The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1875-09-02
H CARMI CHUMS.

THE CARMI CHUMS.
The Carmi Chums was the name they
went by all along the river. Most other
r~oustabouts had each a name of his own;
so had the Carmi Chums, for that mat
ter, but the men themselves were never
mentioned individually-always collect
lively. No steamboat Captain who want
ed only a single man ever attempted to
hire half of the Carmi Chums at a time
as easy would it have been to have hired
half Of the Siamese Twins. No steam
boatmate who knew them ever attempted
to "tell off" the Chums into different
watches, and any mate who, not know
ing them, committed this blunder, and
adhered to it after explanation was made,
was sure to be two men short immedi-
ately after leaving the steamers next
landing. There seemed no possible way
of separating them; they never fell out
with each other in the natural course of
events; they never fought when drunk,
as other friendly roustabouts sometimes
did, for the Carmi Chums never got
drunk; there never sprang up any cool
ness between them because of love for
the same lady, for they did not seem to
care at all for female society, unless they
happened to meet some old lady whom
one might love as a mother rather than
as a sweetheart. Even professional busy
bodies, from whose presence roustabouts
are no freer than church members, were
unable to provoke the Carmi Chums ever
to suspicion, and those of them who at
tempted it too persistently were likely to
have a difficulty with the slighter of the
Chums. This man, who was called
Black, because of the color of his hair,
was apparently forty years of age, and
of very ordinary appearance, except
when an occasional f%urtive, frightened
look came into his face and attracted at
tention. His companion, called Red,
because his hair was of the hue of car
rots, and because it was occasionally
necessary to distinguish him from his
friend, seemed of about the same age
and degree of ordinances as Black, but
was rather %stouter, more CHEEKY, and, to
use the favorite roustabout simile, held
his head closer to the current. He
seemed, when Black was absent-minded
(as he generally was while off duty, to
be the leading spirit of the couple, and
to be tenderly alive to all of his partners
needs; but observing ~roustabouts no
ticed that henfreight was being moved,
ways where he could keep an eye on his
chum, and where he could demand In
slant reparation from any wretch who
trod upon Reds toes, or who with
shoulderload of wood grazed Reds head,
or touched Red with box or barrel.
Next to a neighborly wonder as to the
existence of the friendship between the
Chums, roustabouts with whom the
couple sailed concerned themselves mos
with the cause of the bond between them.
Their searches after first causes were nc
more successful, however, than those Of
the naturalists who m ~endeavoring to
ascertain who laid the cosmic egg. They
gave out that they cam from Carmi, so,
once or twice, when Captains with whom
the chums were engaged determined to
seek a cargo up the Wabash, upon which
river Carmi was located, inquisitive
roustabouts became ight-hearted. But
alas, for the vanity Of human hopes
when the boat reached Carmi the Chumi
could not be found, MOI could any inhab
liant of Carmi identify them by the de
scriptions which were given by inquirinf
friends.
At length they became known, In thei
collective capacity, a n of the institu
tons of the river. Captains knew then
as well as they knew Natchez or Plank
shaw Bend, and showed them to distin
guished passengers as regularly as the,
showed Gen. Zach. Taylor's plantation
or the scene of the Grand Gulf "cave,
where a square mile of Louisiana drop
ped into the river one night. Captain
rather cultivated them, in fact, although
it was a difficult bit of business, TO
~roustabouts who wouldn't say ''thanl
you" for a glass of French brandy, or
genuine, old-fashioned plantation ci
gar" seemed destitute of ordinary han
dies of which a steamboat Captain coult
take hold. Lady passengers took con
siderable notice of them, and were NOR
successful than any one else at drawing
them into conversation. The linguisti
accomplishments of the Chums were NJ
numerous, but it did one good to Sc
Black lose his scared, furtive look whel
a lady addressed him, and to see tn
affectionate Difference with which he ar
pealed to Red, until that worthy wa
drawn into the conversation. Whe
Black succeeded in this latter-name
operation, he would by insensibl
stages draw himself away, and give hin
self up to enthusiastic admiration of hi
partner, or, apparently, of his convel
sational ability.
The spring of 1869 found the Chum
in the crew of tine Bennett, s'the pee,
less floating palace of the Mississippi,
as she was called by those newspaper
whose reporters had the freedom of th
Benefits bar and the same season sa
the Bennett staggering down the Missi
sippi with 50 heavy a load of sacke
corn, that the gunwales amidships wei
fairly under water. The river was ver
low, SO the Bennettkept carefully in Ii
channel, but the channel of the gre,
muddy ditch which drains half the Unto
is as tickle as disappointed lovers d,
clare woman to be, and it has no mol
respect for great steamer-loads of cor
than Goliath had for David. A lit
Ohio river-boat, bound upward, had +,
ported the sudden disappearance of
woodward a little way above Milliken
Bend, where the channel Rugged I'll
shore, and with the woodward there ha
disappeared an sycamore-tret
which had for years served as a tyin,
post for steamers. AS live sycamore
are about as disinclined to float as bal
of lead are, the Captain and pilot of IL
Bennett were somewhat concerned-fC
the sake of the corn-to know the exa,
location of the tree. Half a mile fro,
the spot it became evident, even to IL
passengers clustered forward On Il
cabin-deck, that the sycamore had r
NAMED quite neal its old home, for
long, rough ripple was seen direct
across the line of the channel. Tit
arose the question as to how much wat
was on top of the tree, and whether al
bar had time to accumulate. II