Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-05-31
A PRIMITIVE CARRIER
How Firewood is Brought From the
Forests of Virginia.


Passengers on the Potomac river 5av
boats. as they go up and down the ri,,.r
from now until fall will pass some curious
craft which are illustrative of an inter
osting branch of commerce Ii is an in
uustry about which the general public
Knows but little, for the men engaged IN II
never come nearer than the hem of IN,
elaborate garment of civilization which
clothes the great city.
AS the steamer slips down the river at
IA INSTRUMENTATION rate. there drifts
across the course a two-masted schooner
Her gunwale is almost awash. for she &
loaded deep with cord wood Her two big
mainsalls flap idly, holding Just enough of
the light breeze to afford steerage way.
The sails are dirty and patched, the cord
age is ragged and knotted and she looks
very unkempt- 4 white man in Transfers
shirt and big straw hat lounges on top OF
| the poop beneath which is the tiny ca bin
a pareiooted negro stretched out on deck
| hoids the wheel couple Of other negroes
| asleep forward on the wood pile complete
| the crew
The big steamer being pressed close to
| the shoal water of the flats by the irnpu-
| dent little craft stops. backs and passes on
| the other side. There is an exchange of a
| lew sulphurous epithets between the re-
spectiVe commanders. ending in a derisive
IauSh from the wood-ca rrier and the YES
sells continue on their way. one the TYNE of
steam, progress and civilization. the other
a relic of the good Old days when nobody
was in hurry
This is a sample Of the wood-carrvine,
schooners which ply between Washington
ana the estuaries of the lower Potomac
keeping up the supply of cord wood and
Mn wood They run steadily through
the summer and fall, discharginE their
cargoes along the river front the cantain
going ashore to lay Inf his supplies of nam
coffee Hour and tobacco. and the crew in
| Al In a. 3 l..
Ihen away for another cruise on the lonely
reaches OF the lower Potomac.
1t is another world. this lower Potomac
region. Here the river broadens to a width
OF Hfe miles or more, opening in bays and
reaches, into which empty deep tidewater
creeks. These little WATERWAYS stretch far
mp into Virginia and Maryland narrow and
slnuous, but with the tide on the flood af-
fording sufficient channel for the wood-car-
rers- They are oVerhung by dense forests
whose shade is grateful on a hot day Deep
| silence broods over the locality. broken
only by the Sullcn plunge of the bic-rnol,fh
bass as he makes a dash for bunch of
grass mlnnows. The plymouth bass attain
a weight of five to seven pounds There are
aIs0 great yellow perch twelve inches long
ana the usual run of river fish
When the wood schooner heads into tbe
mouth of one of these little creeks she low
ers her sails, and the hands pole her up
the creek to the wood landing where she
Is to take on her load. For miles and miles
back of the landing stretches forest Of
pine and oak. This is a wild region since
the war left its mark of devastation ,lpon
II You are now on the edge of the great
wilderness of Virginia. All the men
VINO were not killed in the army and who
since could get away have gone; the lands
nave grown up with pine trees; the fields
are covered with scrub timber A wood
haulers road winds it's way through tho
sandy soil; the country is Nat and monot-
onous. and apparently good only for the
use to which 1T now is being put, TO fur
nish firewood for the cities
1t does not take long to get a load even
though the crew have to pause once in a
while to feel the baited lines hung over
board as a lure to a stray catfish big
mouth bass or ''yaller peerch." The can
tam knows his crew will be all the HAMMER
II they can alternate their bacon that night
with some fried feesh." So next day
with the ebbrg tide, the little craft is
poled down the creek and out into The
broad water, where her sails are raised
There is not much wind in this region in
the summer, and the sail to Washington is
to be an experience of lacking and reach
ing. But it is not hard work The air is
soft and warm, the distant Maryland and
virginia shores are bathod i'm a blue haze
the river Sparlles as the little waves Ian
the sides of the grimy old boat; it's nice
to stretch out on the wood pile and snooze
until the captain calls for shift of the
boom.
Then. when evening comes they draw
off from the main channel. drop anchor
hanging a lantern i'm the rigging TO note
their position One of the negroes fries
the bacon and makes the coffee and soon
after supper the whole outfit Is asleen
to be turned out at first crack of day in
the morning.