Evening star., 1912-11-03

sacks of fertilizer, a box of soap, reel
of chicken fence wire. stove. bedstead
and piano stool, two rolls of wall paper.
a section of stove pipe box Of starch.
a rake, hoe and shovel.
The purSer needs to be busy man,
and he is, to keep tab on all these small
and miscellaneous shipments to little
landings and get these things on deck and
over the gangplank without loss of time.
Then there is way freight to be Kept
track of. freight that comes on board at
one little wharf for shipment to another
little wharf, it may be across the river
or in the same creek.
About half the whole number of passen-
gers are co,ored. and small cabin on
the after part of the main deck-if that
is the deck next above the water line
is theirs. There is the genial. symra-
thetic "ole NANNY travelling from some
landing in Mattawoman creek to some
landing in Port Tobacco creek to visit a
daughter: there is the old-style colored
man. who lifts his hat and bows when
he speaks to you or when spoken 10.
who makes many friends on board who
cannot read. but seems strangely to nave
a better understanding of common things
than many men who can read.
There are coiored young women earning
honorable wages in the city, who, moved
by the same fealty to home and kindred
which prompts the returning whites. are
going up Nanjemoy creek. or down in
King Go'ge or Westmo Ian. Then there Is
the colored youth with brilliant yellow
shoes, vivid necktie and generally noisy
clothing. who is going down in st Marys
TO sit around the fireplace and entertain.
perhaps dazzle. the old folk with tales
of wonderful doings in the city
In the upper cabin the women who
began the trip in the early morning. look
ing fresh and prim, have become weary
eyed. and their hair is out Of sorts They
have sat in the chairs around the cabin
all day. The decks and the river wind,
sharpened with autumn tang, have not
appealed to them. Some have rested in
staterooms, but there are not enough
staterooms to go round. beside some of
these people practice careful economy.
Some have lain down on the long, mar
row benches, covered with we'll Worn red
velveteen. They have often opened paste
board boxes and refreshed themselves
with fried chicken, biscuit. cake and JAM
all put up beforehand.
x (;
Three times day tie cook in cap and
apron walks through the cabin ringing "a
big bell as though an auction were COM
ing off. 1t is the announcement that
the dining saloon. Few Of the passengers
seem to heed the bell. unless they look
on it as warning instead of an invita-
ton. AS a rule, the bell seems to act as
a reminder and they turn again TO their
boxes of fried chicken. biscuits, cake and
jam.
All day the little steamboat has been
shaking and thropbing with its effort All
Il 90. n
in the broad river or moving cautiously
she has been stirring up red mud and
very muddy water in the shallow creeks
All day she has been passing between
wooded banks, blue and purple, where the
river is wide and the shore far off, and
crimson. yellow and green when the
course lays close to land. All day the
passengers have had Slimpses of quiet
farm homes among the fields and the fo-
liage close by the rivers edge. All day the
boat has been stopping at or turning
away from old, ragged and picturesque
wharves where men and women of the
country have gathered to meet friends.
receive or ship goods or merely TO see
the boat come in. Along the shore or on
the road leading down to the little wharf
may he gathered a train of wagons and
buggies with lean and patient horses
with cockleburrs matted in their names
and tails. OK carts, some with d single
yoke and other with a double yoke of
red or black. or red and white steers will
probably be found in the picture.
:: X
At every landing the captain and the
mates call everybody by name. The cap
tain will lift his blue gold braided cap
and say Good mornin, Miss SUSIE or
Good evenin', Miss Mary and will take
the young lady's lunch box, her basket
her valise. etc. and assist her down the
splintery old gangplank. The mates and
the purser will lift their caps and say
Good mornin'. Miss Susie or Good
evenin', Miss Mary" The young lady is
all smiles and chatter and is saying
Good mornin'. Cap'n WILL" Good
mornin', Cap'n George etc a lady may
be fifty and with house full of children
and her legal name long may have been
Mrs A. B. c.. but before she was married
she was Mary Smith and she always re-
mains to her man friends III the lower
Potomac valley as Miss Mary
At every landing on the Virginia side
the captain, the purser and the mates are
SAYING good mornin' or good evenin' to
Mr.. Washington. or Mr.. Lee. or Mr.
Marshall. or MIR. Stuart. or Mr. Writ and
on the Mary land side they are exchanging
greetings with Mr. Brooke. Mr. Dent Mr.
IL. ",
Everybody on that steamboat is cap'n
if he wears a cap. He may be the assist
ant engineer or the mate, but he will
never be able to outlive the title of cap'n
The number of old wharves at which
the boat stops is large, but the number
Of older ruined and abandoned wharves
at which the boat does not stop, but |
which a passenger sees. is much larger |
One seems scarcely ever out of sight OF |
a row or u double row or a quadrupe |
row of old piles jutting out from the |
shore and marking where some old land |
ng place was Wharf mortality is nigh /
IN the Potomac and its tributaries be- |
cause of ice and flood. principally ice. |
Moving ice grinds off the tops of the
piles and at low water these sad re-
ninders are exposed. Ii would be an |
interesting story to trace the history and
,ate of many Of the older Potomac river
anding places.
The life of the deckhand may be
merry one, but it is a peculiar merri-
nent Day and night these sturdy black
nen are pushing trucks. hauling in or
putting out lines that are heavy haW-
ers. frayed and dripping; lifting out and
pulling in the big gangplank and slowing
II discharging the many kinds of freight.
they get wet between landings. and these
are irregular and sometimes
hort. When the deckhand sleeps 1t is on