Bismarck daily tribune., 1911-12-29
,lollARvh' UA

not Va06ty uM the lnQ00 WOTlQ. Az
Cheyenne the red pets Of the nation
were indulging in their annual sun
dance, but as it was over the hills
and a considerable distance away, We
did not get q sight OF the flesh lacerat-
ing scene. Friday was ration day at
Cheyenne, and the heads of the
families of 5000 Sioux were receiving
the installmen|ts of II esh beef as we
landed. No scavengn- is needed to
clear away the refuse after one of
these performances. The alacrity with
which the untutored refuses to refuse
emgend}ers the suspicion that he is ex-
tensively engaged in the sausage bus
mess. However,, that's the Indians
business, not ours. Whats one mans
meat is afnothers poison, and if any
savage who may chance to peruse
these Lines famcies that our sugges-
TOMS tend to ridicule his life habit,
we bid him dispell the Illusion. We
have the most intense regard for a
people whose economy reads the
world a daily lesson in the art of saw
ing. 1t is a comfort to know that the
six million dollars worth is utilized.
A down river trip in August is not
the smoothest sailing one could i'm
agine. but Capt. LeBarge, the veteran
pilot OF the Missouri, stood watch
over the destinies of the Durfee and
she kicked her heels in the faces Of
disappointed bars and lashed to "a
foam the muddy depths of the channel
he knew so we'll. LeBarge has a his
tory but we are not going to write it,
because he might prefer to choose his
own biographer. He WAS travelling
the Missouri for thirty eight years
and took the first steamer over the
shoals of the upper river to Benton.
Still, had mischance cast us upon
the protruding bottom for a few days
the accident would have not been
voted by the party as an affliction, for
John Ehoert re-gned as steward and
from out his pantry store he had "a
way of fixing up things for the table In
whose presence anxiety and tedious
ness dissolved and evaporated and
left us i'm state of blissful umconcern
about the future.
But all Things pleasant and unpleas-
amt must reach TN end and the trip
of the Durfee. as one of the former
was NO exception to the rule. We
all felt as though It was much too
brief, for we had learned to like Capt.
Mason's comfortable accommod odations.
It was our belief, too, that the captain
liked us and might perhaps have
heightened the journey but for the
business qualifications which are a
part Of the make up of every success
full steamboat master. The profits of
the trip are largely due to the speed
of the boat and the absence of delays
With steamboat men time is money
out of pocket, and SO 1t happened that
Captain Mason put the Durfee through
and LANDED her at the Yankton Qevee
at seven o'clock on Monday evening,
making the round trip in twelve days.
River'wise men speak OF this as a
quick trip during the low stage OF
water, and they also remark THAT the
Ooulsan boats are In the habit OF
doing that kind of work. The govern
ment recognizes the fact by giving to
the line the transportation of dts i'm
mense up river supplies, travellers
acknowledge their belief by seeking
accommodations on its boats and the
Yankton eNcursionists settlethe mat
ter with their $50 say We all of u.s..
not forgetting to add several of the
most favorable adjeotives in the die
tionary in cofmendation of the Durfee
and its gentlemanly officers.-Press
and DakOta1an.