The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-08-06

literature Of the river Captain Bofnger
Frightened the pages of Captain Gould's
volume with some of its cIeverest pic
lures OF the days when a 500-ton boat
was deemed a giant craft for river
travel, when there were no state rooms
nut instead berths with curtains and
when river travel was only one remove
from the keelboat stage. Among other
interesting recollections embodied by
the captain is an exceedingly curious
Renaissance concerning the connection
Of the letter N with the names of river
craft. He says that every boat whose
name began with the letter NJ was
either burned, sunk or proved an un-
prontabie investment to her owners.
ana ID confirmation of his statement
recltes the fortunes of the Missouri
the Mississippi. Mary, Marie. Michigan
Monarch, Mediator, Mayflower. Midas
Magnolia, Mary Bell, Majestic MAJ
hunt. Marseilt, MoIie Moore. MIME
Major White. Marie Louise. Mary Ida
and many others
The famous Captain Thomas p
feathers Will long be remembered on
the river for his devotion to the name
Natchez.' From first to last, he built
ana commanded seven boats of this
name ana. after his DEATH two more
/ Skin
Natchez which ran the celebrated race
with the Robert z. Lee. a contest which
at the time aroused immense interest
ana unbounded enthusiasm throughout
the Mississippi valley. Before building
the Natchez boats. feathers had a
fancy for the name Princess. and he
slowed on two boats this fanciful title
changing to the name Natchez. on ac-
count of the interest he felt in the
indian tribe and chieftain of that name.
Each Natchez bore. as a f1gurehead
the form, carved in wood, of a StaIwart
Indian chieftain, and the Indian war
rior. the name, and feathers himself
were lnSeparably associated on the
lower river.
But time would fail in the effort to
tell OF Captains Dan Able, Joseph
Brown and ThOrwegan. of Converse
and CannO, of Garrison and Kennett
OF George Taylor and Gould. Thomas
Sherlock and John s. McCune. of Sell
lers and Phillips. BisSel. Lamothe and
a host OF others who, as well as these
deserve to be remembered. There was
old Captain Aleck Scott, who stead
lastly refused to be cheated nv the
wood dealers on the bank. They would
pile up the cOrdwood used by the
steamers, in heap 100 yards long and
four feet high, with holes in the pile
big enough to throw a dog through. -
and would measure the holes for solid
cordwood- But the captain knew
thing or two and never paid for the
holes- AS soon as his boat landed All
the roustabOuts and deck hands on
board went ashore by special orders
and marched back and forth over the
wood pile, jumping up and down with
all their weight and strength, to the
dismay Of the unlucky wood owner and
the delight of the dancers. who knew
OF the wrath to come when the valiant
captain ordered a remeasurement and
offered to pay for the reduced pile
The offer was always accepted, too, for
the captain was doughty with his
fists, would take the wood lick the
owner and leave the money on the
bank.
Those were glorious DAYS on the
river. days when everybody travelled
everybody had money, and at the end
OF the trip the captain would hand
over to his wife 81 600 or so. the profits
OF the bar, as her share of the re-
turns Mark Twain has told us about
them, but not all about them. for
hundred story-tellers like Mark. a score
OF historians like Gould, could not ex-
haust the subject. Most of the IA
nous captains. the Vikings OF the Mis-