The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1902-09-12

/ Tor IT'S smashing plunge through yOn-
! der rapids to. the east, the dreaded
/ Lachine Rapids. whose snarllng teeth
I fash white In the sun. Look down into
the greenish rush, and see how the
/ waters hurl past these good stone piers
sharp-pOinted upstream against the
/ tearing ice! Here goes the torrent Of
/ Niagara and the inland ocean Of Su-
/ periOr and Erie and Ontario. all
/ crushed into funnel Of land by this
| big island at the left that blocks the
flow, and gorged by the inpour Of the
/ Ottawa a few miles back that brings
down the floods Of Southern Canada
| AS fast as "A horse can gallOp runs the
! river here, and faster and faster IL goes
as the long slant takes it, ten, twelve
fourteen miles an hour (which Is some
thing for river. until dozen islands
strewn across the tunnels lower end
gOad the rapids TO their greatest rage.
Here il where they Kill. Then sud
denly all Is quiet, and the river, spread
ing 10 a triple width, rests. after It's
madness, in Montreal's piacid harbor
Standing here, / think os my first
experience in shooting these rapids, Gt
was on one Of the large river bOatsJ'
and ! must confess that it gave me no
very thrilling sense OF danger. There
were two or three plungcs, 10 be sure,
AZ the steepest part, and "A little sway
ing or lurching, but, 50 far as move,
ment goes, nothing TO disturb one ac-
Il. A.
ordinary trolley car navigation. How
ever when ! came TO the reason Of this
fairly smooth descent, and saw what
il means 10 stand at the wheel through
that trcacherous channel, ! found my
wonder growing. | thought Of the lion
tanner, whose skill is shown not so
much by what happens while he is in
the cage as by what does not happen.
A hundred ways there are Of doing the
wrong thing with one OF these boats.
and only single way Of doing the right
thing. For four miles the pilot must
race along squirming, twisting,
plunging thread Of water, that leaps
ahead like a greyhound, and changes
It's crOOkedness somewhat from day 10
day with wind and tide In that
thread alone is safety; elsewhere is
ruin and wreck. Instantly he must
read the message OF n boiling eddy
or the menace of a beckoning reef, and
take IL this way or that instantly, for
there are the hungry rocks on either
hand. lie must know things without
In g, ,1 . h., . a,
rapids, as it We're so that when a mist
clouds his view. or the shine of a low
hung rainbow daZZlcs him, he may still
80 right II is fact that with all the
pilots in this pilot-land. and all the
hardy watermen born and brought up
on the ST. Lawrence there are not ten
perhaps not siX-men in Canada today,
French or English or Indian, who
would dare this peril. For all other
rapids of the route the GallOp Rapids,
the Splitrock Rapids. the Cascades. and
the rest. there are pilots in plenty; but
not for those of Lachinc. And, to use
the same similc again. | saw that the
shooting of these rapids is like the tam
ing of a particularly fierce lion; ii is
a business by itself that few men care
TO undertake.
SO il came that | sought out one OF
these few, Fred Ouillette. pilot, and
son of pilot, an idol in the company's
eyes. n hero to the boys Of Montreal,
n figure TO be stared nj always by anX-
ious passengers rs he peers through
H.. win ~ no MI -
man whom the people point to as he
passes: There's the fellow that took
us through the rapids. That's Ouil-
lette.' This unsought notoriety has
made him shy He does not like TO
talk about his work. or tell you how il
feels to do this thing A dash of Indian
blood is i'm him. with some Of the silent.
stole, Indian nature. Yet certain facts
he vouchsafod, when | went TO his
home. that help one TO an understand
ing of his life.
He emphasized this. for instance. as
essential in man who would face that
fury of waters with many lives in his
keeping; he must not hc afraid. one
would say that the rapids feel where
the mastery is. whether with them or
with the pilot. and woe 10 him II
pounding heart or wavcring hand be-
tray him The rapids will have no
mercy. And there are pilots. IL ap-
pears, who know the Lachuc Rapids,
every foot Of them. and could do Ouil-
lctte's work perfectly il Ouillette Were
standing near. yet would fail utterly
IL left alone. Every danger they can
overcome but the one that lies in them
selves. They cannot brave their own
fear. He cited the case of pilots
son who had worked in the Lacb!dC
Rapids for years. helping his father
and learned the river as well as n man
can know IT, At the old mans death
this son announced that he would take
his fathers place and shoot the rapids
as they had always done; yet season
passed, then n second season. and al
ways he postponed beginning and,
with one excuse or another. tooks his
boats through the Lachine Canal
safe but tame short cut not likely to
draw tourists
killed n wildcat In n House.
At the home Of Miss Ella Bassett. in