The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1905-07-06

edge purple flags and water-plants live
and glow in the sunlight, making
bright spots in the mass of green
foliage, and mingling with the silver
rings made by some putting fish or
water snake, add beauty to the
shadows as they sparkle like jewels in
the emerald ripples of the water.
Some three miles above Georgetown
the lofty banks of the Potomac are
broken by the ravine of Pimmit Run,
making convenient place for several
roads to meet. Near here the river is
crossed by the celebrated Chain
Bridge made of suspended chains.
The bluffs above were crowned with
strong forts during the Civil war, for
it was one of the principal approaches
to the city from Virginia. To pass
under this bridge our little boat had
to double up its smoke-stack and
lower its awning, and the passengers
had to bend almost double in their
seats to save their heads, and all
found out what Glow bridge" meant.
After passing Chain Bridge the
banks on the Virginia side grow less
steep and the river becomes wider and
more shallow, forming a number of
islands, among which is Sycamore
island owned by fishing club and is
noted for the game fish caught in the
waters here. The river dashes, lust
above the island, over black rocks and
Lodges in a series of rapids which are
known as the Littls Falls of the
Potomac.
1t is said that Captain John Smith
! sailed up the Potomac as far as these
folks in his search for that elusive
passage to the Indies, so earnestly
sought after by the early America
navigation. 1t is also claimed that it
was not far from this part of the river,
at Cold Spring Gap, just above High
Island, he was afterwards captured by
the Indians, and saved from death by
| pleadings of Pocahontas.
High Island botanicaIIy is known
far and near. Dozens of plants grow
here which are to be found in no other
locality near Washington, and are
extremely rare elsewhere. Birds of
various description are also to be seen
along the canal. We caught the flash
of a scarlet Tanager; saw the sunny
| glow from the orio,a; heard the robin
and the thrush, and the cat birds for
got their harsh call, and sang for us
their soft sweet songs of love.
Fifty or sixty varieties of birds are
to be found in this vicinity, and
further up the river cranes and bald
head eagles are said to be found in
goodly numbers.
After passing the Chain Bridge,
the series of locks begin, sometime in
groups often miles apart. There are
seventy-nine of these locks between
Georgetown and Cumberland a dis
lance of 1S5 miles, making a rise of
an elevation of $50 feet.
The lockman was notified of the
coming of our boat by the blowing of
our whistle; on the canal boats they
blow a horn. He comes forth from
his cosy little home close to the locks,
and prepares the lock for the entrance
of the boat.
1t Is very novel sensation to pass
into the narrow passage of the lock,
with its Shiny sides extending high
above your head, and see the big
gates in the rear close you in, and
watch the water high on the other end
of the canal rush in through the
openings in the gales in front, and fill
the lock until you rise once more with
the tow-path. Then the gates are
lowered in front of the boat, and it
passes out into the canal and steams
away again. Where the locks come
close together as they do at the ''seven
locks" you can get out and walk
along the tow-path from lock to lock,
and pick wild flowers, and join those
on the, boat laden with daises, black
eyed susans, crimson clover, and
purple flags, feeling greatly refreshed
by the stroll. If you tire of the
sameness of the scenery of this part
of the trip you can lean back and look
up into the deep blue of the southern
sky, and watch the cerro-cumulus
clouds like Astara's wedding veil
huttering overhead. The little houses
at the locks are always full of inter-
est. They are nearly all painted white
or. white-washed, and more or less
attempt is made by the lockmen to
till the little strip of land along the
banks at the rear or sides of his home,
and to cultivate a few flowers at the
lock. Scarlet geraniums seem to be
the favorite flowers, and these with
the whiteness of the houses and other
walks of the lock, and the little
cascades formed from the overflow
that rushes around their dwellings
add pleasant change from the vivid
green's OF the foliage along the canal.
After passing the seven locks the
canal becomes wider, the tow-path