The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-05-21
ALONG THE SHREWSBURY
A TRIP ON A RIpER WHICH rs UN-
LIKE MOST OTHERS.
II People Tire of Sailing They Can Wall

The Shrewsbury 10 the only river near New
York on which II you do not like sailing you
may get out and walk. Yet in spite Of q ca
pricious shellowness and an ever changing
channel. q big steamboat plies UP and down
this riveroand furnishes AS much excitement
and fun as a Mississippi liner. The river is
full of sand banks, clans and the manceuyrlngs
OF shellbacks. The steamboat literally treads
the channel. for instead OF leaving behind IL
a stretch OF foam it heaves up in its wake roll
ing pillows Of brown mud. velvety and full OF
moss. which turns over like the grounds In
unstrainod coffee. When the steamer comes
along the shellbacks do not manipulate their
skifrs SO that they will ride head-on to the
pillows. Instead. they hop out OF their boats.
stand waist deep In the water and hold the
boats steady until the water dulets down.
Then they climb in and 20 on rakine clans.
The channel OF the river is so tortuous and
narrow that the steamer is compelled to feel its
way along between two rows OF saplinRs which
have been planted so as to form a guiding
lane like the electric lights OF Gedney's Chan
mel. These Saplings will never become trees:
the ,hannel shifts too often for that. For the
same reason no large boat ever goes up the
river after nightfall. The Shrewsbury is that
arm Of the sea which lies in back Of the psnin-
sula OF Sandy Hook. All the-north jersey
summer resorts are on this peninsula. but IL
the ocean goes on biting of big chunks OF
land on the sea side Of It some OF the jewellers
thereon will have TO move across the river.
Once or twice the seq has broken through and
made an island OF the Hook. and. besides
changing the river channel. has ruined the
oyster beds. which could not withstand the
sudden influx OF worry salt water. So. as the
boat floats dow with its load OF passengers.
horses and inanimate freight. II has to feel It's
way over the bottom and occasionally pokes
its nose into new mud banks and hurriedly
backs off again. amid the advice OF shellbaok
passengers and the. sudden stumbling Of
horses. During a recent trip a group OF
clammers stood on deck and watched tho work
OF a pilot. who often asked his passengers to
trim ship 30 that he might the better work
her around q particularly hard corner.
Why don't he walk the horses over. too?
Who ever heard OF a steamboata asking Its pas
senGers to trim ship" Crowled one old fisher
man from the Highlands. Parksrtown. which
nestles under the fortress-like battlements
OF Navesink Lights, lie full Of ers. On
Saturdays they come to town and carry back
groceries and tackle in long paper -four bags
tied around the neck with heavy Irvine. Most
of them have been to sea and all seem TO have
trodden the quarter deck. Captains are as
plentiful as kentucky Colonels.
Lock where he's Roin'. He'll be on Niger
Flat in a minute" said another clammer.
"Mebby he's huntln' for the red buoy that
was swept away last month. Hey. there. don't
ye know that red spar's gomez"
But the pilot already had runR the eell and
the boat stopped on the very edge OF the FIAT.
Then it began to back.
Looks more like he's tryin' to run down
old Bill Clark. Hey! Bill. don't We know
enough to get out OF the way Of steamboats,"
This from another shellback who yelled to a
brother clammer In a boat. When the steamer
backed. the boatman was pulled nearly under
the paddle wheel. Old Clark. who was short.
skin and worked 1t back with one oar while
he tried to save his line and anchor with the
other, The ,ba mH bo.t Of the ste stsamboat cabin got
There was a rush to the side as the skin dis
appeared in the foam OF the wheel. which was
Hes under" cried one man who leaned out
But lust then the skiff shot away from it's
dangerous, position, out into full view OF all on
the steamboat The man had cut his cable;
swore till women passengers retired to- the
cabin and, the whistle Of a locomotive on shore
s's s%s1 i afdn' z f e watch S { 'o 'it.'d dl IN iasF50 Cried
one shellbqck banteripGlv.
Get out! Old C.arkie knows he don't never
ihhNC y looh ~ IL SHD plul Y Wthotl6 U HIN.
not even II she ran him plumb down" re-
marked another clammer. Every steamers
got TO whistle II she wants you to get out-or
The boat had now gone on the right side Of
the place where the red buoy used to be and
Vas steaming slowly along the channel toward
It's my opinion" said one rlverman. that
tRefe G oven Se any d6 5tyer Ak neF Re- m Here s,r m ,6ey sr II
side and dieeIn' tho shjftin' mud OUT o., The
The time the, tide sets across the cut.
flling it UP fuller than before they started to
S Win Il, hole d,H IN the e. cen,r try off e fl W. T ks GoS q t 2ssT
dig the channel the way the river wants It ?
Then the stream would help EN- clean 1t out.
Any riverman will tell you that. Why. se'vs
got twelye-year-old boys In the town that could
%hers'd they get them surveyors sses anSh %SRS II
on" said apothsr contsmptuously they're
pmneGnrstd from Gotnt the .b Pines x. I've nj heard Never
d dHSs t nsT 'e g s ssnsIs SEN Sssin sTn L. 'r Am o sSss
mere re S Sspt fan jacks SsIk on d sas G0' jsckm P'f haHe 70
s build 2 , sh!o rally railway ~ t. (, get his boats out of the
silent, why didn't they go bathin' afore hey
built y the di ih., Il they wanted to know Every
very next breaker'il take the sand away from
under your feet and sink you down until
you're over your head! It's lust that way
men about It. We could nd az AT to idsI hem M river
One OF the deckhandS came out on the open
deck and squeezed Il wet mop over the rail.
Curious" said one OF the men, what a lot
OF waters running across the deck OF this
"Oh, that's from her journey works. no.
ticed that paddle box leakin' once before. It's
notnin' serious. But l remember seein'
water runnin' acrost a boat that run from
these ere Highlands which was a case OF lie
and death. 1t was tho old Plymouth, that
used to run across the bay. knowed the en-
gineer and his people intimate. We was
a~-settin' on her Roin' along one day when we
noticed q lot O. water runnin' overheard. The
passengers got scared and wanted 70 know
about 1t. but the engineer tells them It isn't
anything serious. They had the donkey
SIR. [ was scared, enough when l finds out,
Why, the boiler had cracked along a line OF
riVets, and the water in II was a-comin' out
jemickstty. Well, sir. them donkey engines
wasn't pumpin' the water out OF her. as you
might think at frst--they was pumpin' 1t into
her. into her boiler. Ye see, that crack was
below the surface OF the boilin' water In the
boiler and the idee was TO keep IL above that
crack, Ter II they let IL sink the steam would
come out and bust her and we all would hav
gone to the, bottom o the bay-that is. II we
ever came down after We went up. II was a
race tween them donkey pumps and the
steam power OF that boiler. and all the time
the engineer was tellin' them passengers not
to be afraid and twasnit nothinl serinus Rut