent merchants of that day were William Grey, Joseph Peabody, and Elias Hasket Derby. They owned the greater number of the ships that sailed to foreign ports, and their names are household words. On the wharves still stand their old counting-houses, now put to other uses.

With the decline of commerce and the decrease of shipping, the tide of building turned inland. Large, imposing houses were erected in other parts of the town. Elias Hasket Derby chose as a site for his new house what is now known as Derby Square. The estate was a large one, terraced to the water's edge. The house was of wood, three stories in height, and costing eighty thousand dollars. Much of Samuel McIntire's best wood work was used here. Not many months after its completion, the owner died, and his entire estate was sold. The house was torn down, much of the timber being used in other houses that were in the process of building. Captain Cook was at that time erecting for his daughter, who married Henry K. Oliver, a stately home on Federal Street. Into this were introduced some of the best specimens of the wood carving. This mansion was a type that came into prominence at the close of the Revolutionary War, a large, square house, three stories in height, showing in exterior finish many of McIntire's best designs. The gate-posts on either side of the little picket gate were especially carved for the old Derby Mansion, as were the classic columns that support the porch. Not only outside the house but inside as well, one comes across McIntire's wonderful carving. Step over the threshold, enter the spacious hallway, that like most constructed in that day extends entirely through the house and opens on to an old-fashioned garden beyond. Here the door frames and stairway show the master's handiwork. The broad landing is lighted by a window especially designed. Large, square rooms open on either side of the hall, the one at the right showing scenic wall-paper made in Paris and hung in 1808. A feature of this room is a hob-grate, one of the first ever placed in any Salem home.

Plate III.—Hallway, Oliver House; Living Room, Oliver House.

The old merchants knew well how to build for comfort and beauty. One of their old houses, still standing on Essex Street, Salem, was built in 1750 by one Joseph Sprague, a merchant. It is a rambling, spacious affair, three stories in height at the rear and two at the front. The grounds were extensive, leading to the water's edge.

Major Sprague was a man of standing, interested in military affairs. It was he that commanded the first uniformed company of light infantry. Organized on April 22, 1776, they applied to the General Court to make them independent of the militia but not of the regiment. In those days their uniform was much more striking than at present. Green coats with gold trimming were worn, also ruffled shirts, the ruffles falling over the hands, under dresses of white, black gaiters, and black hats of beaver ornamented with ostrich plumes. This company soon disbanded.

Plate IV.—Hallway, Cabot Low House, 1748; Fireplace, Oliver House.

The ancestral home of Major Sprague has never been out of the family. It was built by him for his bride. Lifting the ponderous knocker, one enters the open door, passing into a broad hallway with a colonial staircase showing fine, hand-carved balusters. Opening out of this are large, square rooms, filled with rich, old Chippendale. Much of this was brought over in the major's ships. Huge open fireplaces are found in every room. One of them is surrounded by tiles, picturing Æsop's fables.

Closets innumerable, such as would delight the heart of a twentieth-century housekeeper, are everywhere. There are large ones and small ones. Sometimes, concealed behind panels, were secret closets, but the most important of all, as well as the most historical, has disappeared. This was used in Revolutionary times to shelter one of the servants, a deserter from the Continental Army, who was discovered and shot.

Major Sprague had a comely daughter Sarah, who was a reigning belle of that day. Her beauty attracted the attention of one William Stearns, a Harvard collegian, who lived in the Craigie House at Cambridge, afterwards the home of Longfellow. Every Saturday night he swam the unbridged Mystic River and walked to Salem to see her. They were married in 1776 and lived in the town. He was one of the largest stockholders in the turnpike road built between Salem and Boston, and the story runs that he declared after it was finished he would be able to stand on the steps of his Salem home and look directly into the Boston market. A son of the fair Sarah married Thresea St. Agnan from Trinidad. She was an intimate of Josephine Tascher de La Pageree, afterwards the consort of Napoleon. A beautiful gold-banded tortoise-shell comb is still kept in the family, a present from Josephine to Agnes.

Many are the interesting historical houses to be found in this city, each of which has a story hidden away