Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-12-24
THE pOrONaC EUSxsEnw.r
FROM CHARLES LANMAN's ''RECOLLECTIONs, ETC.

FROM CHARLES LANMAN's ':RECOLLECTIONs," ETC.
| am an old man. and have been the chief
fisherman in this locality for thirty-five years l
first saw the light in this region, and here ex-
pect to die. Time is beginning to tell on my
stOrm-eXposed bones. but as have raised around
me a large family of good boys and girls, shall
be quite willing to go away when my Maker calls
Such swar,ns of tish-Of rock stfish and shad. of
herring. catfish and surgeons | have caught
in the old Potomac. and such quantities of ducks,
rabbits and cartridges. as have killed in tn is
valley during the winters, 1t would be hard to
estimate And oh. how many and what awful
freshets have witnessed. l have worked hard.
tried to dOmy duty, and. upon the whole. have
led happy life can remember when the first
chain bridge was thrown across the river just
below the big Eddy that bridge and ali it's
successors | have seen carried away
Little did 1 think in those old days
that | should ever hear the guns
of civil war on this spot and see thousands upon
thousands of soldiers marching from one side of
the river to shoot down in cold blood their
brothers on the other side. But the rebellion is
over now. and am very glad and thankful. The
fighting is at all end, and all the troops have
long since gone to their various homes. except
ing those who are sleeping on the hills of Ar
lington. 1t used to be real pleasure to me to
see these poor fellows enjoying themselves when
in camp at the Little Falls and to hear the music
OF their regimental bands. That music was very
grand. know. and the blast of the bugle stirred
ones blood: but to my ear. after all. nothing
sounded so sweety as did the singing of the
birds, the roar of the river, and the mellow horns
of the canal bOatmen, in the good old times
when You might have travelled many miles up
this valley in the pleasant autumn without meet
ing single man. Peace and real comfort filled
the land in those days, and such sounds as the
railroad whistle and the beating 0fthe drum were
unknown.
The drum, That makes me think of the drum
mer boy who persisted in these waters more
than hundred years ago. 1t is an old tradi-
ton, and a sad one too and now that nv steps
are getting feeble and slow. cannot we'll drive
it from my mind. as l could in former years. 1t
was in the time of one of the Indian wars, and a
band of British infantry. on their way from the
Old Dominion to the regions of the great lakes,
CHANGED to cross the Potomac at this point.
They crossed in bateau, and although the first
of them stepped into the boat. to the music OF
the drum. before the last Of them were ferred
| over an accident occurred, and the favorite of
| the band. the drummer boy, with his drum about
| his neck, was drowned, and forever disappeared
from human sight. The soldiers had no more
| music and their march through the interminable
woods was sOrrOwful indeed. They could not
/ forget their happy little cOmrade, the drummer
| boy; and since that time the valley of the POtO-
mac has ever and anon resOunded with the mrl-
| sic OF the phantom drum. Old men tell me
| that it was often heard in revolutionary times
and know that have heard something like it
| in my Own-yes, more than a hundred times
1t was often heard at midnight in the pauses OF
| thunder storm, now minglng with the roar OF
| waters in spring flood, and again stealing
softly through the quiet summer or autumna
atmosphere. But what was very strange, when
! ever that phantom drum was heard the riyel
was sure to bring up from its depths the body
of some man who had been drowned. 1t was
thought by many that the man who first
heard the pealing of this strange sound
was sure to lose his life by drowning before the
| Coming morrow. l am not superstitiOus, but
this may be something more than fancy. yer,
| well know that when fell from high rock into
the upper pool or ''spout.' of the Little Falls,
heard u mysterious sound, and thought Of thu
| phantom drum. So, also, when once floating
tree upset my boat and plunged me into the hel
of waters below the falls That the ghost o
was believed by many of the inhabitants of th
! part OF Virginia, which has been long known a
CoOney; and there is man still living who vii
| take his oath that the phantom once on a moon
| light night, climbed into his boat while he wa
fishing, and that he sat there for a long tim,
beating the air as If performing tattoo or re
veille.. The drumming of the spirit is said t.
| have been heard most frequently before tn,
building Of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
when the river was navigated by boats which
| were taken around the two Falls Of the Potomac
6y short canals, built under the direction O
George Washington; and we all know that tn,
number OF people drowned in the Potomac wa
greater then than it has been in later years, ex
cept during the Rebellion. Under cOntendin.
| flags, alas! drowned men and the dscOrdan
drum have lately been of far too frequent occur
renee in the valley Of the Potomac. There wa
q time when these fancies made me unhappy
but now they do not trouble me. am growing
old, and though might prefer to have my bod
prised, nor care, at any time to hear the viii
music Of the phantom drum.