Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1858-05-14
TIE CAPTAIN WHO WOULDN'T RACE
BY THE YOUNG 'uN,

"APTAtN WHO WOULDN'T RACE.
BY THE YOUNG 'uN.
larry In theNspring of the past year n mag
nincent new steamer was launched upon the
OnIo river, and shortly afterwards made her
"pPeaEance at the levee opposite the iOurishing
Guy Oh CINCINNATI. Gilt edged covers enve1
oped the captains :" respects" accompanied
WIN inVltauons TO see her through" upon her
hrst trip, being forwarded to the editorial corps
IN mat vicinity, the chalked hats were "nume-
[0Ys q" the occasion. 1t was a grand affair,
ms aeout OF floating palace, which has since
tnaintained her repute untarnished as the
sIack boat par fTcslfeHce upon the Western
waters Your humble servant was among the
invited guests-and n nice time ho had of II,
found myself on board this beautiful craft
IN close communion with q score of unGuestiop.
aoie besnties. The company proved to he
heterogeneous conglomeratiOn OF character
shhae up OF editors, lawyers, auctiOneers indie
scrioables and = ssncies sprinkIipp of
nonesucbcs. There was stray person, too,
IN tne crowd, but as his leisure time " betwee n
,uloeunSs was spent in trading horses we dis
pensed with his grace before meals
We leit' our mooriDgs an hour before sunset
upon a clear cold afternoon, and passed rspidIy
down stream for a considerable distance. with
ouI experiencing any Out-of-the-way occur
renee The " son of temperance" and the psr-
son Aforesaid amused themselves over smc.
KING whisky tuddy-the boys were relieving
each other Of their sapcrnuous dimes and quar-
ters at eucbre, when a tall gentleman who wns
ssne "hen he was sober, stepped suddenly into
sae cabin with the information that n well,
known - fast boat" had just hove in sight Mt
the mouth oil the kentucky river. The cards
were dropped instanteT, the punches dissp-
PeaIed' and the 'mourners' were soon distrib-
u'ea In Knots upon the promenade deck to note
the progress of events
Our " bully' boat speed away like n bird
however, and the craft behind gave us early
evidence that she should offer no child. nlsy
me fat was in the fire" at oDce-a huge coll
unn ot black smoke curled up in the clear at
m'Srhere-an extra turn or two was visible
upon our own boat, and away we went, A good
Ieai OF excitement existed among the party ms
the rlyal steamer was clearly gaining on us. A
craft like ours, With such n COMPANY and such
a captain. mustn' Z be beaten
AS tte coat behind us fell in under our stern
and wc. could count her passengers. a sort of
impression came over US that, by some mistake,
we had got upon the wrong boat, At least
mat was the expressed opinion of the parson
"a ne threatened to go down stairs and TAX
another drink Ao
Our captain was a noble feIlow-he paced
the deck quietly, with constant eve 10 the
wlndward bat he said nothing A bevy of
the mourners stepped up to him with
. W hat speed cap'n?'
Fair, gentlemen; | think it is very fair -
IesP@nded the captain, calmly, as he placed his
hand upon small brass knob At the bacl of
the pilot house. This movement was respouded
To by The falnt linglng Of bell below. fol-
lowed Immediately by rush of cinders from
the smoke pipes, and an improved action Of
the paddles O-
Now we move again
some, was the response, and 4 momentarv
tremor peryaded the boat as she Slid ,Jons
right smartly o
But tho craft in our rear moved like our sb.d
al ay,I
the river, 1t seemed as if we had her i'm tow go
calmly and uniformly did she follow in our
wake. - ''i
The excitement Of the congregation upon
deck had by this time become intense and II
was pretty plain that the boats must shortly
part company or split something The rascal
behind US took advantage of n turn in the
channel, and = helm "a starbOard :" was clearly
heard from the lookout of our rival. AS she
hove of and suddenly fell alongside us The
parson went below at once to nut his threat
Ih'o execution, as we came up the current
again, $ neck and neck, and when he returned
were running twenty-five knot lick tho steam
smack on to 46 degrees
Sheis gOing-gOing, 90" Inuttered an
auctioneer to himself.
perfect nonsuit, remarked LAWYER tc
his friend. ~
Beaten, but not vanquishcd, added mol.
lhcian and away we scudded side by aide fur
half mile ''U' ioi
Would mt she bear leelle more meekIv
asked the parSOn
She's doing very well :" replied the captsin
Don get excited, gentlemen INV boat il n
new one-her reputation and mine is at stake
We mustn't rush her-racing always ipiure. n
boat, and L am averse to it; saving which ba
applied has thumb and finger to the brass Knob.
agaln-the bell tiEkled in the distance-and
our riVai Pilot shortly had an opportunity TO
examine the architecture Of our rudder post
was acquainted with the engineer. I
stepped below believing VIC should be beaten
rVOm- o
Tim, well be licked-give her another
" raythcr think she moves some as it is,
Yes, but the C is hard on us-ciye her
a1ittle, my boy-just fer
Step in here a moment" remarked Tim
II san mum yOu Accommodating TO be said
en-! Quiet-there don't she trembIe some 1'3
nouced, Tor the first time that our boat
did labor prodigiously,
but come round here," continued Tim
I9ok there NUNS the word you know"
Il stepped out Of that engine room Tim s.id
afterwards, that I sprang out at one bound
bat ne lied in hurry. The solder upon the
connection pipe had melted aad run down ova,
the seams in dozen places, from the excessive
heat-a crOw-bar was braced athwart the
safety valve, with ifty-six upon one end
ana we were shooting down the Ohio under q
head Of steam, chock up to jf:4O!
Ay sleeping apartment was well aft. | en-
tered tho state room-got over upon the back
slde oil my berth-snd stuing tho corners of
the pillow into my ears, and endeayored 10
compress myself in sleep 1t was out of the
question. In attempting to right myself dis
covered that my hair stuck out go straight that
II was Impossible for me to get my head within
SIX inches Of the pillow
tossed about till daylight, in momentary
expectation Of being landed in EentncLy 10,
somewhere else but we got on finely. Ne
led our nval half an hour into Louisville. and
Immediately s"ore upon my nightcap, that
would never accept another invitation for
pleasure trip from steamboat captain who
was syerse TO racing.
WIiT MAKES BUsBHL-Tbo foIIov;,,,