St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1875-07-23

>IORl NnI FROM TuE ATLANTIC
Won IIII
From the Confessions "f old Mississippi river
Steamboat Man

WON VILLA.
From the Confessions OF ,u old Mississippi river
Steamboat Man.
":i> inst engineer of the Alexander
scott when SAM Clemens (NIark Twaim
N'> u cub III her pilot house He WIS
a 'hlpprr Young chap. with lru> no
"I"%"r !liam i casting line. and fdIIcr of
Tricks than Il mule colt. He worked of
Jokes on every body aboard. from the
skipper down Ia the darI,v deck hands.
hut they WrIc all taken in good part.
only lay hN tw" "r three to p.N back.
Nh"ui the time sam got the run of the
ilNrl well enough I" stand alone at the
wheel. the Scott went into the lower
i'htI trade. carry ing cotton tlrm Mem
N"u never see Il boat in the cotton trade
burn Well. You may cover ynur cot
ton from stem to stern with tarpaIIliu>.
and keep l"mr donkey engines steamed
up, but il Il spark ut fire touches cotton
enough Ia fill Il tooth. Nnur boat Il
corpse. IT. quickcI'm gnmpowdcr to
hmn. and II" pilot can reach the lower
deck from the texas in time Ia save
himself. let alone his SaIat"ga 50.
l"u So. every body III that trade i on
boat lu:i'rd with cotton will turn Il
man llaIr gray quicker'n IN alligator
can SWalicr Il ui"gcr.
sam being u Young pilot. and new To
the cotton trade was told over and oven
again how the profession would lose Il
promising cub if ever Il fire broke out
ON the Scott, and the hoy cot ucrNou>.
Nv striker and me always managed to
hc in the lunch-ru"m when sam came
of watch and rs he came in we would
talk about the number ot cotton boat,
that burnt in such wear. and how such
Il cub would have made Il lightning pi-
lot if he hadn't gol burnt up in the cot =
ton trade. ahd we always noticed that
Sans appetite failed him after that.
and instead of going to bed he would
90 prou lin" around the lower deck. and
pccrimg about the hatchwaNs. smelling
1T every opening. like Il pup that had
lost its master.
One day. when we backed ont of
Memphis with big cargo of cotton.
complained i'll Sans hearing, that the
mate had loaded the boat too near the
engines. The boy followed me into the
cmgimc-room, aud. without seeming to
notice him, told my striker would
do my level best to keep that cotton
from catching fire, but that it w;Is il
slim chance with bales piled right up
before the furnacc-loors. S;rm got
whitcr'n Il bulk head. and went up la
the texas. where he packed his Sara
toga, ready for any business that might
come before the meeting. When he
went on watch posted the second clerk
to keep AN eye on him.
lie hid behind Il smokc-slack and SIM
Sam alone in the pilot house. his liair
on end, his face like Il corpSeS and his
eyes sticking out so far You could have
knocked them off with stick. He
danced around the pilot house, turned
up his nose like he was smelling ior :,
polecat; pulled every bell, turned the
boats nose for the bank, and yelled
''tire y. like Il Cherokee Indian on the
war-Path. That yell bought every body
Oh deck. We had IL big cargo of pas
sengers, and the women Screcchcd, the
men rushed for cork pillows, and the
crew yanked the doors off their hinges
and rushed to the guards, ready to go
overheard at the first moderation of
weather. The skipper had hard work
to make the crazy passengers believe
that there wasn'tany fire, but he brought
them t" reason finally. paid no at =
ttntIon to Sans frantic wells. 50 the
boat didn't run her nozzle against the
bank he aimed for. The captain and
first pilot and Il lot of passengers. after
hunting all over the boat, couldn't find
sign OF fire anywhere outside the fur
nares, and then they went for Sam. He
swore up and down that he smelt cotton
burning: no use talking to him-he
knew the smell of burning cotton, and
by thunder he had smelt it.
! The first pilot said kind of soft and