Connecticut western news., 1889-01-30
CANAL BOAT LIFE.
Scenes at the Tabernacle of Arti- ficial Waterway Navigators.

Scenes at the Tabernacle of Arti-
 ficial Waterway Navigators. The CanalIer's Mode of Life
 While in Winter Quarters.
 "Yes siree, navigation s shet up tight an damned; ther' won't be ary boat through the canal till May CT later"
 The speaker was captain, mate, bo' sun, carpenter and one-third of the crew be- longing to a big, wall-sided, white painted canal boat that lay in the old Morris Canal Basin at the foot of Hen. derson street, Jersey City. For nearly quarter of mile in either direction stretched the vista of canal boats that had tied up for the winter. To the un- initiated they all seemed of one size and shape, but the true canaller IS as proud of his boats lines and individual identi- ty as any yachtsman afoat, and to mis- take one canal boat for another is to make enemies of both captains. But at this time of year they merge professional jealousies into the effort for general com fort. End to end and side to side lie hun dreds of canal boats, the inner ones, or those nearest the shore or dock, afford ing, by means of long plank placed from rail to rail amidships, access to the land for those who are on the edges of the peaceful feet But woe betide the luckless canaller, who, without formal and loud-voiced invitation, ventures to depart from this plank and set foot upon the deck proper of the boat he is crossing on his way to shore. That law is ire vocable and none are hardy enough to at tempt defiance. "Ef we want yer we'll call yer," is the rule as expressed by the authorities, and it is dominant.
 From the middle of December until 'May or later" these boats lie torpid as | far as commerce is concerned. They 1 gather in several places around New | York. Some in the Erie Basin at South | Brooklyn, some at Fourteenth street, | Hoboken, few at Coenties Slip, New l York, and the rest at the Morris Canal Basin, or as it is now called the Jersey Central Basin, despite the fact that it is controlled by the Lehigh Valley Rail road. This latter basin has been used by the canal boats ever since war times, but when the Lehigh road obtained control they cleared out every canal boat and lighter. For time they kept away, but the railroad, finding that they could not utilize the basin to any better ad- vantage, renewed the ancient permission, and the boats focked back to their old quarters More than half of them are in habited by captains and their families, and as result the big fleet is little city in itself. Although there are no back fences over which to exchange gos- sip and gather food for criticism ot neighboring habits, the worthy wives find it just as easy to talk over the gun wales of their respective abodes, and SC far as overlooking the actions of the neighboring family is concerned, the ab- sence of fence or wall is boon instead of deprivation.
 When boat comes in for the season she is given berth made fast securely, and then all hands turn to house clean ing, which, in opposition to the general rule, is done in the winter instead of the spring. The men wash out and thor oughly vcntilatc the hold, while the women clean and SCOUT the cabin and its appurtenances. Stores for the winter arc brought aboard and the family settle down to their Information. If there arc children they are sent to one of the three schools near by in Jersey City, for the canaller is too true an American to lose all opportunity for educating his young ones.
 From financial point of view tht business is not very remunerative. Il the captain is also the owner he may, by careful management and good luck make $500 year above expenses. i he is an employe he receives $5 day fol his services, out of which amount ht must pay his crew and all his expense: save horse hire, stabling and blacksmith work. That is done by the owner During the war and before the railroads so thoroughly covered New York State it was not at all difficult for canal boa captain to make a thousand dollars in { run, which occupies about twenty days providing, of course, that he owned his boat But times have very much changed and there is not nearly enough work fol the number of boats afoat which is get ting fewer every year.-Neao Iorl Graphic.
 The Czar's Dazzling Palace.
 Tsarkoe Seloe, the Russian Czar's palace near St. Petersburg, stands 1T grounds eighteen miles in circumference In the palace there is a room known a the lapis-lazuli room, the floor of whicI