New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1875-03-28
OLD TIMES On TIE MISSISSIPPI.
Bf MARK TWAIN.

III MARK TWAIN.
fV,-Thc 'Cubo Pilots Education Near!
Completed.
WhOsoever has done me the courtesy {
read my chapters which have preceded thi
may possibly wonder that deal so minute
~ with plotting as a science. 1t was tn
prime purpose Of these articles; and | al
not quite done yet. | wish to show. in tn
most patient and painstaking way, what
wonderful science it is. Ship channels ar
buoyed and lighted, and therefore it is
comparatively easy undertaking to learI
to run them; clear water rivere, with grave
bottoms, change their channels very grad
TALLY, and therefore one needs to learI
them but once; but plotting becomes
another matter when you apply it tc
vast streams like the Mississippi anG
the Missouri, whose alluvial banks cave
and change constantly. whose snags are
always hunting up new quarters, whose
sandbars are never at rest, whose channels
are forever lodging ard Sinking, and
whose distractions must be confronted in
all nights and all weatheTs without the aid
of a single lighthouse or single buoy; for
there is neither light nor buoy to be found
anywhere in all this 5000 or 1000 miles OF
villainOus river. feel justified in enlarging
upon this great science for the reason That
feel sure no one has ever yet written a
paragraph about it who had piloted a
steamboat himself, and so had a practical
knowledge of the subject. If the theme
were hackneyed, l should be obliged to
deal gently with the reader; but since it is
wholly new, have felt at liberty to take
up a considerable degree Of room with it.
When l had learned the name and
position Of every visible feature of the
river; when had so mastered its shape
that l could shut my eyes and trace it
from st. Louis to New Orleans; when |
had learned to read the face Of the water as
one would Gull the news from the morning
paper; and finally, when 1 had trained my
dull memory to Treasure up an endless
array GOT sOundings and crossing marks,
and keep fast hold of them, judged that
my education was complete; so l got to
fitting my cap to the side of my head, and
wearing a tOOthpick in my mouth at the
wheel. Mr.. B. had his eye on these airs
One day he said:
What is the height of that bank yoHder.
at Burgess"
"How can tell, sir 1t is three-quarters
OF mile away"
Every poor eye-very poor. Take the
glass"
l took the glass, and presently said:
81 can't tell. suppose that that bank is
about a foot and a half high"
"FOOt and half! That's six-foou bank
How high was the bank along here last
tripw
"You didn't? Well, you must always do
1t hereafter"
"WhyW
because you'll have to know good
many things that 1t tells you. For one
thing, it tells you the stage OF the river
tells you whether there's more water or less
in the river along here than there was last
tri ls,,. lad. 80, 49, ..,.,
[ had the advantage of him there.
ayes, but suppose the leads lie' The
bank would tell you so. and then you'd
stir those leadsmen up bit. There was a
tenfOOt bank here last trip, and there is
only six-fOot bank now. What does that
signify!"
That the river is four feet higher than it
was last trip"
Very good. Is the river rising or falling"
"Risng."
"NO it amt.
81 guess | am right, sir. IOnder is some
drift wood floating down the stream
"A rise starts the drift wood, but then it |
keeps on floating while after the river is |
done rising Now the bank will tell you |
about this. Wait till you come to a place |
where it shelves little. Now here; do you |
see this narrow belt of fine sediment! That |
IA.
You see the drift wood begins to strand,
too. The bank helps in other ways. Do |
you see that stump ON the false point.'
'Ay, ay, SIR
"Well, the water is just up to the roots OF /
IT, You must make note OF that"
"Why!'
Because that means that there's seven
ieet in the chute of One Hundred and
Three"
But One Hundred and Three is a long
way up the river yet
That's where the benefit Of the bank
comes in. There is water enough in
One Hundred and Three now, yet
there may not be by the time we
get there; but the bank will keep US posted
all along. You don't run close chutes ON
falling river, up stream, and there are pre-
cious few of them that You are allowed to
run at all down stream. There's law of
the United States against it. The river
may be rising by the time we get to One
Hundred and Three, and in that case we'll
Iun it. We are drawing-how much?''
six feet aft-siX and half forward"
well, you do seem to know something"
But what 1 particularly want to know
e, II have got TO keep up an everlasting
OF the banks of this river, 1900 |
miles. month in and month Out''
''Of coursei'
My emotions were too deep for words for
while. Presently said:
land how about these chutes, Are there /
many of them!"
II should say SO. l fancy we shant
IN any of the river this trip as you've ever {
cen 1t run before-so to speak IfIt
ne river begins to rise again, we'll
o up behind bars that you've ALWAYS seen
landing out of the river. high and dry like
he roof of house; we'u cut across low
laces that you've never noticed at all,
ght through the middle of bars that cover '
tty acres of river; we'll creep through I
racks where you've always thought was t
Sid land; we'll dart through the woods I
nd leave twenty-five miles of river Oft to
10 side; we'll see the hind side of every
land between New Orleans and Cairo
Then I've got to 60 to work and learn '
st as much more river as l already
low.'
Just about twice as much more, as near q
you can come at it,
well, one lives to find out. l think | t
az a fool when went into this business Il
..Yes, that is true. And you are yet. But Q
u'll not be when you've learned it. u
''Ah, never can learn 1t.
II will see that you do
By and by / ventured again: ~
Have l got to learn all this thing Just u
know the rest of the river-shapes and q
and so can run it at night9' =.
Yes. And you've got to have good fair II
rks from one end Of the river to the II
er, that will help the bank tell you Of