My Haverhill
Barney Gallagher
September 07, 2008 01:25 am It was strange for me this past week to read about, and see, the rescue of a horse from a barn by firefighters in North Reading. It was strange because I had been preparing to write about the rescue of a horse many years ago under strange circumstances. All this was brought about by the passing of former city Harbormaster Red Slavit. This comes together when you combine Red with the rescue of a horse in a strange way. But let me start with a session in the Chamber of Commerce office back when Ted Dydowicz was the chamber executive and I was a drop-in visitor. We were discussing things in general when another visitor arrived, this one from a Boston television station. The visitor said he was on a trip around the station's coverage area looking for people he called "outstanding characters" in their communities. When I said I knew someone who would be a sure choice from Haverhill, both the TV guy and Ted said they found that hard to believe. They got even more confused when I asked them if they had ever known anybody who rescued a horse from a tree, and then I got into it a bit deeper when I added, "With a boat." "How can anyone rescue a horse from a tree with a boat?" one of them asked. Then I explained that for several years, horses and cows had been kept on an island in the Merrimack River, part of the farm we know as Silsby's. At one point some neighborhood dogs got on the island and began chasing the animals. During the chase, I was told, one of the horses slipped over the edge of the field, which was quite a distance above the riverbed. The poor horse got caught in the branches of a tree growing up from the edge of the river. When the owners learned of the plight of the horse, they had to figure out what to do and how to do it. Someone then had a bright idea and called the river rescue man, Capt. Red. He got into one of his boats, brought along some tools and drove to the island, stopping just under the tree. Red was always good, even expert, with machinery of any kind, and he knew how to operate the chain saw as well as he could handle the boat. It took only a few minutes for Red to go to work with that saw and get the horse out of the tree unharmed. So there it was. He had rescued a horse from a tree by using a boat. As a result of that story, Red was chosen as the most interesting character in the Merrimack Valley, and we all went to Boston a few weeks later to take part in the telecast celebrating the several choices. It was a grand trip, with limousines, a dinner at a fine restaurant and even a performance of the biggest circus in the country at Boston Garden. Even then, Red had to keep on with his legendary activity. When the limousines were parked in downtown Boston, we waited on the sidewalk for TV celebrity Sara Edwards and others. The windows of the limo ware darkened and no one could see inside. Some people got curious when they saw the limo and asked us who it was for. Without hesitation, Red spoke up and said it was for the very important "Sultan of Arabia," and he instantly made up a story about why the sultan was there. Told them that with a straight face, typical of his outstanding storytelling ability. We won't forget Red, and I'm glad I had a small part in contributing to his legend. Some day I'll tell about being a "plank owner" on one of his ships. ÔÇ¢ÔÇ¢ÔÇ¢ Barney Gallagher has covered Haverhill since 1936 as a reporter, editor and columnist.
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