The sun., 1903-12-13
FAMOUS RIVER LEAGUE GONE.
THE PILOTS ASSOCIATION or
WHICH MARK TWAIN WROTE.

MIssisslppi Pilots Laughed At Its Methods
At First, but II Boosted Wages to the
High Mark OF $500 Month-Then
Came TusbOatinE and Killed IT,
BURLINGTON, Ia, Dec. i0,-The Missis-
sippi River Pilots Association, one Of the
oldest, strongest and most influential or
ganizatioAs on the river has been disbanded
It is expected that the members will all
join the Harbor Association Of Masters
and Pilots.
The disbandment Of the association
closes the career Of one of the most csle-
brated labor combinations in the history
of this country. 1t was founded many
years ago. when steamboating and rafting
were in their glory and the pilot was monarch
Of all he surveyed Mark Twain in his
Life on the Mississippi devotes two or
three interesting chapters to the organiza-
ton and growth of this distinguished trust,
In the old days every pilot had one or
two acubs" who did all the ordinary work
Of st steering, leaving only the difficult passes
for the pilots to run, In time this produced
q surplus of first class pilots, the cubs ia king
the places Of their masters. Wages began
to fall and tho business OF river plotting
grew to be anything but lucrative.
With this prospect before them dozen
OF the best pilots launched the organization
which has Just been abandoned. They -.
cured q charter, elected officers, contrib.
uted capital. and put 'association' wages
up to $3.50 month All idle members In
their association were entitled to monthly
pension of s25 This brought in all strag-
glers, the lame halt and blind pilots. In .
short ime the association had in 1t about
dozen good pilots and all the outcasts
along the river, while nearly all the good
pilots remained outside. 1t was then the
laughing stock of the whole river How
ever, the promoters of the association kept
their counsel. and waited.
The busy season came on. Gradually
wages began to advance. One day mas
ter steamboatman went to the secretary
of the association, and said:
well, we've had to come to 1t at last.
hate to do it but need pilot right away.
and must pay your outrageous prices.
Him" replied the secretary. who's
your other pilot?"
-Ivc got T.. one Of the best you
know"
I'm sorry was the secretary's reply
shut our men cannot 60 with K. You
know, he's not an association man"
The steamboatman implored In vain
The upshot OF the matter was that he dis
charged his non-association pilot and hired
two association men. at the same time
paving the wages of the man whom he had
been compelled to discharge.
That turned the laugh the other way.
A revulsion OF feeling came over the pilots
and applicants began to drift toward the
association. There q surprise was met
with. The initiation fees had gone up.
and were increasing from month to month.
This hurried the crowd. Some OF the old
timers still held out, and when they did
give in it was at the sacrifice Of nearly
months wages.
The association grew stronger from year
to year. Systems of river bulletins telling
of the changes in the channels and giving
other vital information for the benefit OF
the members were adopted. The asso-
citation also did much good in the way OF
influencing river Improvement. The sys-
TEN OF bulletins was one Of the most COM
plete ever devised.
The rapidly changing course OF the stream,
often left 1t difficult to tell whether the
channel would be in the same place on the
return trip or not. The association pilots
on the up going boats made notations OF
each change in the course of the current.
of the sand bars and everything calculated
TO be OF any value to the down going pilots.
These facts we're deposited in locked boxes
at the landing places. where the other
pilots could get at them.
The down river pilots carried out the
Same plan. Every association pilot had
KEY to these boxes, and the peculiar way
in which he held this key in his fingers
when greeting a strange pilot or answer
Ing a question was a means of identifying
al US ucation man.
Mark Twin asserts in his "Life on the
Mississipplr that this association was the
means Of raising the wages OF it's members
to $500 a mouth This golden condition
did not last for long, though. The little
steam tug, with it's tow OF barges, came
in, and in less time than one can imagine
the high wage bubble had burst. While
the association continued to be strong
and helpful facto in river life the exoroltsnt
prices were over. For the last dozen or
more wears the traffic of the river boats
| has been falling off, until the need for sucn
an association was removed, ana IL prao-
tically died a natural death, the formal
disarmament which has just taken Plaos
| being merely the last sad rites,
There are hundreds of old-time pilots
on the river who recall the palmy days OF
the association. Many Of these men still
turn the wheel, but mostly, In their place.
has sprung up new order of pilots, who by
the aid of Government lights and buoys,
literally scattered along the river banks by
Uncle Sam, are able to guide their boats
with accuracy night or day. They are
! honeful that the river business is not dead
vet and they look forward to a renewal
Of its old-time life in the near future by hs
opening of the Panama Canal.
Anxiety Shown In Christmas Faces
From The Philadelphia Record.
Now, look at those Christmas faces.