The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-07-23
WOOD FROM WILDERNESS"
How the National Capital Gets Its
Fuel from Virginia.

Washington Star.
Passengers on the Potomac River day boats.
as they 20 up and down the river from now
until Fall will pass some curious craft.
which are illustrative Of an interesting
branch of commerce. 1t is an industry about
which the general public knows but little, for
the men engaged in ii never come nearer than
the hem OF the elaborate garment OF civiliZa-
tion which clothes the great city.
AS the steamer slips down the river at a
I2-mlle-an-hour rate, there drifts across the
course q two-master schooner. Her gunwale
is almost awash. for she is loaded deep with
cord wood. Her two big mainsails flap idly.
holding Just enough OF the light breeze to az
ford steerage way The sails are dirty and
patched the cordage is ragged and knotted.
and she looks very unkempt A white man. in
trousers. shirt and big straw hat, lounges on
top Of the poop. beneath which is the tiny
deck holds the wheel a couple of other negroes
asleep forward on the woodpie complete the
crew.
The big steamer being pressed close to the
shoal water of the flats by the impudent little
craft, stops, backs and passes on the other
side. There is an exchange of a few sulphur
epithets between the respective command
ers, ending in a derisive laugh from the wood
carrier and the vessels continue on their
way one the type Of steam. progress and civil
ization. the other a relic of the good old days
when nobody was in hurry.
This IL sample OF the wood-carryinR
schooners which ply between Washington and
the estuaries Of the Lower Potomac, keeping
They run steadily through the Summer and
Fall. discharging their carEoes along the river
frort. the Captain going ashore to lay in his
supplies of ham. coffee, flour and tobacco, and
the crew indulging in little gin. after their
fashion. Then away for another cruise on the
lonely reaches Of the Lower Potomac.
region. Here the river broadens to a width
Of fve miles or more. opening in BAYS and
reaches, into which empty deep tidewater
creeks. These little waterways stretch far up
into Virginia and Maryland, narrow and sInu-
Gus. but with the tide on the food affording
sufficient channel far the wood carriers. They
overhung by dense forests, whose shade
is grateful on a hot day, Deep silehce brCods
plunge II the plymouth bass. as he makes a
dash for bunch of grass mlnnows. The big
mouth bass attain a weight Of I'VE to seven
pounds. There are also great yellow perch q
inches long and the usual run Of river fish,
When the wood schooner heads into the
mouth OF one Of these little creeks she lowers
hcr sails, and the hands pole neT up the
creek 70 the wood landing, whore sne IS TO
take her load. For miles end miles back
OF the landing stretches forest Of Pine and
oak This is wild region since the war left
on the edge Of the great 'sWiiderness' Of Vir.
Einla. All the men who were not killed in
the Army ana md %nS d. snS ee Co roan nn WitS
pine trees; the fields are covered with scrub
timber. A woodhauler's road winds Its way
monotonous and apparently good only for the
use TO which It now Is being put. to furnish
II 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 overheard as a
lure to stray catfish. plymouth bass or ''yal
Ter perch" The captain knows his crew will
be all the happier If they can alternate their
bacon that night with some fried flesh.
So next dav. with the ebbing 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 Washingto is to be
an experience of lacking and reaching. But
1t is not hard work The air is soft and warm.
the distant Maryland and Virginia shores
are bathed in a blue haze. the river sparkles as
the little waves lap the sides of the Grimy
old boat; it's nice to stretch out on the wood
pile and snooze until the captain calls for a
shift of the boom.
Then. when evening comes, they draw on
from the main channel. drop anchor, hanging
lantern in the rigging tn note their position.
One of the negroes fries the bacon and makes
the coffee, and soon after supper the whole
outfit is asleep to be turned out at first crack
of day in the morning.