Evening star., 1909-06-01
TRIP VOTED BIG SUCCESS
Fun on the Ride Down the James
From Richmond.
"REMINISCENCES OF WARTIME
of the Management
Expressed at Mass Meeting
Held Last Night.


Steamboat Companys boat the Newport
News at 7:3O O'Clock this morning. and,
scattering to their respective homes,
broke up one of the jolliest parties that
ever went on an excursion from Washing
ton They were the members OF the
Chamber of Commerce party that left
the city Saturday evening for a two-day
trip down the Potomac. through Chesa-
peake bay to Old Point Comfort. on to
Richmond over the Chesapeake and Ohio
railroad, down the James river from
Richmond to Old Point and then back to
Washington.
There was one point upon which every
body agreed, and that was that the ex-
cursion was remarkable for the manner
i'm which it was managed. From start
to finish the schedule was run off without
a hitch. D. j. Callahan, who had the
management of the affair, handled II per-
fectly with the assistance OF George W.
Jorss. No member of the party nad 10
give the slightest thought to anything.
IL any were in doubt they were told to
ASK Jorss." and Jorss always knew or
found out in a minute.
When the excursionists had to get up
early which was always the case, par
ticularIy at the jefferson Hotel. In Rich
mond, when : O'Clock was the rising hour
yesterday morning. JorsS saw tnat thes
were called. 1t was like pulling eye
teeth for two or three of the party to
get up at that unearthly hour, but by the
time Richmond was reached they were
SO we'll trained that they were eating out
of Jorss' hand and obeyed whatever he
said without a whimper.
Taken all in all yesterday was the pls
day. Sunday at Old Point Comfort was
a day of quiet rest. Nobody bothered
himself about anything nor attempted
any special activity. The heat OF the
Dnin n
monl Sunday afternoon prevented any
great degree of enthusiasm, and at Rich-
mond Sunday night everybody was tired
and anxious to get to bed But alteI
breakfast at the JEFFERSON yesterua!
morning and an hours ride down the
river on the Pocahontas, the crowd be-
gan to .'loosen up. The real fun began
at City Point, where sthe boat stopped
for twenty minutes
Sport at City Point.
Out on the pier were number of negro
boys The excursonists began talking to
them from the decks. and then somebody
suggested their stramblinS for pennies.
The bows were more than pleased at the
suggestion. Soon the pennies were ex-
hausted and dimes and quarters began
to appear Then the grown men, regular
river ''roustabouts. got into the game
and materially reduced the chances of the
DOyS. Even J1Ul n
one-armed negro. who has been famous
character in Petersburg and down the
Appomattox river as far as City Point
for many years, took a hand In the pro-
ceedings. Waving his handless stump OF
an arm and holding his one hand high In
the air. clutching his straw hat, he tow
cred above the rest of the crowd and in
tercepted many coin before 1t reached
the woolly heads of his rival scramblers.
On the pier was a large tub OF dirty
and genius in the crowd or
negro onlookers yelled out:
Throw it in de tub, boss; throw 1t in
de tub
His suggestion was quickly followed.
For an instant the negroes held back. but
one of them rolled up his sleeve and be-
gan to fish gingerly into the tub. I'm
mediately there was rush and arms and
shoulders were buried in the water.
the ebon-hued and fertile-minded negro
who had suggested the tub plan. Dey's
rootin' in dat tub same as a pasSle
hawgs." And they rooted so hard that
before any one knew what was coming the
tub was overturned and a dozen negro
men and boys were soaked to their skins
and slipping and sliding over the wet pier
after the elusive silver pieces. BY the
time the boat was ready to leave City
Point there was not piece OF small
change left in the party. while the City
Point negro population was richer by at
least $25, we'll distributed.
In High Good Humor.
The fun at City Point put the crowd in
high good humor and from that time on
there was no let-up in the general jolity
of the occasion.
AS was perfectly natural upon such an
occasion there was a quartet. At least,
somebody said 1t started as a quartet but
before most Of the excursionists knew any
thing about 1t there was full-hedged glee
To-, nSrner cfrn
strong all the way down the James and
part of the way up on the Newport News
last night, and was a decidedly attractive
feature of the trip, notwithstanding GER
tain disparaging remarks that were made
about it by various members OF the party
who did not know good singing when they
heard il.
There was no dearth of information
concerning the historic points Of interest
on the James river for those OF the party
who cared for that sort of thing. The
captain of the Pocahontas. s. S. Graves
of Richmond. was familiar with every
twist and turn of the river. and pointed
out everything to the tourists. Allen d.
Albert jr.. who had been asked by the
committee on arrangements to prepare a
lecture on the James. yielded to the re-
quest. Patrick Henry Fontaine of Char
otte county. Va, a direct descendant of
the redoubtable Patrick. told of the gene
alogy of his distinguished ancestor back
to the time of Robert Bruce.
Wartime "reminiscences.
Maj Fontaine and Maj. T. Towson
Smith. a member of the chamber. former
ly of Fauquier county. but now of Wash
ington. began reminscing about the
locality through which they were passing.
Both were in the Confederate army and
members of Pickett's division, engaged in
the defense Of Richmond.
The listeners soon found that they were
being given an exceptional opportunity to
learn real history OF the James river
country. and gave their undivided atten-
ton to the two ex-Confederates. The
stories that made the greatest hit with
the crowd were those relating to the
friendliness that existed between the Fed
eral and Confederate pickets.
This friendship. Maj. Fontaine said. did
great harm to the Confederate service
because the soldiers who lived in Vir-
giania near the lines were enabled.
through the assistance of friends they
had made among the Federal pickets, to
slip through the lines to their homes.
This resulted in wholesale desertions. and
nothing the officers of the two armies did
could break IN the game