Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1893-08-01
ON A GEORGIA RIVER.
LIFE ALONG THE BANKS OF THE
WORLD FAMOUS SUWANEe.

Poor an d Shiftless Settlers Accord;ns ,o
Northern Traveler-How They Regarded
the Yankee Who Sought In Vain For
Their Pride In the Stream.
All the world knows of the Suwanee riv-
er through the song that has immortalized
the stream, but not one in ten can tell YOU
where the Suwanee river is, where it rises
or whittier it flows. AS matter of fact
the map shows that it rises in Georgia
flows south through Florida and empties
into the gulf of Mexico. #
Along its banks in Florida the land is
low and marshy, and there is not much in
the scenery to inspire sentiment, tender or
pathetic. In Georgia there are many pretty
spots az ng its banks, but the trouble of
reaching them takes away, in great meas
ure, the enjoyment they impart
l was disappointed in the river and its
scenery, but what the river lacked the ma
tives along its shores made up to me. The
Cracker has often been delineated and
his cha racteristics commented on at length.
but he never strikes you twice alike and is
therefore always an object for interest and
study. An unconquerable dislike for labor
and eontentment that strangles ambition
at its birth are the most prominent traits
of his character.
Why l should be poking along the river
and padding up and down without any ap-
parent motive and taking pictures was
something that they could not guess with.
out doing some thinking, so they let it 90
as mystery, and when q man is on mystic
rious business in that part of Georgia they
take it for granted that he is hunting for
stills.
One old fellow who was sitting on log
deluding himself with the idea that he was
nshine became SO interested in my opera
lions for taking photograph that could
not resist the temptation to add little by
way of extempore moves to the process For
time was fearful lest he should dislocate
his neck trying to watch me, as was be-
hind him. Finally he compromised with his
anatomy by straddling the log. l knew
that be was just dying with curiosity to
know What was doing, but wanted me to
tell him without his asking.
carefully measured off a triangle with
a leg Of the tripod and then set the camera
within the mystic lines. Then l stood at
each corner of the triangle, where ! had
driven little stake, and waved my arms
in the air. l paid no attention to the audi
ence. Then focused the camera and made
the exposure incidentally. Then 1 laid a
camera to n hollow tree near by and fired
the train. There was a line of smoke but
of course no flame showed. Then / walked
to the hollow in the tree and apparently
took from the cavity dark, fiat bottle-it
was full.
Without word | walked up to the old
man, who had not let move escape him,
unscrcwed the top and handed him the bot
tie. lie took it. looked at me, smelled of
it-when he handed it back there was not
drop in it-all in silence. Without say
ing al ything l saw who the joke was on,
put tie bottle in my pocket, gathered up
the camera and walked away. When got
behind some bushes, turned and looked
back. The old man was trying to pry that
dead tree open with his fishing pole.
One man that l met was not at all i'm
pressed by the fact that fate had domiciled
him near the ripping waters of the cele-
brated stream. opened conversation with
him.
"a great river. this?" waving my hand
over the river.
Yep"
known all over the world, wherever the
English language is spoken"
"Guess So"
"And The Suwanee River will be sung
while the language exists
whats that yer drivin at?"
why about this river-the Suwanee riv-
er"
THAT amt no river"
why, that's the Suwanee river"
mo, faint; that's ther branch"
THAT is no branch; that is the main riv-
er."
~ tell you, mister, that's the branch.
There amt no S'wanee river bout here"
Did you ever hear of the Suwanee riv-
err"
Nope"
odd you ever hear the song, The Old
Folks at Homer"
"Nope"
do you like singing?"
Don't mind leetle of it sometimes"
'All right. I'll sing The Old Folks at
Home for you"
i Strengthened up and began to sing. Be
fore the first verse had been killed he grew
uneasy and shifted from one foot to the
other, so did not attempt the second, but
asked:
low do you like that?"
"Tolerable"
Would you like some more?"
mo, you needenter mind"
VERY well, but you want to remember
| that this is the Suwanee river, one of the
| most celebrated rivers in the world, and
| you ought to be glad that you are so fortu-
nate as to live near such a celebrated
stream"
''Glad Pm Twin herel Why, mister, I'm
| that dinged pore that l can't live nowhere
| else
left him. He was too prosaic and ran
| cross grained to the romance l was looking
| for. That night when i returned to my
boarding place they said man had report
ed crazy Yankee running at large along
| the branch and cautioned them to look out
| for i'm as he might be dangerous. They
| asked if had seen him. / had not.
1t is not to be wondered at that the poet
expressed the liveliest kind of longing for
| the old folks at home and took it out in
| longing if he was wise. He may have gam
| boled along the river with his little brother