The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1901-02-27
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WRECK OF THE
ALONZO CHILDS
A Story of Steamboat Life
on the Mississippi.

Believe In ghoStsW
mo"
Never see OneY
Never"
"What, not of dead man."
"No; never"
wait till l pass this bar. I'll sur
prise you with fact about ghost.
Yes; the ghost OF steamboat, too, by
the great low water bayou"
Kinney turned his wheel with spas
nodic violence and rang the engineers
bells to "slow port" to fast starboard"
and reversed his orders with such ra-
pidlty that the mechanic below wanted
to know what he meant. Presently we
rounded the bend.
"See that corner of the island therei"
asked Kinney.
yes"
There's where the bones OF old Alon.
70 ChlldS are laid"
"Welll'
AN old chap owned plantation
Just around Bayou Sara, below here.
He had land boiler and engine and
used 1t for boiling sugar and pressing
cane. Colonel Hubbard burned the
sugar house as he passed with Il de-
tachmcnt OF soldiers, but the boiler
and engine We're saved In somewhat
disturbed condition. The old fellows
name was De Soto
"De Soto put his old engine and
boiler on the hull of the Alonzo Childs,
and she was made to travel UP and
down. inside the Confederate lines OF
course She went between Port IIud-
son and Nicksburg. At that time
was cub pilot on n big steamer, and
| used to see her. One day | heard
she exploded or snagged, and every
body on board was lost The clrcum-
stances of the disaster no one ever
knew 4 few bloated bodies and some
charrcd pieces of the old crafts tim
bers floating down the river indicated
the extent Of the horror and suggested
its terrible details.
"After the war | went west TO San
Francisco, but three years ago | came
back and took up my old business.
Two years ago ! was standing
watch alone in the pllothouse. The
river was up, and we were pushing the
gray, muddy waters aside under the
full head of steam. ] had just pulled
the wheel over to make the bend when
l saw n steamer heading straight for
us. 1t appeared To me that she came
out OF the bank rather than up the
TINnp mud npttnaH n tho pnnanf
that she was strange craft TO me-
Well, bowed once TO pass to port
and stccrcd Off TO the west shore. Civ
Ing her the advantage of the back wa
ter, | watched her. and presently | saw
from her whistle two escapes of steam.
by that | saw that she had blown
twice although | had not heard the
blasts. So | blew twice md reversed
my helm.
still she came on. There was no
noise of escaping steam. no beat OF
paddle wheels. heard the piano down
In the main saloon. Somebody was
playing Natalie, the Maid of the MIL
l heard the discord which knew must
have been occasloned by the first alarm
VI NlhkNi INC rhttIl VI TUT lNINl uNtl
the keys MS the player turned suddenly
from the piano. | seemed to see the
piano cover swept from its place. the
open doors OF the statcrooms and some
chairs thrown aside. So vivid was the
picture TO my senses that saw for
the moment which of the chairs were
broken. In Il second | grew old and
tlNp1 Oh thnnpbt pf ~.
cape. could not have escaped had l
80 chosen. My senses were SO alert
as to give me physical pain.
81 opened my eyes n second after.
ward, and there was no boat nothing
in sight. Only n bland spread of wa
ter, fast flowing current and our own
boat backing at full speed. while Cap
tain BlNby was yelling from the hurri-
cane deck;
What In blazes Is the mattcr?'
81 don't know how l recovered my
self, but | did tell him some way or
other that the bell ropes had got tan
gled, | started her ahead then. Now,
that was in the afternoon ut ! o'clock
and tell me there aln't no ghostsw
That was mere Authorization,
ventured
WAS It? Not much. Such things
don't happen twice or three times any
more than lightning strikes twice in
the same place"
Then you saw her AGAIN."
Yes; three times afterward and
have never failed TO see her when
passed here within two hours of the
hour of i O'Clock, morning or evening.
Here comes my relief for dinner. Had
yours? No. Sit az my table. It's
nearly 4 o'clock and AZ we are about
10 stop TO wood up before we round
the bend maybe you will see the ghost
of steamer yourself. Seeing's be-
lieving"
Later ! was sleeping. obllvious Of
ghosts and regardless OF Kinney's
spook steamboat. when a sharp rap at
my stateroom door brought me out of
dreamless slumbsr.
II say" he said. IT'S nearly
o'clock. and we are going to pass the
wreck. You wanted to see the ghost
of n steamboat. I don't want to be
alone, and | want skeptic with me.
Light your pipe aud sit down."
did SO, while Kinney smoked on till
the signal came TO start, and presently
the wheels of the Baton Rouge once
more beat the turbid waters.
Kinney hove the wheel over to port,
and the jackstaff of the boat could be
seen us the might hawk" swung for
the pilots eye to sweep the horizon. cut
away such little rays Of light as pene.