Southport telegraph. [volume] (Southport, W.T. [i.e. Kenosha, Wis.]) 1840-1850, 1842-11-30

~ stove, cherishing the newly klndled tire
and filling the CRATE with those voluntary
contributions of which they had been so
liberal all night. The washing accommo-
dations were primitive. There was a tin
ladle chained to the deck, which every
gentleman who thought it necessary to
cleanse himself (some were superior to this
Weakness fished the dirty water out of the
canal, and poured it into tin basin, secur-
ed in like manner. There was also jack
tawcl. And, hanging up before little
| looking-glass in the bar, in the immediate
vicinity of the bread and cheese and buis-
cults, were a public comb and hair-brush.
There was man on board this boat,
| with light fresh-colourcd face, and pep
pepr-and-sat suits of clothes, who was the
most inquisitive fellow that can possibly be
imagined. He never spoke otherwise than
interrogatively. He was an embodied in
quiry. Sitting down or standing up, still
or moving, walking the deck or taking his
| meals, there he was, with great note OF
| interrogation in each eye, two in his cooked
ears two more in his turned-up nose and
chin, at least half dozen more about the
corner of his mouth, and the largest one Of
off his forehead in haxen clump. Every
button in his clothes said. "Eh! WHAT'S
that! Did you speak? Say that again, will
you?''' He was always wide awake, like
the enchanted bride y no drove her husband
| frantic; always restless; always thirsty for
answers; perpetually seeking and never
finding. There never was such curious
man.
wore fur great coat at that time, had
before we were we'll clear Of the wharf, he
| questioned me concerning it, and its price,
and where | bought it, an when, and what
! fur it was, and what it weighed, and what
it cost. Then he took notice ofmy watch,
and asked me what that cost. And wheth-
er it was French watch, and where got
it, and how got it, and whether bought
it or had it given me, and how it went, and
where the key hole was when l wound ii,
every night or every morning, and whether
ever forgot to wind il at all, and if did
what then! Where had been to last and
where was going next and where | was
going after that, and had seen the Presi-
dent, and what did he say, and what did
say, and what did he say when said that?
En-! Lor now! do tell!
Finding that nothing wonld satisfy him,
| evaded his questions after the first score
or two, and in particular pleaded ignorance
respecting the name Of the fur whereof the
coat was made. am unable to say whe-
Their this was the reason, but that coat fas-
! cinatcd him ever afterwards he usually kept
close behind me IS walked, and moved as
| moved that he might look at it the better;
and he Owed frequently into narrow places
after me at the risk Of his life, that he might
have the satisfaction Of passing his hand up
the back, rubbing it the wrong way.
AS we have not reached Pittsburg yet
| however, in the order of our narrative, !
may 60 on to remark that breakfast was
perhaps the least desirable meal Of the day,
| as in addition TO the many sayory oilers
arising from the eatables already mentioned
there were whifls of gin, whskey, brandy
| and rum, from the little bar hard by and a
decided seasoning OF stale tobacco. Many
| of the gentlemen passengers were far from
particular in respect Of their linen, which
was in some cases rs yellow rs the little ri
vulcts that had trickled down the corners Of
| their mouth in chewing, and dried there.
Nor was the atmosphere quite free from
zephyr whisperings ofthe thirty beds which
had just been cleared away, and Of which
we were further and more pressingly re-
minded by the occasional appearance on
the table of a kind of game not mentioned
in the bill of fare.
And yet despite these odd;tics-and even
they had, for me at least, humor Of their
own-there was much in this mode of ira
yelling which heartily enjoyed at the time
and look back upon with great pleasure.
Even the running up bare necked, at five
O'Clock in the morning, from the tainted Ca
bin to the dirty deck; scooping up the icy
water, plunging ones head into it, and draw
ing ii out, all fresh and glowing with the
cold, was good thing. The fast, brisk
walk upon the towing-path between that
time and breakfast, when every vein and
artery seemed TO Jingle with health, the ex-
qulslte beauty OF the opening day, when
| light came cleaning off from every thing;
the lazy motion Of the boat, when one Law
idly on the deck, looking through. rather
than at, the deep blue sky; the gliding on,
at night, so noiselessly, past frowning hills
I SuIlen with dark trees; and sometimes an
cry in one red burning spot high up where
unseen men lay crouching round fire;
the shining out Of the bright stars, undis-
turbed by noise of wheels or steam, or any
other sound than the liquid ripping of the
water as the boat went on; all these were
pure delights.
Then, there were new settlements and
detached log cabins and frame houses full
of interest for strangers from an old coun-
try; cabins with simple ovens outside, made
of clay; and lodgings for the pigs nearly as
good as many of the human quarters; bro
ken windows, patched with worn out hats,
L 1lI nln hn., al L.. l. y.