New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1874-12-20

Through nsnosy's alsbaster shrine
70 cheer my devious way.
Thy stretching woods Of oak and pines
Thy graves, alss! they tea ere mine,
Where marble gusrds my kindred clay.
And stars eternal shine.
But hence, vain dnssm-tenpt not my soul.
nor lingering hope besuils,
no moro On my dark path shall fall
RAis AlAhauss suHA ~ -
4sr bsw nay msrtai ceps With fate,
And why lament, when AL too lstes
Splltwsnty ysass OF stern sxile-
Adieui my nstive Ststei
old TIMES ON THE MISSISSIPPI.
By MARX TWAIN.
When vas . boy there IVES but one per
0aneht ambition among my comrades il
our village on the west bank of the NissiG
sippi river. This Yea to be . steamboatman
We had transient ambitions of other sorts
but they were only transient. When circul
came and went, it left Us all burning to be
come clowns; the inst negro minstrel show
that camo 70 our section left 10 ill sufArinf
to try that kind Of life; now and then W
8 1a1 . hope that Il We lived and were good
God would permit us't0 be pirates. These
ambitions faded out, each in its turn, buj
the ambition to DO . steamboatman alwaya
tpDained. rSa Hs ilA ss
Once : day cheap, guady packet arrived
upward from St. Louis, and another down.
ward from Keokuk. Before these events
had tra0spirsd, the day was glorious with
expectancy; sfter they had transpired, the
day was dead and empty thing. Not
this. After oil these years, can picture
tAat old time to myself now, just % it was
tbcn; the white town drowning IN the sum
shine Of . summers morning; the streets
empty, or pretty nearly 40; one or two
clerks citing in front of the Water street
At0res, with their splint bott0med chairs
tilted back against tho wall, ,chins on
breasts, hats slouohed over their faces,
= taGIeep-with shingle ehavings enough
, sround to show what broke them down; .
sov and litter of pigs loafng along the
sidewalk. doing . good business in water
melon rinds and seeds; two or three lonely
little freight piles scattered shout the
"levee;" . pile Of "skids" on the slope of the
stonepsved wharf, and the fragrant town
drunkard asleep in the shadow Of them; two
or three wood flats at the head of the wharf
but nobody to listen to the peaceful tapping
Of the wavelets against them; tho great
mississippi, the majestic, the magnificent
Mississippi, rolling its mile wide tide along.
shining In the sun; the dense forest away on
tho other side; the 'point" above the town,
and the ''pOint" below, bounding the river
glimpse and turning it into sort of sea,
and withal q very still and brilliant and
lonely one. Presently a film Of dark smoke
appears above one Of those remote "points;"
instantly negro drayman, famous for his
quick eye and prodigiOus voice, lifts up the
cry, "S-to-e IN boat a.cOmin'" and the scene
changes! The town drunkard stirs, clerks
wake MP, furiOus clatter of drays follows,
every house and store pOurs out human
contribution. and all in o twinkling the dead
town is alive and moving. Drsys, carts,
men, boys, all 90 turrying from many
Assembled there, the people fastsn their
eyes upon the coming boat ~ upon won
der they are seeing for tie first time. And
the boat e rather . handsome sight, too She
y long and sharp and trim and pretty; she
has two tall, fancy topped chimneys. with
gilded device Of s0me kind swung between
them; . fanciful pi;othouse, all glass and
''texas" deck behind them; the paddle
boxes are gorgeous with . picture OF with |
Eilded rays above the b0at'a name; the
boiler deck, the hurricane deck, and tho |
texan deck are fenced md ornsmented with |
clean white ratings; there is flag
calamity flying from the jackstaff; the fur
mace doors are open and the fires glazing /
bravely; the upper decks are black with /
passeD gers: the captain stands by the big /
bell, calm, imposing, the envy Of all; great
volumes of the blackest smoke are rolling
and tum bling out Of the chimneys-a hus-
banded grandeur created with bit of pitch
pine Just before arriving at town; the |
Grew are grouped on the fOrecastle; the
broad stage is run far out over tho port
bow, and an envied deck hand stands
on the end of it with coil of
-. 80 Al i
ne through the gauge.cocks; the captain
Tits his hand, bell rings, the wheels stop;
hen they turn back, churnipg the water to
J foam, and the steamer il at rest Then
uoh scramble 40 there is to get aboard, |
md to get ashore. and to take in freight
md to discharge freight, sll at one and the
anne time; and such yelling and cursipg
y the mates facilitate it With Ten MN
ties later the steamer is under way again,
nth no flag on her jSckstaff and no black
mOke issuing from the cbimneys. After
On moro minutes the town IL dead again, |
nd the town drunkard asleep by the skids
nee more.
Ny father was Justice OF the peace, and
supposed he possessed the power Of life
nd death over all men and could hang
ny body that offended him. This was dis,
notion enough for me ~ general thing;
ut the desire to be . steambOstman kept |
ltruding, never, h-less. first wanted to
) cabin boy, % that l could como out 4,
it'll white apron on and shake table
9th over the side where oil my old COM
ldes could see me-; later thought would {
Ither be the deck hand who stood on the 4
ID of the stage plank with the coil of rope |
his hand because he was particularly {
'nspicuous. But these were only day
wer6t TOO heavenly to be con-
mplated as real possibilities. By and by
10 of orr boys went away. He was not
,ard of for long time. At last he turned I
eamboat. This thing shook the bottom I
It Of all my Sunday school teachings. T
hat boy. bad been nOtOriously worldly, | I
ID Just the reverse: vet he " as exalted TO | 1
} emluence. and left in obscurity and a
isery There was nothing generous about i
is fellow in bis greatness. He would al
ava manage to have y rusty bolt ~ scrub I
Aile his boat tarried ut our town, and ,
would sit on the inside guard and scrub
where We could ell zee him and envy him d
d lOathe him. Whenever lis boat was q
d up he would come home and swe'l
Duud town in the blackeet and greatest
,thes, so that nobody could help remeID- "
ring that he was steambOatmaD; and he b
ed all sorts of steamboat t~chnicsllti~s IN | O
talk, ~ if he were ~ used to them that "
forgot common people could not under d
md them. He would speak of the "lab- .
Ards side Of hOrse in an esey, natural .
v that would make ono wish be Was b'
ad.s And he was slwayss talking about II
/. LoOy" like an old citizen; hS would Q,
er casually 10 occasions when be "was o.
ming down Fourth street" or when be "a
passing BY the Planters House." ID