Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1875-02-11
OLD TINES ON THE MISSISSIPPI.


OLD TIMES ON THE MISSISSIPPI.
When I was boy, there was but one
permanent ambition among my COM
rades in our village on the west bank of
the Mississippi River. This was, tobe a
steamboatman. We had transient am
bitions of other sorts, but they were
only transient. When . circus came
aad went, it left us burning = become
clowns; the first Negro n leR akSw
that ca3,e - oSE - = 4 3 ..x5lE
fefing to try that kind Of lie; now and
then we had a hope that if we lived and
were good, God would permit us to be
pirates. These ambitions faded out,
each in its turn; but the ambition to be
steamboatman always remained.
Once day a cheap. gaudy packet ar
rived upward from st. Louis, and an
other downward from Keokuk. Before
these events had transpired, the day was
glorious with expectancy; after they
had transpired, the day was 4 dead and
empty thing. Not only the boys, but
the whole village, felt this. AfteD all
these years I can picture that old time
to myself now, just as it was then; the
white town browsing in the sunshine Of
q summers morning; the streets emp
ty, or pretty nearly so; one ortwo clerks
sitting in front of the Water Street
stores, with their splint- -bottomed chairs
tilted back against the wall, chius on
breast, hats slouched over their faces,
asleep-with shingle-shavings enough
around to show what broke them down;
a SOW and litter of pigs loafng along
the sidewalk, doing good business in
watermelon rinds and seeds; two or
three lonely little freight piles scattered
about the "levee;" pile Of ''skids" on
the slope of the stone paved wharf, and
the fragrant town drunkard asleep in
the shadow of them; two or three wood
flats at the head of the wharf, but no.
body to listen to the peaceful tapping
of the wavelets against them; tie great
Mississippi, the majestic, the masuifi-
cent Mississippi, rolling its milc-wide
tile along, shining in the sun; the dense
forests away on the other side; the
point" above the town, and the point"
below, bounding tie river-glimpse and
turning it into sort of sea, and withal
very still and brilliant and lonely one.
Presently 4 film Of dark smoke appears
above one Of those remote 'points;" in
stantly negro drayman, famous for his
quick eye and prodigious voice, lifts u
the cry, "S-t-e-a-m-boat a-comin' !" and
the scene changes! The town drunk
ard stirs, the clerks wake up, furious
clatter of drays follows, every house and
store pours out human contribution,
and all i'll twinkling the dead town is
alive and moving. Drays, carts, men,
boys, all go hurryiug from many quar-
tiers to common centre, the wharf
Assembled there, the people fastentheir
eyes upon the coming boat as upon
wonder they are seeing for the first
time. And the boat is rather a hand
some sight, too. She is long and sharp
and trim and pretty; she has two tall,
fancy topped chimneys, with a gilded
device of some kind swung between
them; fanciful pilot-house. all glass
and gin nGerbread," perched on top of
the ''texas" deck behind them: the pad
dle-boxes are gorgeous with picture
or with gildcd rays above the boat $
name; the boiler deck, the hurricane
deck, and the texas deck are fenced and
ornamented with clean white ratings;
there is flag sallantly flying from the
jack-staff; the furnace doors are open
and the fires glariug bravely; the upper
decks are black with passengers; the
captain stands BY the big bell, calm, i'm
posing, the envy Of all: great volumes
of the blacklist smoke are rolling and
tumbling out of the cEimneys-a hus-
banded grandeur created with a bit of
pitch piEe just before arriving at town;
the crew are grouped on the forecastle;
ths broad stage is run far out over the
port bow. and an envied deck-haud
stands picturcsquely on the end of it
with cell of rope in his hand; the pent
steam is screaming through the gua.e-
cocks; the captain lifts his hand. bell
rings, the wheels stop: then they turn
back, churning the water to foam, and
the steamer is at rest. Then such a
scramble as there is to get aboard. and
to get ashore, and to take In freight
and to discharge freight, all Mt one and
the same time; and such a yelling and
cu-sing as the mates facilitate it all
with! Ten minutes later the steamer
is under way again, with no flag on the
jack-staff and no black smoke issuing
from the chinneys. After ten more
minutes the town is dead again, and
the town drunkard asleep by the skids
once more.
Ny father was justice of the peace.
and supposed he possessed the lower
of life and death over all men and could
hang anybody that offended him. This
was distinction enough for me as q gen.
eral thing; but the desire TO be- steam
boatman kept intruding, nevertheless.
first wanted to be n eabin-boy, so that
could come out with a white apron on
and shake table cloth over the side,
where all nv old comrades could see
me; later l thought would rather be
the deck-hand who stood on the end al
the stage-plank with the coil of rope in
his hand, because he was particularly
conspicuous. But these were only day.
dreams-they were too heavenly to bs
contemplated rs real possibilities. By
and BY one of our boys went away. HI
was not heard of for q long time. A,
last he turned upas apprentice enginee,
or STRIKER" on a steamboat. This thirs
shook the bottom out Of all nv Sun
day-sehool teachings. That boy haS
been notoriously worldly, and I Just tn,
reverse; yes he was exalted to this emi