Connecticut western news., 1875-05-14
OS THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.
Wmr& T~@s2ss Exzxwsxmr<@ @a . C@A Pas
 &a EAe Mss@s~zsRRA

 wzS also have. Re EGSs have good and q1Ssk s~sSDszta21 aecssSoa, SDd cod. es21 csEr$ce SAsst Ho pe<I cAn shake sSSzS with. and by the t1noe he has be cazae ra1oS he caazoS be unnaa0ned by Szv SaRCeE a steamboat can Sct into : but one cannot quite say the same for SaaSUezS> JasSuent Ss a matter of eEzSzsN and Esa maSt sEart with . good ssNck Of tazE S<sSe2e. or he viii never s1ccea5 &S pl1SS>
 The ST0w7A os courage in the pilot hOzse Is steady sl the tlme, but 1t does nof reach a hSCh and satisfactory con6~ s1cn nrtzl some time after the young plot hxs beeR <SSSa0dlnC his own watch alone and under the staggering weight 0f SM the re<SeeaShSRtSes connected with the position When an spprentSce has beco@e pretty tasoCo0ghly acquainted wltA the uVe-s be goes cGatteTing along 50 ses-aessly with his steamboat, nIght or day, thzt he presently begins to i'm sgzne tasst tt Is hSs coarSge that Snlmates hIm but the first tSme the pilot steps ouS and leaves him to hls own devices, De finds out it was the other mans He discovers that the article has been left
 
 whole rIver Is hTIStling with exigenc1eS ln . EaoneDts he Is not prepared for them he does not know how to meet thens all his knowledge forsakes him i, and wltAIn fifteen minutes he is as white ss . sheet, and Scared almost to death. Therefore. pilots wisely train thess cubs sgyvNrlOus ssategSc tricks to look danger m the face . little more calmly. A 2 E-- s,< A.. ly swindle upon the candidate.
 NIT. R served me in this fashion once, and fur years afterward used to blush even in my sleep when I thought sf 1t. I had become a good steerSmans so good. indeed. that I had all the work to do on our watch. night and day. Mir. R seldom made 8 suggestion to me; all he ever did was to take the wheel on par lcularly bad nights or in particularly bad crossings, land the boat when she needed to be landed. play gentleman of leisure nIne-tenfhs of the watch, and col lect the wages The lower river was about bank-full, and if anybody had questioned my ability to run any cross ing between Cairo and New Orleans without help or instruction, I should have felt irreparaIly hurt The idea of
 
 m the daytime, was a thing too prepos- terous for contemplation. We'll, one matchless summers day I was bowling down the bend above island 66, brim. ful of self-conceit and carrying my nose as high as a giraffeis, when MT. B. said: ::
 am going below a while. I sup pose you know the next crossing2" This was almost an affront. It was al m the whole river. One wouldn't come to any hard4, whether he ran it right or not and as for depth, there never had been any bottom there. I knew all this. perfectly well. v
 "Know how to run itf Why, I can run it with my eyes shut"
 How much water is there in 1t ["
 Well, that Is an odd question. I couldn't get bottom there with a church steeple. !" T7-.
 Hou think 30, do you 2"
 The very tone of the question shook my confidence. That was what Mir. B. was expecting. He left without saying anything more began to imagine all sorts of things. Nr. B., unknown to me, of course, sent somebody dewn to the forecastle with some mysterious in- ! senger was sent to whisper among the officers, and then Mir. B. went into hiding behind smokestack where he could observe results. Presently the captain stepped out on the hurricane deck; next the chief mate appeared: then clerk. Every moment or two a straggler WAS added to my audience; and before U got to the head of the island had fifteen or twenty people assembled down there under my nose. I began to wonder what the trouble was. As I started across, the captain glanced aloft at me and said, with sham uneasiness in his voice:
 Where IS Mir. B. P"
 "Gone below, sir.
 imagination began t0 construct dangers out of nothing, and they multiplied faster than I could keep the run of them All at once I imagined saw shoal watel ahead The wave of coward agony that surged through me then came near dis locating every joint in me- All my con fidence in that crossing vanished. seized the bell-rope; dropped it ashamed; seized it again; dropped il once more; clutched it tremblinClv once again, and pulled it so feebIy that could hardly hear the stroke myself Captain and mate sang out instantly, and both together: " Starboard lead there and quick about itl'
 This was another shock. I began tt climb the wheel like q squirrel: but would hardly get the boat started to DOT before would see new dangers on tha side, and away would spin to the other only to find perils accommodating to star board, and be crazy to get to port again Then came the 1eadman's sepalchra cry: .-.
 "D D-e-e-p four!"
 Deep four in bottomless crossing The terror of it took nay breath away.
 Mark threel Mark three Quarter less three Half twain l'
 This was frightful I I seized the bell ropes and stopped the engines. "Quarter twain! Quarter twain Mark twainl"
 was helpless. I did not know wha in the world to do. I was quaking iron head to foot, and could have hung m, cap on my eyes, they stuck out so far. "Quarter less twain -o Nine and half r .a..s I'm f.. .T5' .. r' .-
 We were drawing nine! My hand were in nerveless fiutter. I could no ring bell intelligibly with them. a flew to the speaking tube and shouted t l the engineer: