Telegram-herald., 1891-04-18
DOWN Ins MISSISSIPPI
Dessrspsssa 81 voyage ~tth the Cur
rsas 81 sAn Father Of Wzssrs-

pres2ye thaa the pl1ot house. In these
piping TIMES o. pssee the life ot the pilot
Of oas Of these boats Is by no means q
thorny one-teat Is. uniess the water Is
high, which il was NO. during my recent
voyage down
IL takes about two years - learn the
river. and young man who has the
necessary qualifications 10 become FIRST
class licensed pilot, and does 50 become,
gets $50 month for turning the wheel
around. blowing various whistles. ring
ing various bells. manipulating the cleo
TIE search light, eating three square
meals a day and smoking the passengers
cigars while he answers their questions.
OF course am referring 10 the irst class
pilot on the best boats.
A httie more than a quarter Of cent
ury ago, when grim war IVES abroad IN
the land. the pilots lot was not such a
happy one. He got GOO month. it is
true, bet his pilot house was often made
Of iron or steel. which was In itself dis
agreeable. and if his head appeared TO be
IN range he was liable 10 be discharged
from active service without any warning
by stray bullet. The pilot had no pro-
lection sometimes except wood, and his
chances Of dying sudden death would
be increased quite perceptibly.
But ut present by far the most inter
esting part OF the pilots duty to the pas
sengers is when he makes a landing at
night. and this is when he displays to its
fullest extent his wonderful capacity as
pilot. He isaided greatly By the mod
ern search light, which is really q won
derful affair. II is at the bow Of the
boat, and the pilot from his house can
turn it on any object he wants TO. Ii is
20 powerful that it discloses objects dis
tinctly quarter of q mile away.
Sometimes landings are made on the
river bank, where not single man
can be seen. and il occasionally happens
that the boat has 10 wait for the agent
TO get dressed aad get to the landing
OF course the freight must be paid for,
and as the agent IS the only man who
can do this his presence is necessary
The comings aud goings OF the boat are
somewhat uncertain, SO ii would be ex-
tremely foolish for the agent to sit all
night on the bank of the river with his
legs dangling over especially il Their
happened to be high, waiting for the
boat TO come. The pilot whistles few
minutes before the landing is made, and at
night this acts like an alarm clock to the
agent, who jumps out Of bed, dresses,
and if he happens to live some distance
from the landing gets on his horse and
gallops of with his freight money.
1t is not very often, however, that the
boat is kept waiting through any delay
On the part of the agent, and it is inter
esting to watch the celebrity with which
tho landing is made. There is rarely a
hitch in the programme, and this is
largely due to the mate. A successful
mate must have every good qualification
which Is supposed to be an attribute OF
human nature. Going down the river
most Of the freight is taken on at st.
Louis. The mate arrangeS this freight
on the boat so that. 50 to speak, the last
shall be first and the first shall be last.
He must therefore have in his mind
every landing On the river in its order.
and when the landing is made the freight
to be landed must be in the right spot.
But this is the least difficult of the
mates duties. He has q crew of negroes,
between twenty and thirty in number,
to manage. The mate Of the boat
came down the river on knew the name
Of every man in the crew, and never
in my life saw so much work done by SO
few men in such n short time. The
landing is made, the gangway put out
almost before the pilot has rung the bell
to stop her, the freight. DO matter what
it is-barrels, buckets, sacks, horses,
carriages. anything and everything
pours out of the boat in a stream, and il
is a positive fact that the last man on
shore oftentimes has to run mighty fast
and jamp on the end Of the gangplank
in order not to get left. The mate fur.
nisbes the ''get up and git" for all this.
But now come TO tho strangest part
of it. The mate does not swear. trav.
eled with him nearly a week, and never
heard him utter an exclamation which
would not have been proper in parlor.
1t was, viii. do this" and Jim. get
down there and move that barrel" OF
"Come now, boys. hurry up" And how
those men did work. For two or thres
days together landings would be made
every hour or so on an average. and Of
course that meant no sleep for the decl
hands.
As the boat moves down the river and
the weather gets warmer, the scener,
increases in beauty, and in place Of th.
growth of bare trees and bushes coveret
with the rank death weed or moss, acre
and acres of cultivated land smiling undel
the warmth of the sun come into view
At almost every landing the passenger
get off and pluck fresh roses. One of tn,
most peculiar optical things noticed i
the fact that the river is higher than th'
land on either side. which Is protcctet
by levees. and "a the boat steams alous
| you look down in many instances O. tht
| roofs Of houses.
To the passenger il seems that tn
captains Is tho easiest position on th'
boat Coming down on tho boat I wa
greatly amused by little girl Of twelve
who was explaining 10 her younge'
brother the various occupations of tn
| officers Of the boat.
You know. Robbie she said. "tha
there are twenty -eeven men in the crew
and al the mate has 20 do IL TO oraei
them about Then there il the chief en-
sineer, who makes the boa. 60, and IL
chief clerk. who takes the money, ant
the second clerk, who jumps on shor'
when the boat lands and writes in
book, and the pilot. who tnrns the wheel
and The cook. and the bartender, and
"But,- interrupted Roebia, "wha
Dos the captain dor
oh, replied his sister ccutemptuoo-