Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1875-01-29
WESTERN i.TFE-O..D TslTi.. Us ~ a.
1:I-SISNIPEI.


When Twas boythere was bl. uae YER
maueut ambition among nv c1,lra Us IN our
village on tie west hank If the Mississippi
river That was 10 Re q s;camhoatman. "
had transient ambitions Of other sorts hat
they were only transient. " hen q circus
came and went !; LETT u, aii naruiu- - hc-
come clowns. the f-~r negro mi>rral show
that came 10 oar section LETT uS all suffering
to try that kind of life now and then We
lad hope that ii We lived ami were good
tod w5a.d permit Us To- he pirate-. These
ambitions iiici out each in is tarr hlt the
ambition to be stelmh1I.mln always rc-
mainei
Ny iather was n justice OF the peace. AMI
supposed be possessed tie power Of life and
death over al men and couil hang anybody
that offended him This va~ distinction
enough for me aS general ,hin,. llt the
desire 10 be a steamhcatman kept iutruting.
nevertheless first wanted 10 he % cabin
boy, 50 that could come on: wiz. white
apron On AMI SHAKE 4 tah.c-cl1tn over tie
side, where all NY Old comrades could see
me: later | thoggLt would rather be the
deck-hand on the end of the s:asc-plank
with the coil OF rope in lis hand. because he
was particularly consp p-'uouS. Bat those
were only day-dreamS-they were TOO hea-
vcnly TO he contemplated l. real po~-iAilities.
By and by one Of our boys went away. He
was not heard of for long time. Vt las, ne
turned up as apprentice engineer o- "striS-
err on a steamboat. This thing shook the
bottom out of all my Sunday scnooi teach
ings. That boy had been VIGOROUSLY world
". lust the reverse yet lie was exalted
-, ! IL Z
misery. There was nothing generous about
this fellow in his GREATNESS. lie would al
ways manage to have rusty bolt 10 scrub
while his boat tarried at oar town, and he
would sit on the inside guard and scub it,
where We all could see him and envy him
and loath him. And whenever his boat WIS
laid up he would come home and swell
around town in the b.ackest and greatest
clothes. 80 that nobody could help remem-
berirg that he was a Steawh.atm1u and Ire
used all sorts Of steamboat ,cchnicalitieS IN
lis talk. rs il he was 50 used 10 them that
he forgot common people could NOT under
stand them. lie would speak oi tie
- larboard' side OF horse in an
easy. natural wy that would make one
wish lie was dead. And lie wls aiwayS
talking about - ST. L1oy" like m old citi-
zen he would refer casually 10 occasions
when he was coming down Fourth street. L."
OF when - passing by the Planter house,
or when there was a fire and he took 4 turn
ON the brakes OF - the old Missouri :; and
then nc would 90 on ard lie about how many
towns the lie Of ours was bIrnt down that
day Two or three Of the boys had long been
persons Of consideration among as because
they had been 70 ST. Louis once and had .
vague, general knowledge Of iJs wonders,
but the day oc their glory was over now.
They lap>ed INTO an humble silence. and
learned to disappear when the ruthless
"cub" engineer approached. This fellow
had money too. and hair-Oil. Also an igno-
rant silver watch and shDwy brass watch
chain. lie wore leather bel5 and used no
suspenders. Il ever Il youth WIS cordially
admired anI hated by his comrades. this one
WAS No girl could Withstand his charms.
lie ''cut OUT ever bay in the village. " hen
his boat blew up at last, it difiused Il tran
| quill contentment among Us such as We had
not known for months. Bar when ne came
home the next week, alive, renowned, and
appeared in church all battered up and band
aged, 4 shining hero. stared at and wondered
over by everybody, it seemed to Us that the
piTtiuIity O4 lrOfiUtHcc iVt dl ui-e-tiNiuS
reptile had reached n point where it was
open to criticism.
This creatures career could produce but
one result, and it speedily followed. Boy
after boy managed to get ON the river. The
minister's son became an engineer. The
doctors and the postmaster's sons became
- mud-clerks - the wholesale liquor deal
ers son became a bar-kceper on Il boat four
sons of the chief merchant and TWO sons Of
the county judge became pilots. Pilot was
the grandest position of all. The pilot. even
in those days OF trivial wages. had Il prince
ly sallry-lrom hundred and fifty to two
hundred and fifty dollars u month, and no
board to pay. Two months Of his wages
would pay preachers salary for year.
| Now some Of Us were left discon-olnte. We
could not get on the river-at least our pa
rents would not let Us.
So by and by ran away. said | never
would come home again till ! was pilot
and could come in glory. Bat somehow |
could not manage it. | went Ineekly aboard
a few Of the boats that lay packed together
ike sardines at the long St. Louis wharf,
and very hunbly enquired for the pilots, but
got only a cold shoulder and short words
| from mates and clerks. had to make the
best of this sort Of treatment for the time