Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1895-03-01
A LIGHT CRAFT.
1t Used to Sail Across the Bends on the
Heavy Dew.


A dozen river men were grouped
about stove in the after cabin of one
of the big packets at the wharf some
nights ago, says the Courier-Journal.
One of the group told about the Light
est draught boat he ever saw.
..It's plain you never had a berth
on the OWL said doc one of the
best river cooks in the West. "Why,
the Owl was so light that when
heavy dew fell during the night the
captain never took the trouble to skirt
around the bends; he just cut acro.G
the fields"
"Were any of you fellows ever up
to the head waters of the Missouri"
then asked doc" between laughs.
CHATS the widest river ever saw.
The river is in such a constant tur-
MOL that you have to draw your wash
water at night, SO that it will quiet
down enough by morning to wash
yourself in.
II never told you about the first
apprentice I had in the pantry, did |?
He was funny-looking little niger,
who queer to say, was fond of work.
After we pulled out of Louisville, the
first thing told him to do was to get
the liver out of the ice chest and take
the bone out of it. / forgot all about
the kid until an hour afterward. Then
he was standing over the platter with
a look of encouragement on his face.
He had cut the liver up too fine for
hash.
.When / started toward him he
looked conscience tricken and
whined, Mr.. Doc, / KANT fin no
bone in dis libbah. He was the same
boy we told the only way to keep from
drowning when he fell in the water
was to drink ice water till it came out
of his ears. The boy was mortally
afraid of drowning, so it needed very
little persuasion to get him to drink
captain, who was big gruff fellow.
He watched the captain until he went
up on the roof and then he tackled
the water cooler. He drank water
until the attention of the passengers
was called to him. They watched
him with surprise, and one benevolent
old fellow went up to him and asked
what was the matter.
s.'Tode, the boys name, paid no
attention to him, but kept pouring the
water down him until his eyes hllged
and his waist grew as round as an
alderman's. The old man was really
startled by the boys prodigious
powers of water consumption and
concluded that he was crazy. He
came back to us and wanted to know
if something couldn't be done. We
would have said something to him If
Tode' hadn't stopped drinking then
and felt painfully about the ears.
just then the captain came in, but
.Tode was so busily engaged drinking
water that he did not notice the cap
tain. The captain watched the boy
tossing off glasses full Of water with
astonishment. His face grew red
with emotion and then he seized the
boy. Here, you rascal, what are you
trying to do? Want to drink us dry?
Are you crazy?' sputtered the cap
tain.
..Tode tried to take long breath,
but he was too full. He turned his
eyes up until only the whites could be
seen. BY gracious yelled the cap
tain in dismay, the boy is trying to
commit suicide. Is there doctor
aboard?' But lode was all right He
was only frightened by the captain.
He soon found his tongue and gave
the whole snap away. The captain
kept from laughing with difficulty,
but l never had harder time getting
out of scrape in my life than had
out of that one. We left lode alone
afterward, you may stake your last
dollar on it.''