The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1882-10-25
Low NAVIGATION IN oERMANY.
Boats La Which Hanan Motive psa.. i.
Used.

If German boats themselves will cause an
American any amusement, and they are
amusing to look at, the manner In which
they are propelled will make him laugh
out in meeting.n Naturally, such heavy,
bluG-bowed boats require considerable force
TO move them, even in still water, leaving
entirely out of the question the forcing of
them up against n current. The first thing
m American would think of under such cir.
substances would be to 60 and order a
steam engine. But there are two reasons
why the German boatmen do not use steam.
Ia the first place il is expensive, and in the
second place 1t is dangerous might blow up
aud hurt some one. Steam being out of the
question, the next thing that the American
voyager on the raging canal would think
Of would be horse power But for some
reason probably because this, too, is rather
expensive---tb3s festive Berlin boatmen do
not use horses. Wind power is the third No.
source. But even here the Spree boats are
defective. 10 be sure, they have one mast,
which they raise or lower at pleasure, but ii
only carries one small square sail, and as
it would require nearly full-rigged ships
outfits of canvas to move one of these boats
fast enough to race successfully with q slow
snail, the wind is not depended on as NOV
ing power. No, the Berlin hoatmen have
retained the first principle of boating and
stick to man power. Nor must one suppose
for an instant that the human muscles rein-
forces itself with an ash-breeze - for oars
would have but little effect ON these boats
unless they were arranged In banks, as were
those of the old Roman and Grecian galleys
which would be decidedly expensive in
money, muscle and room. Therefore the
captain of the craft puts his trust In puntine
poles and has himself and his boat pushed
along, much as one would pole duclng
boat through the tules. The crew generally
consists of the captain, deckhand and
sort Of q canalboat boy of all work. The
deckhand and the boy do the polling while
the captain attends to the ordering about OF
the rest of the crew, and manages the clum-
sy eight or ten-foot broad rudder by means
of a fifteen feet long tiller, foot or SO in
diameter. The poles used by the deckhand
and the boy are from fifteen to twenty feet
long, and armed at one end with long iron
spike, for getting q hold ON the bottom, and
with an arrangement like the upper end of q
crutch Mt the other end. When the craft
gets under way and goes "careering on the
bright blue sea the deckhand and the boy
take their poles, go up into the bow, dig
their iron spikes into the mud, place the
crutch arrangements against their shoulders,
and, bent nearly double and helping them
selves along by catching their hands on the
low gunwale, go tramping, straining stoop-
ing, sweating and pushing down into the
waist of the boat, and clear into the stern
Arrived here they straighten up, give their
poles twist to detach them from the bot
tom, wipe their perspring brows on their
shirt sleeves, and go tramping back to the
bow, dragging their poles after them to re-
peat the performance. / thought I had
seen men doing hard work in California,
but this polling of one of these boats of from
fifty to one hundred tons makes all other
work that ever saw done seem, by the con-
trast the most delightful recreation imagin-
able. But it would not be so aggravating il
they made any Roadway to speak of. For
then their labor would meet with some wish
BILE reward. San Francisco Chronicle.