Evening star., 1903-09-26

Generally the dwellers along navigable
waters know the history of the local boats
and of any other boats trading in local wa
ters. Little mention, however. has re-
Gently been made of a craft which during
many seasons has traded out OF Washing
ton. although she possesses historic In
terest. and 1t Is doubtful IL many of the
present generation. even among those per-
sons especially interested in nautical mat
ters, would be able to fix her place beyond
the ordinary.
But the old side-wheel steamboat River
Queen enjoys a distinction unique In char
acter She first OF all boats did duty as a
Presidents yacht: but while performing
that duty, or subsequent to it, no such title
was. so far known. given her That
title was however, used in conversation
by her present first officer few days ago
while showing a visitor over the boat and
that he did not err Is proved by the fact
that the Queen early in 1885. If not late In
1864. began carrying President Lincoln on
his trips for military inspection and confer
ence down the Potomac and into the James
and York rivers.
Among other notable trips with lne Presi-
dent that which began on March 20, 1865
!s perhaps most interesting. On that date
Mr.. and Mrs. Lincoln. accompanied by their
son Tad" embarked for visit to the
camp of General Grant. This absence of
the President, all the while using the River
Queen precisely as q President or other
notable person nowadays uses a regularly
built and appointed yacht. was considerably
prolonged. A most distinguished party was
received on board by the President on the
evening of March a. when General Grant.
General Sherman and Rear Admiral Porter
We're present.
In these days the River Queen, then less
than one year in commission, beauti-
ful craft She still bears her lightly
Probably some of the indifference to this
old steamboat and of the ignorance of her
history are due to the fact that for a num-
Der Of years she bore the name of Pilot
Boy. Why her name was changed has not
been ascertained, but the inference is rea-
sonable that her first service rendered her
Objectionable to some persons whose patron
age was sought, and hence the disguise of
new name. But now, with name restored.
She is practically she when she be-
came the first Presidents yacht" and in
the cabin of her officers may be seen some
Of the saloon furniture in use at that time.
x
The most dreadful experience of my life
occurred while l was at Atlantic City dur
ing the recent hurricane that wrought con-
siderable damage there" explained Wash
ington girl. My room overlooked the 'alli-
gator farm 1 didn't mind that fact the
least bit until the wind began to blow SO
frightfully hard. AS the fury of the storm
increased to the extent of causing our hotel
to tremble all sorts of fears took posses
sion of me.
You can we'll imagine my state of mind
when l realized that it might be only
matter of minutes before / would be blown
from the hotel building right down onto
that farm and there be eaten by the alli-
gators. l was probably the most thankful
mortal on earth when the wind subsidized
and the danger of such a horrible death
had passed"
buyer of oriental goods for local es-
tablishrnent In a recent letter written from
Kobe, Japan, to a member of the firm here,
relates some of his experiences while in
China, making his purchases for the Wash
ington house.
In one little town." the writer states,
Il was very pleasantly surprised to find
handful of foreigners engaged in the tea
trade. There were some features about this
town, however which Were not so pleasant.
The natives had the town placarded with
threats of determination OF the foreigners.
Your buyer hadn't figured on that kind
of a deal. 1t was rare old Chinese curios
was after and not determination. It's no
snap to be eXterminated by Chinese meth
DDS. one of their most effective ways is to
hang a person up by the heels while the
kids-their little sons of heaven'-poke his
eyes out their elders meanwhile doing
other things to him as pleasant diversion
until the unfortunate man is dead.
Then again. when they want to extermi-
nate fellow. by another method they strip
him, bind his hands and feet and stand him
in pit neck-deep. Then they pack quick
lime around him up to his chin. The victim
is fed daily and given all the water he can
drink. The moisture from his body slakes
the lime and the poor man dies lingering
and horrible death. The natives have stil
other ways Of putting a. out of the