The Washington herald., 1909-07-18
THE NEGRO ROUSTABOUT
Last Picturesque Feature of the Mississippi Steamboat
Is Disappearing
Is Disappearing.

Hannibal. No, July I7.-SOme Of the
Northern line steamboat companies Op-
Grating on the Mississippi River are going
TO substitute Italians and Greeks for their
negro roastabouts this season. believing
that they viii prove 70 be cheaper and
steadier workers
With the passing OF the negro rousta-
bout or deck hand viii go the last pic
turesQue feature OF the days OF river
navigation. The first 10 90 was the long
feathered stacks Of the big liners, which
were replaced by squat affairs. resem-
bling a sJovepipe. that would go under the
bridges.
Then came the lighthouses at bad
I crossings. the elimination OF jutting
snags. and the electric searchlight With
( the advent Of these safeguards 20 naviga-
ton the glory OF the kid gloved. lynx
( eyed steersman vanished, and he be-
came a common river man
I anybody can steer a boat when he
F mas the marks 10 20 BY and a headlight
/ shooting mile down the river" said an
/ old PILOT disconsolately. IT'S ike driving
nag along z hedge lane. Time was
when a pilot had 10 know the river
himself. and he got psid for knowing IT."
/ The aids 70 navigation have made the
/ captain a bigger man than the pilot,
which is against river tradition.
4 Next the ic0noclasts dumped the broad
hated. oily gambler into the river for
the catfshes- and placed so low limit
( on the lawful ante that IL was more fun
70 play checkers and dominoes.
To follow these distressing things by
the Punishment OF she negro roustabout
and hts souldfuI song viii be turning the
Father OF Waters into a cemetery You
can't write river stories or make songs
: about people whose lingo you don't IN
derstand
! The man who has never made a trip
down the Mississippi River IN the real
steamboat days has lost a page OF life
( that would have contributed 20 his love
/ OF the country. Closely woven with the
/ poetry q the voyage was the brawny
negro desk hand, and right behind him
/ the m2sterful mate. with his hair trigger
/ profanity dynamo.
The Big Anchor Line steamers FOR
I Grand Tower Cairo. Memphis. and Vicks-
]
Z Louis wharf al p m. but they rarely
+ got under way before or 10 The rule
/ seemed 70 be 20 hold the boat as long as
\ there were offerings OF freight. and il
I looked as Il the shipping clerks IN the
/ big wholesale houses on second and Main
1 streets didn't begin 20 get busy until late
/ in the afternoon
I Then wide tvo-wheeIed drayS and
I trucks would clatter down the long rock
( levee Ike an army of invasion II was
{ q lively sight Oficers would dart about
/ directing teamsters where 70 90 and say
I ing things about their Iardiness: the
/ teamsters would swear az their mules.
and the mates would cuss the roust-
I abouts. Everybody seemed 10 have a safe
I target for his wrath. and nobody took
( offense.
/ BY and by. long after the last dray OF
/ freight would roar across the wharf
/ bridge. an army % black men would
/ seize the stun almost before the team
| stopped. the mud valves would grOwl OUT
! great clouds OF steam forward OF the
/ paddle wheels. and some one aloft. gen
I orally the captain. would pull the great
I bell for the third time Thar was The
] signal 10 cast Of the hawsers and -ua
/ IN the gangplank.
/ Then the big craft. loaded nearly 10 the
]
out into the river, stern foremost When
| the line OF boats vas cleared a seeming
| haphazard concert Of small bells and
baby whistles below was responded 20 by
I long. fierce exhausts. spouting geyserlike
/ from the steam pipes just forward Of the
wheel houses The din Of the bells and
whistles. which nobody on earth but the
| engineers could have understood. was
| kept up until the boat had slowly turned
and headed south. The voyage had be
gun
Then the negro roustabouts. scattered
around on the coffee sacks and hemp
bales, started their evening musicale:
The boat eo-nes saIlia' roun- De ben.
Good-by. my lovsh. sood6y;
she's Loaded down wid wluin AZ msn.
Good-by- ms lOVah. gOod-by.
By-by, nv bS-bee
By-by my ha-bee
Good-by. my loEah. good-bJl
Il was sung 20 a long. plaintivs tune
carrying with Il the agony OF parting
| forever. As II rolled out into the dark
ness, now and then illumed by the red
glare from an opened furnace. the black
man seemed 70 have come into his king
1 dom. a kingdom peopled with weird
! shapes and enveloped in the mysticism
I OF a dark continent He was no longer
a hunidruga heWer Of wood and a drawer
OF water. but a part OF the sublirulty OF
/ the river
The steady move Of the engines. the
/ cascades from the great paddle wheels.
| the long sonorOus roar from the steam
pipes and the pleasant quiver OF the boat
seemed the natural accompaniment OF
the negroes lullaby. and the whole scene
was so enchanting that few passengers
/ retired 20 their stater0oms untn late IN
| the night
SWinE high.
Swing lCw.
SUec- Chario-ti
Come for 70 earry ne hcne.
| The boat swept on past the great
Vulcan iron works, where the blasts
[ showed red against the houses and gave
/ them the appearance OF town on FIRE;
! on past Bloody Island" where states
men met 10 shoot holes into each other
and then down the broad water avenue
I bT the mountains OF iron the steamer