The Topeka state journal., 1913-08-16

! The rumble and trembIe is missing
and without rogret. storm came up
| nearly every night on the trip. First
it would hit US astern-then on the
| the boat would be enticing that sea-
| sick feeling first in the rocking chair
I ia ashion-then it would turkey-trot and
| grizzly-bear, winding you up in knot
around your defenseless stomach.
Without fail, however, the morning
would dawn bright and fair. the water
would be like a mill pond and when the
fog had lifted the sun would shine in
all its glory
Why praise the sun for shining in all
! its glory, you ask?
There's a reason.
If you are planning a trip on the
lakes never fail to take a suit case or
trunk packed with sweaters and over
coats. AS sturdy little tug boat dons
his smokestack and ducks under the
bridges across the Chicago river pull
i ling your big steamer out into the bay
of Lake Michigan along the Windy
City's famous water front and the tenn
perature is driving the passengers back
under the awnings and deck coverings,
you will laugh at the sweater and over
coat suggestion.
But wait.
In a few hours you will pull your
steamer chair out near the rail where
the sun is shining. when the sun sets
you will hunt a leeward portion of the
deck. when darkness settles the salon
will feel mighty comfortable and when
it is bedtime-and that is anytime on
a pleasure steamer-you will be tempt
ed to close the windows of your state
room.
On Lake Superior it is cold-down-
right cold. On one trip up there this
summer they encountered snow The
passengers all wrap themselves in
steamer rugs or walk the decks in
long overcoats with sweaters protrud-
ing up around the ears
It's great sport to buy a newspaper
at some port on Lake Superior. skip
back into the salon and read of 104
temperature in Kansas. Then put on
your sweater button up your overcoat
and go and tell some passenger from
Illinois that God created His footstool
when he made Kansas.
And the funny part of it is that peo-
pie are beginning to believe YOU when
you tell about Kansas. Americans
are learning that the beef and bread
on their tables is furnished to a great
extent by Kansas-and the bleeding
and ''sockless'' reputation is in the dis
card.
To the man who never rides in a pub
lie carrier without an electric head
light penetrating several hundred yards
d
lake steamer is a novelty. Seated up
in steamer chair in front of the
bridge of the boat a person can ride
for hours with the brisk breeze
brushing against him and with nothing
but absolute darkness and the swish
of water ahead. The tiny signal lights
far up in the masts and the lights of
the decks barely illuminate the water
around the boat. Only under unusual
weather conditions or in tight places
is the electric searchIight used The
boat just plows along all night long
with the stars above. water beneath.
black night on all sides and mighty
dependable little compass hidden away
somewhere in the Texas"
steamer is the most interesting
officer in charge. Stored away in
the engine room below the water
line he controls the action of the
boat without knowing what is
ahead behind or around the craft
The engines go full speed ahead or are
reversed solely through a gauge signal
from the captain or officer in charge.
The engineer never knows whether
there rs danger of collision. whether
the boat may dive over the locks or
whether rocks are sighted ahead. The
gauge tells him to reverse-and he does
it, So different from the locomotive
engineer who is constantly on the look
out for dangers ahead and who can
control the train on his own advice.
The schedule to three ports was
broken into a thousand fragments ON
this trip-and the engineer far down
in the bowls of that boat was the hap
piest man aboard.
To the more fortunate and exper-
fenced who have been allotted the
pleasure of travelling the Atlantic or
Pacific in a monster liner or before the