The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1912-07-07
TWO GIRLS LIVE
ON THE RIVER.
streckfus Sisters, Daughters Of Well
Known Captain, Are OFFICERS
on the Big Steam
A STEAMBOAT FAMILY
All Members Take Hand in Plotting
the Destiny of the Old
Diamond 10
Line.

Limo.
How many women In the United
states today know practically every
loot OF the mighty Mississippi river
from its source, Lake Itasca, In the
grand old state Of Minnesota, to its
mouth, down at the Gulf of Mexico?
How many have spent ten years Of
tnelr lives on the same big stream
that has caused SO much alarm and
damage to life and crops, more par
tlcularly In the lower Mississippi val.
Hey?
How many have heard of a woman
clerk on steamboat, one who has
seen the days on a big packet when
| 1T required iron nerve and steel deter
mination to watch the deckhands and
to make a carefnl check Of each
package, box, barrel, bale of cotton,
or whatever the cargo consisted Of?
And yet there are two young wom-
en- right in our midst who have done
all OF that and even more in the last
decade, and as a result today they
have the distinction of being the only
4 women clerks on the Mississippi.
These women who are remarkable in
/ appearance, manners and accomplish
ments, are Miss Anna Streckfus,
whom many have seen back Of the
clerks desk on the steamer Sidney,
and Miss May Streckfus, who daily
cares for the dollars and cents item
behind the counter of the mammoth
steamer st. Paul.
/ Those who have not had the pleas
ure Of personally meeting these girls
OF SO many accomplishments have
missed rare treat-a treat that
comes but once or twice in a lifetime
for these same river packet clerks
are of the character you meet only in
1.-The fiction of some of our more able
writer's. They remind one OF Marian
| Devereux, the heroine in Meredith
4 Nicholoson's delightfully."- interesting
little novel, THE House of a Thous
land Candles
From Family OF Riyermen.
i The Streckfus girls come from a
family, every member of which is ac
lively connected with the Father OF
i Waters. This remarkable family OF
steamboat men and women came from
4 Rock Island, where the family home is
today, and where the entire family
meets every year in a most enjoyable
1lreunion. The father. Captain John
IStreckfus Is the president and gen.
eral manager of the big line of river
excursion boats and packets. Captain
Joe Streckfns is the assistant general
manager; Captain Roy Streckfus is
the treasurer; John Streckfus, Jr, is
the clerk of the organization, and
i young Verne S. Streckfus Is In charge
4 of the concessions. In regard to the
j latter, it may be said that he is now
attending high school at Rock Island,
but has had sufficient experience
in the river trade to permit him to
ATTEND to all concessions, even though
he goes to school. Verne. like all the
4 Streckfus family, is ambitious to a
marked degree, and just as soon as
he leaves school he will follow the
i footsteps of his father, mother sisters
and brothers and will take up life on
the Mississippi
Miss Anna Streckfus, the elder of
the pair, has had wealth OF river
experience on the big boats owned
land operated by the Streckfus line.
She was clerk on the J. S. when the
Inflated excursion steamer burned to
THE edge off Bad AK Island, MINI,
while Miss May Streckfus was at that
time serving in the capacity of assist
ant clerk of the same boat
Possesses Varied Accomplishments
Practically all of the knowledge
about things in general possessed by
Miss Anna Streckfus was gained by
her own efforts after some years of
study and close observation. She
spent very little time in school. The
i reason for this was that some years
ago she was compelled, because Of
illness, to give up her studies. She
spent short while in the village
school at Rock Island, her native city,