The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1900-06-28
N ELL, sir, this thing of sailing
WV -, 6. .l,.,.. So. .,,,

W ELL, sir, this thing of sailing
w on an ice raft does not con-
form to the requirements of the sun
day-school picnic. Dismal as the lat
Ter may be and generally is, it is orien-
tai luNuriance compared to the former,
especially if the highway being trav-
ersed happens to he the Missouri river
when it feels pert The speaker was
western man.
ut was in the early SOS. You re-
member the winter | had that thing
en- in Kansas City?" he resumed.
"Nhew, what winter that was. Their
mometer down below zero for six
weeks, wind bowling blizzard all day
and resting up at night for the next
dav, snow three feet deep and frozen
solid so that wagon wheels played
harmoncs all the time. a mans breath
adding to the accumulations of snow
and ice and"
"Oh. come. Charlie" broke in the
sufferer. draw it mild, like Sairey
Camp liked it,"
"Well. you know it was fearful win
ter as we'll as |. What's the matter?
You visited me and nearly froze to
death. Couldn't keep warm, although |
| burned up ton of coal a week. Well,
you know, I'm something of hunter.
| had plenty of idle time and used to
wrap up well and take my Parker out
across into Kansas, where chicken and
duck were plenty. had some fine sport
sniping, too, along the big river and
| the slough. There are too many hills
| thereabouts for good sloughing.
| though.
at was along in March. You know
| the idea that the weather out there is
better than here won't hold water, for
the water would freeze in winter. The
| season outlasts ours sometimes, too.
| 1t did this particular winter, for they
| had snow in the middle of April. Fact
I got out my gun one day when it was
bit mild and went over the road to 4
| few miles up river from Quindaro. You
| know this once famous town is now
| the reservoir for the waterworks. Well,
l sniped along the bank in the reeds
and was knocking over quite few,
| when l saw | had better start back
| down river if | wanted to get home
before dark. | had had good sport,
but ached for more. 1t was grand day
| cold to be sure. but bracing.
| AT last l spied some duck sitting on
the water-the river rarely freezes all
the way over-iust beyond the rim of
ice which fringed the shore. At this
| point the river sweeps wide to the
north and then cuts into the hills on
the south side, forming a narrow gorge
| near the waterworks. There is bend
which the current strikes and it had
piled up lot of ice in hummocks as it
| ground against the shore ledge. These
hummocks helped me n heap, for
could sneak out on the shore ice and
get n chance at the duck. | forgot
all about the time, for was shy good
fat redhead and wanted him.
well, sir. l went out on that shore
ledge--it was shoal water there-and
heaved chunks of ice at those ducks t.
get 'em up, you know, for no hunter
shoots at water fowl when swimming
They balked like Sam Hill and / crept
out farther and farther, still heaving
things at 'em. At last they rose and
l was busy shooting right and left as
fast as | could load. Then when we
got out of range l found had nary g
duck, was out OF cartridges and no dog
to bring in the dead. | killed lot
but they fell in the water or. what was
worse. on the bank.
Yes. sir, flats a fact. l turned
| Il - Il. I
that l was on an ice raft well out in
the current. 1t was whirling around in
the eddying stream like a top, and by
the time | had seen the waterwork,
half dozen times and lost 'em as Otter
I declare | didn't know if / was al
Quindsro or in the Alps. Say, mayb,
you think l liked it. l didn't. THAI
river is hard proposition anywhere
1t is harder in what they call throat
gorge-one of these narrowings of The
banks-than anywhere else. | was il
one of these gorges and working down
stream as fast as the field ice would
let me.
'As / said, the crushing of the flo,
against that angle in the bank hac
| IiASA AZ a. IoA VI bNi mi ilNi Nl4uiI III,
head. What made me swear at mysel
for a fool was that l had forgotten Il
calculate the rottenness of ice at tha
season. / went out on the edge, and
!, as the dumned stream was rising any
way, had slipped the moorings of m!
raft. SO while 1 was busy shootin.
the confounded thing was travelling
due north, which there meant ont int
the current. There | was out in tn
; middle of the busiest river on the glob
with nothing but some rotten ice be
tween me and an undertow warrante,
TO pull under a warship, oh, it wa
; lovely. But ! was up against il. 81
there was no use cussing.
"Just at this point the river make
crossing That is, the current hit