Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1896-08-06
THE TRIUMPH o THE
Y TEUTON.

sAsSAS Nhahh Vi IlNtE SCcutIg
than can be found along our northern
boundary between Lake Superior and
Lake Huron. The picturesqueness re-
ally begins at tine rapids of st. Mary's
river, which have been called the 500
since the time of the French occupa-
ton. Old Fort Brady, with its drill
ground facing the river, and some old,
dilapidated cabins of the halfbreeds,
and their forsaken burying ground are
the only reminders of the modern,
prosperous town of the olden time,
when Jesuit priests said mass in the
4 mission chapel, and the hardy voyage
urs traded on the river.
( Two or three miles below the 500
the river divides around Sugar island;
one arm making a bend to the east and
the Nother continuing nearly straight
down for some ten miles through Hay
lake. The two branches unite at the
!. Neebish. Up TO within year or so,
! the longer and more crooked channel
on the east side had been the only nav
( igable one; but years of dredging and
blasting and scraping have opened the
more direct course, and now vessels
usually pass by the new channel.
One cold May day strange hotilla
might have been seen leaving the 500.
1t was the tug Tam O'Shanter NOV
ing Dredge No. and her two dumping
scows down below Little Rapids In the
. new channel, where some some dredg-
ing was to be done. Such scenes were
common enough to people on the river,
and no one thought of looking twice
at the unwieldy procession, unless TO
remark casually that 1.-The Tammy was
hevin a pretty cosy time Of it, chased
down stream by them big lows"
A,pax In the middle of the summer
the Tam O'Shanter was transferred TO
dredge at Nine Mile Point, and an
other tug, the w. III. Maxwell, took her
pl&. with No. 4. The new tug did not
( bring a very agreeable crew To the
river gods en- Grams dredSe. The new
captain was an old man who minded
his business and regarded the pilot
house as his castle. The engineer was
a slow, phlegmatic German, whose
long, and to the tongue of the river,
unpronounceable name, Jacob Zinzin-
dorf, was speedily changed into
rian reasons, AMI secondly, because
h the commune of the river lost every
mans identity in the vagueness of n
X nickname as So Oh as possible. There
never was any regular fireman on the
w. III. Maxwell Tire old man." as
the men called the captain, but not on
i account of his age, was too irascible to
II live with, and Jakey too taciturn. The
II latter'S most extended effort at con-
n versation never exceeded this one
phrase with which he used to admon-
ish his nondescript fireman; Say.
/, poy, w you no fire up? Does you links
no need hot wasser any moreE
For some reason or other Jakey was
Eregarded as a man without spirit.
REORGANIZATION of German simplicity.
He never talked with anybody but
IA himself, and the men reasoned that
II his y, ner nature must actually be in
liz need of IMMIGRATION and excitement;
n and so they proceeded 10 league to-
n gether for Jakey's mutaul good
\ Jakey himself !lver said whether he
\ liked this mut3a. ,~ncfit association or
VA not, at any rate cot till some time
after this.
Nj Meals on No. were served in good
sized room i'm the rear of the dredge
The waShrooom was down below by
the side of the boiler, and as soon as
noon or u O'clock came, the men made
n precipitate rush for the wash
trough. Sometimes the tug was out
to the dumping grounds with a scow,
and got back few minutes late. AS
soon as Jakey appeared IN the wash
room he was hustled about, and was
usually the last one to get to the wash
trough. OF course he found the water
lsoapy and greasy, but he said nothing
at least nothing ardib'y. No sooner
would he bend over and begin wash
ing, too fastidiOusly. the me1 thought.
than some fellow would throw piece
OF soap and hit him in the ear, or
crowd him along under the big spout
and< turn the faucet on him. But
Jakey evidently regarded all this as a
manifestation of some evil spirit Of
chance for he said nothing-not till
later. The benighted understanding
of the river did not know ANYTHING
n about the German speculative mind,
and the great comfort ii derives from
abstruse and silent meditation. So
JakeS1s silence passed for meckness.
However IL was at mealtime that
Jakey's philosophy was put to the test.
II needed only n wink to give Jakey's
coffee, which came travelling from
hand to hand along the side of the
table, salty flavor. When pudding
|. was served, pork gravy was usually
u passed to him as sauce for ii, but not
\ word said Jakey. He helped himself
to what he could reach, and met all
designs upon him with this remark !:
"Poys, Wy will you forever shoke?'
Jakey took great pride In his engine,
which he was always repairing, and
h loiling and rubbing. He used to hum
h some German song TO himself as he
u lworked-some song that carried him
n Iback 10 little village in the Rhein-
Il lyau. where his mother lived; but how
H could the dredge men know that his
n l,yes1 grew misty at recollections of
X home. or that the strange words of his
Y Song had a mournful strain in them
4 so his martyrdom went OH. Wrenches
began 10 disappear from the engine
room, and his tobacco never lasted
II long.
n Late one afternoon the w. III. Max
\ well was dispatched to the 500 for
\ some repairs. In place of the regu-
4 liar fireman OF the tug-if the fireman
4 lwho had only been on for the last two
\ weeks and had quit the day before
II i--..yI 80 IN llad rogttiar-ona nf tho