The Washington times., 1902-04-20

Of the river. Sometimes it is q tfpsy
reveler who falls from the deck of ansex-
cureion steamer. Again it is suicide.
tired Of life and conquered insthe struggle
for existence
Whoever II maybe. the vIsilans, With
her o11cers and men IS called out to
search for the dead. Sometimes the body
| OF the unfortunate may be found feating
and swollen almest beyond recognition.
Often the corpse lies at the beifom OF the
river and with good luck 1t IS brought to
fhe svefake by the hooks of the drag
Thereupou it is placed in oss Of the zinc
boxes with xhich the vfgiiant is equipped.
It Is then rushed to the morgue TO await
Identification.
A Grim Duty.
tits grim and often loathsome duty.
this searching for the bodies e the
drowned. but ties1 men have become In
ured to it through many years of service
along the water front. and they look upon
this feature4of their work with the un-
moved indifference of professionals.
Leaving the unpleasant subject of the
drowned and the methods resorted to for
their recovery, Commodore" Sutton spoke
of his old boat, the 10 Blackburn. which
/ was named for the Senator from Ken
lucky.
81 felt sorry to leave the old boat
said the commodore" although the
yigilant, with her twelve knots an hour
and her modern equipment. is better
adapted for our work.
The Commodore is an intimate friend
and admirer of Senator Blackburn. and
when the old boat wss commissioned in
the District service he insisted on having
it named for the Kentuckian.
II left an order with tie sign painter" T"
said the Commodore, "and told him that
1 wanted just plain 10 Blackburn on the
! name boards. Well. sir. you wouldn't be-
iieve it. but the ninny followed my in
structions to the letter.
81 had invited Senator Blackburn and
some of his friends to accompany US on
the day that the boat was to go into COM
mission. and had insisted that the signs
| be ready for that occasion and that they
| be sent to the wharf.
| Il had some business at Police Head
| quarters early that morning. but told he
| boys to put the signs in place as soon as
/ they arrived.
THAT was the only occasion on which
! l got mad with them for obeyins ORDERS
continued the commodore sorrowfuliy-
| when | returned from uptown, some Of
my guests had arrived and among them
| the Senator himself. / had intended to
surprise him with the sign boards and
reckon 1 succeeded. The boys had put
| them in place on the wheelhouse and the
| Senator was sitting under one OF them"
| Was he pleased?" asked The Times
man.
''TickIed to DEATH" replied the COM
| modcre, with chucIile. That fool sign
painter had gone and painted Plain 10
| Blackburn on those name boards. and
reckon that if the Senator hadn't been
| such handsome man he would have been
| right mad with the commodore. He took
it as a good joke on himself and me and
we had lots of fun over it,
End of the Cruise.
BY this time the Vigilant was back
at her berth and the cruise was at an end.
The boat was made fast to await orders
from Headquarters or an emergency call
from some place along the shore. IN
emergency came the next day when the
big water front fire broke out and the
shipping was in danger. The Figilant
saved $4,000 worth OF craft by towing
them beyond the reach of the flames,
which fact alone speaks volumes for the
efficiency OF the Harbor Police service.