The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1906-08-14
James Joyner's Description.

outing ~ cafonc! Old4 Well known ar-
eaulzatlon 81 young people teEA. H9i
july 10th. but ten daF- earlier.
July 9Th foar boys. myself IN
ci4Lea. began d trip down %euse river
i'm fifteen foot canyass canoes de-
signed ana made by the boys them
selves. IT was the novelty OF th- trip
THAT had appealed u " and in TINS
I'VE We're not diSa appointed. IN the
FIRST place it was like stepping from
the noise and confusion OF the TWEEN
Itietn century back into the times when
John Lawson used 10 make his trips
up the Ncuse. The river Vas in utter
solitude. From the time We left Hin
tons Fails until just before We
reached Smithfield, we saw not Il hu-
man SOU except each other.
We felt like pioneers exploring an
unknown and u~ninhabited region. Like
pioneers also we were thrown upon
our own resources. Every three or
four miles we had to go dashing
around an old abandoned fish-dam.
or shoot some foaming rapids. IN
isuch places we had to take our chances
land trust to quickncss of eye and
sureness of hand in getting through.
You would be dashing along at q fu-
IriOus rate; the patch OF water just
ahead Wou assume 4 blackish unse;
like q flash you would pack water on
~ ouI 1eII, Soui III Nodi4 'I'iiA
around like a we~ll-trained horse re-
~sponsive to the touch. ana you would
Just miss on your right an ugly sub
merged rock, which might have meant
an ugly snag in canvass ana perhaps
& swim in the swift rapids. We
learned to take chances with the in
difference of a gambler and usually
won out-there were several times
when we did not.
Our troubles with fish-traps and
rapids We're forgotten soon after leaV-
ing mithfield Here the river brOad-
cned and d~eepened, the underground
along the II thickcned and seemed
to assume q more tropical look. The
very plumage of the numerous birds
land Waterfowl seemed to grow re-
splendent. We saw signs of the north
as we'll as the South. Often we saw
muskrats playing under the banks and
several times an other swan close
enough for us to take q good look at
him before he dived under the water.
One otter swan directly across our
path within about thirty feet o. us.
We saw many strange and beautiful
birds. Those which interested us most
We're magnificent birds which we took
to be Great Blue Herons.
In spite of strange and interesting
SIGHTS and experiences the river rather
palled on Us after 4 time. Mark Twain
ISdSS IN MS llle on the MISSISSIPPI,
that to the pilot the river loses its
romance. While you have to stretch
your imagination to apply this to four
boys on Neuse river, still this ex-
presses our feelings when we reached
our destination better than anything l
can think of. Suffice it to say, that
the four boys who joined Colonel dc
and their fellow Sunshiners Monday
night, July 10th, at Beaufort, wore
| p<canlinp1v plal to or4t thnla
When the fOur OF US a-1ighted
from the mail-boat Monday night, it
seemed for q that through
some miraculous power of Colonel
Odds Raleigh had been transferred to
the court. The little town was fairly
alive With SunsninerS. They We're on
the dock eating Watermelon; they
stood on the corner talking and ook
ling big; they were in the drug store
ordering cold drinks and jingling their
money. uncOnSciOuSly Of course; but
the greater part of them We're on the
long promenade, which stretches far
out over the sound. Heads We're
thrown back and n~Ostrils distended as
they drank in with speechlcss ecstasy
the coOOl inVigOrating salt air.
AS soon as we touched the dock
we were surrounded by q crowd of
eager, excited boys, who seemed I'M
conscious of our bundles and utterly
dlSregardful of the fact that we had
not been to supper. At length We
made them understand what we want
ed, n the whole crowd set out to
show us our quarters. Every few
yards VIC would meet a group of sun
lshiners and after exchanging a few
words would press on. 1t took about
an hOur to make the two blocks from
the landing to the odd Fellows Lodge,
our barracks. On entering the door
y-1 - 80 -
a good look around. The rows of
clean white cots, the groups of boys
lazily putting the finishing touches to
their dress for the evening, all made
q picture most pleasing to the eye. \
minute more and we had shaken
hands with Colonel Olds, been allotted
our cots and last but not least. been
given the suit-cases sent from home.
We made a dive for those clean
clothes and in five minutes time were
looking again like gentlemen and feel
ing like true SunShiners.
All hands put in their time till ten
o'clock that night in walking about
Beaufort and taking it easy. At ten
o'clock Colonel Odds called all to bed
but not to sleep. The racket kept
up by those sixty care-free frolick-
some boys made sleep q thing not to
be dreamed of. This state of things
continued till abou two O'Clock. when
by common consent all noise stopped.
At six o'clock everybody was walked
by Colonel Olds, who ooked as fresh
as though he had gotten a good nights
sleep. After q dip in the sound we
had breakfast out under the beauti-
ful trees at the rear of our building.
Breakfast over, we went down to the
dock for a sail over to Morehead. this
being the first event IN the program
for Tuesday. Right here | must say
/ that n moro com J1ata ~ 81
mirable schedule could not have been
made. There was not a duh mCm.
from the time We reached Beaufort till
we left. Everything passed off with
the regularity of clock work.
Tuesday afternoon was most enjoy
ably spent in fishing. sailing and
swimming. That evening Colonel Odds
tarranged for a meeting between the
~Sunshlners and the young people of
Beaufort 1t proved a most happy
affair and We went to sleep that night
with a warm feeling in our hearts for