Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-09-21
THE OLD RIVER BOATS
~ HEY ask what becomes of all the
pins that are made. What for the
L matter of that, becomes OF any old

|
| / pins that are made. What, for the
| L matter of that. becomes Of any old
| thing all old things?
| Particularly, old boats. That's what TINS
little column is going to be about. Old
boats and things Especially the old Po-
tomac river boats. that used to glide IN
and out of their slips back yonder in the
| years when fellers who go upstairs pretty
puffy now were the gay dogs and clips In
| those rakish prince Albert coats-'mem-
| Der those prince Albert coats of the
| yesteryears. and what a sight OF saving II
took to annex prince Albert suit. and
how one of 'em had to last Ave or six
| years, or until 1t turned dingy olive green
| or q mournful ecru?
| But this Is about old boats. only we
| never think of the old Potomac river boats
that we're not reminded OF the glad boys
of the other day who always put on Their
| prince Alberts'' when they took the girl
| down the river.
| Well, to make a beginning about the old
| boats.
| Remember the New Armenia? OF course
| you do! You can't have forgotten the
| New Armenia The whirl Of the old game
| of life since the days Of the New Armenia
| can't have carried that sharp-nosed old
hooker completely out of your memory.
| We remember. vaguely. what became of
| ici Ollie DuIHeu uOWH 10 luS water . euSS,
| If we've got it right. at her ashngton
| pier, oh, these many. many years ago! She
| was very Old when she met that decent
| fate-a better fate. If you'll think it over,
! than being cast into the discard and moored
| to some rotten wharf to go through the
| dismal and prolonged process OF self-dis
| mantlement and gradually dropping apart.
piece by piece
| Used to go down to Lower Cedar Point
on daily excursions In the summer time. did
| the old New Armenia. Surely you remem-
Der Lower Cedar Point? It's never heard
of any more. Probably no boats stop
| there of late years. But. a quarter Of
century ago. wasn't 1t the excursion point,
| down yonder about sixty miles right where
the brackish water Is? II was And peo-
pie for whom the world has now. al this
| stage OF 1t, perhaps gone old and gray and
| unsentimental and NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
| who remember their rides down to Lower
| Cedar Point the New Armenia-with
! her-are bound to fall into at least little
! moment of reverie
How gafly the old six-piece band did play
on the upper deck Of that sharp-prowed
| New Armenia-she was the clipper OF the
| river then, right enough. and narrow in
peam as to be unseaworthy and liable to
| turn turtle in a little roughness any old
! time. but folks didn't mind anything like
that In the brave old days-how gaily the
little old band on her upper deck used to
/ play! On the way down, particularly
Member how that little band I'D play
| Pop Goes the Weasel" and when it got
to the pop" the rakish dog of a pilot, up
IN the pilot house would pull the whistle
cord so as to let Shrek out Of the VIII s.
| tie to fit In with the bands pop? Oh,
you must remember that! Sure, you must
| ana, wheel the old tunes-new then-that
me New Armenia's band used to play
| the gluggy. woozy old songs. that 'ud make
| the boys that had been hitting up the malt
| Gus stun. down below, sort o. sentimental
80 that they'd lay their heads together, up
, Tor ara .l on the lower deck. and sing. Songs
| like ''Wait Till 4
ME, I'll Await My Love-" Spanish cav
al,er." When the Robins Nest Again"
stick to Your Mother, Tom" Some
Dogs o@ Coming When the Dewdrops Fall, /"
| gathering Up the Shells From the Sea-
snore' There's a Lighthouse by the Sea. -
| Only Pansy Blossom''-oh, whole sIews
ana siathers Of the songs that were new
and tba Nm tnin ~, Of EN- ever being new
could sing EN-. too. They knew how to
sing. Queer thing. by the way, that the
ballads OF that day were 50 much prettier
smau the Daiiads OF this prosaic era. 1t
| surely can De that-perish theh thong hit
no. IT can't be that we were younger then
ana that the old songs just sounded better
tn tna NAN any OF the songs of today nd hate
The songs Of that time were better: tban
| days. 'hs ho"a-
on the ride home from Lower Cedar
| Point. too. maybe the boys-and tha e,ri.
for that matter-werent there with tha !;
singing thing! All hands pretty sentimentai
at that stage of it. especially If there was a
mo an r they'd sing the sad old stun on
would generally chime in with "Iohn
Browns Body to sort of keep the thing
rom becoming too WOODY. Member how
my sang John Browns Body" dropping
on word at the end Of the chorus eyery
Time. until at the wind-up the whole chorus
| mad been eliminated and there wasn't anv
more OF 1t to sing? And. when the boat
why t tbev a al sns a on the way back.
to oid Virsinny." and when she touched at
Shepherds Point to let EN- off there thev.d
an s.no sing MARYLAND Mar Ny Maryland" and we
effective. and all like that! And ali the
s way up the boys who were particularly
blessed with the pipes would be singing
th wnen l First Took Nellie Home" and
any chance In these dun-hued years And.
when the old boat was varying into her
slip. they'd all strike up Home Again ;.
ana arnl, the ., blessed. blessed day of fun and
right enough. because Youth then was
right alongside Of you-the day was done
Where. Where's the George Leary, anyhow
n Member d the George Leary7 She used to
and now she's gone Must have been gone
a long time. Haven't even heard her name
for vars and vars. as the leading lady
s saySraa sne D,u used to 60 to Pney Point
/
Piney Point! What's become Of Piney
| Point? Is 1t still ON the map? Do boats
| go there any more? Used to be bully
place to catch fish on sundays-wicked. we
know, to fish on Sundays-but that was the
place to get em. Big rock fish and salt
water tailors and rafting big perch. and
all like that. Used shrimp bait bought from
the dinges for two bits can. Well, well!
The old George Leary! Would like to
know what became Of that boat She could
go some, too. She used to hook up occa-
sionally with the
With the-now. there's another one that
you're bound to remember The George
| Leary used to hook up and race with the
| Lady Of the Lake! Got that? Why Of
course. We knew you'd remember the Lady
OF the Lake! Little old low-lying craft, but
she could get over the waveets, all right,
| and we seem to recall that she used to wal
| lop the George Leary when they got to
racing and that we used to just gloat and
gloat and gloat over the Leary folks when
| we-on the Lady of the Lake-shd past the
putting Leary and forged to the front after
| getting away from the dock few minutes
| later than that one.
Jane Moseley, too-what's' become Of the
Jane Moseley? Why, she used to be the
| queen Of the old river fleet In those days: