The times., 1899-08-13

I'VE have curious tides on this river
They run criss-cross, and it amt every
man trained Up to boat running in other
places as can manage with 'em," said the
Potomac River pilot, taking one hand of!
the wheel to give a good. generous tug at
the boats whistle. mo, thers amt nc
landin' on this side again till we git tc
SuHs. but that's the signal to Miss Salit
Adams that there's somebody aboard fol
her place See that's the house yonder
with the red tower shown through the
trees. Whenever we bring down company
for her We blow as we go by, and she's
figured it out that if the horse is caught
right then and the boy drives over slow
he'll meet the boat on time. / bet right
now Miss sallie's calling out the window
TO EN- 10 hitch up ana the little coon wha:
waits round is gettin' cut his white apron
TO put on for company. Fine woman Miss
Sallie. She used TO send out breakfast to
the captain sometimes when she had a
wharf OF her own and the boat landed
there, and the fried chicken and corn cakes
and coffee enough for the three of us, all
fixed up pretty and covered with a napkin,
would make your mouth water after being
en the river all night
'As was sayin' bout these here tides
Eve seen men come down from the North,
fll in for shown US what was business
and how 10 run a boat and they would
Ret in a bungle first thing, almost fore
they left the dock. A man has TO be raised
up on the Potomac 10 know ii, and you
can Just BET those of US in the secret never
let on nor helped EN- out none. That light
streak over TO the left beyond the point is
one OF the best fishing shores on the river.
New York widow owns IT. Her husband
was q fisherman, and when be died she took
hold aud leased IL out. White perch, stur-
geon, Potomac River shad-you've heard of
Potomac River shad?-oysters and crabs OF
the best, there's something TO get all the
time. All them hat-looking houses is fish
ermen's shanties, but these fishin people
Tong the shore are tough set. There's q
sayin' over in St Mary's that every child
born there boy or girl. is born with a
whisky bottle IN one hand and deck Of
cards IN the other, and they nigh bout hit
It right, for a fact"
Here. you, shift the scow round some.
SOS we can get up" is the order shouted
some minutes later as the pilot, one hand
yet on the wheel and the other on the bell
pull, leans out OF the widow to direct the
boats landing Not that way, you numb
skulls; back, further backl"
The three negroes taking their noon rest
on the gravel scow make haste 10 poke
her out OF the way. The steamers slow
ing-up bell clangs impresEiyely, the en-
gine stops going. and there is q falling
OF Of breeze with sudden sense of still
ness. as the waggish old side-wheeler
makes fast TO the thirteenth landing on
her schedule.
''Stif's, va.-Postof1ce, Store, and Grist
MIL" is the sign on the little squat
rooted shelter put up on stills at the end
Of the long wharf, G wharf unreiled and so
narrow anc rambling as TO preclude the
idea OF IT'S being anything but mere foot
path 20 the shore Stiff's. doubtless, has
never been done into song, sketch, or
story. Il is noa-co-ne- able TO the rest
OF the world. except from the waterfront,
and the one boat company In the secret
Is for keeping that approach shut of and
inFiolable. Otherwise the army OF mate
rial hunters would have fallen upon IL
long ago. dissecting and injecting its un-
contaminated haunts. rubbing the bloom
on its ingenuousness. and making it all of
piece with the ''three-trains-a-day, boat
every hour, scenery unsurpassed, sunsets
especiaIly-prepared, sea-food, fanned-by-
riveT-breezes'' resorts that blister the face
OF summer from end to end Of the contt-
nent
Like some old ante-beilum flower born Ia
blush unseen, Stif's is mellowed Ia with the
peace ana placidity OF the Potomac like
one OF Its Own rocks and turns serenelV
undisturbed at being done with and left
out Of the count while time goes on attend
ing 10 other matters. The most unobserT-
ant stranger on the boat, the voyager who
had had his eyes shut all the way down The
river. could tell his whereabout on bring
Ing Up at that landing without referring 10
the va on the sign The figures on the
wharf are ali OF the Old Dominion Two
long, lean, tan-visaged men. in homespup
garb and loosely woven straw hats stand
guard over a shiny mess Of fish. Etrune
trinity on twigs and heaped together in the
shadow OF the shelter house wall A black
boy, IN half rations as 20 clothes and with
felt head covering Of the color of an old
nanse, sits Grabbing on al one side, fling
Ing out his strings IN unperturbed sure-to-
cstch-'em fashion. and blithe-faced sprlte
OF girl, the sun shining fun on her wool
" head and the faded skirts blown about
her slim black legs, stands looking up al
the boat IN rapt interest and wonder.
There you are. Lou. How's all7 How's
Miss Alice?" says the elderly woman in
mourning who has stepped of the gang
plank And Lou darts forward 10 take the
Passengers satchel and is heard 10 answer
question after question II her quaint, child
ish treble as the two walk of to where the
baggage is being trundled
The boat does not stop long at Stiff's.
There is some -four 10 put of, three bags
OF IL, block OF ice and that one passen-
ger. and then the pilot reaches for HIS
log book TO record the time OF arrival as
well as departure from this thirteenth
landing. sounds his sll-aboard bell. calls
out a message or two at the last minute 10
be given 10 somebody on shore and then
gets his craft under way There seems a
certain fitness between the serenely locked
on-looking places, places not OF this gen
m ha rsr-
especial log book kept on a blank memo
randum Of the Thirty ninth Congress with
the date June Is. 1885" printed across the
nead of the page. date that il has not
been considered necessary TO mark of.
We get these second hand in Washing
ton and they answer every purpose" ex-
plains the pilot as be marks down the
state OF the tide and other incidentals on
his record Of this particular voyage and
then he goes on 10 state that Stif's. Va
and other landings like IL are only stopped
ar subject TO tide. flag. and fair weather.
and that IN winter or adverse seasons the
people don't have q chance az the steam
boats direct. but have 10 sail over In small
boats or else drive over from the uexf
nearest landing, with the alternative OF
getting transportation from the railway
station thirty or forty miles back.
The Potomac River for all IT'S cosmopoIi.
tan breadth and beauty, its frst-hand ac-
quaintsnce az Washington with information
81 matters, IT'S circliag Of epoch making
homes and first Presidents cradles. is pure
~ 8 family affair. holding hands between
Maryland and Virginia and refusing utterly
70 be anything else than local and remote
from eli up-t0-date observance and obIl-
gation. il is deep-grounded in Dixie Land
ways and procedure, and whoever has
sought 10 convert IL or divert h and the
contingent country from This ch.rao,arE.