Evening star., 1922-06-18

patrols the waters OF the Potomac.
The sights you see and the sounds you
hear are vastly different from those
viewed or heard in the daylight hours
Night is not mans natural time to be
awake and the senses do not appear
to be properly attuned to this perlt
In the twenty-four hours.
There is an eerie something about
the period after sunset that dlstorts
and magnifies. You come upon in Oh
ject that is familiar to your vision in
the daytime. and it appears to have
taken on a new shape. 1t mly b.. per-
haps, that the sudden approach and
the condition of the eye is responsible
The sounds of the day are s.:iled ind
in their place you hear new and uE-
usual something's that You 'anl"t
classify or place. 1t may he static or
absence of static. 1t may be the dig
ference in wave lengths-may be this.
that or the other. but the sounds at
night are different.
The tapping of the water against the
sdes OF the boat. inaudiDle few
Yards away, sounds to the occupant of
the craft like a great noise. Voices in
the distance. coming from unseen
throats, possess a penetrating power
that is most unusual. but you do know
that night presents strange and un-
usual world-one that you enter with
a certain amount of misgiving. 1t is
not because you are AFRAID. 1t is be-
cause it is different. You know per-
are you not guarded from bow to
stern, on port and starboard. by
members of the harbor precinct police
force? Yet the queer feeling ciings.
1t is intangible. but still you feel It.
xx 4
VOU are dubious about making the
l. trip because of this creepy feel
ing, but you have made ~ your ,lind
to learn just how the police work at
night and so you take passage on the
police boat-that is. one of them. In
this instance the trip is on number
3. sturdy launch. but one practically
untitled for the work-a launch built
from the pennies and dimes saved
here and there by Lieut.. Dean and mis-
official force.
The launch is well constructed and
equipped with d heavy duty engine.
but it is neither fast nor silent. The
chug-chug of it's motor can be heard
a mile 1t is the direct opposite of a
swift and silent craft needed for this
kind of work. River pirates or other
breakers of the law do not need to be
warned by any other means than the
thump- thump of it's motor. 1t would
make :;n ideal fishing launch because
or it's seaworthness. but the kind OF
fish the police are after are not MEM
bers of the finny tribe.
The boat is equipped with the regu-
lation life preserverS and the lights
demanded by marine law. Several
sets of graphing hooks are slowed
under the thwarts, to be used by the
crew of the launch in Searching for
bodies of those drowned in the river.
The skipper last Saturday night
was Ray C. Ault. while ]. F. c. Nebb
looked after the motor. Rubber coats,
or slickers, as these mariners call
them. were placed within easy reach.
for no matter what the weather may
be. the police boat continues its pa
troll.
Making the start from the dock, we
proceeded down the river as far as
Hains point and then pointed up
stream. The officers in charge of the
police boats are not only familiar
with every nook and Granny on the
river. but they can tell in the darkest
night just where there is safe
water. A needed addition for the
boat would be radiophone. so that
the craft might be reached from the
office of the harbor master at any
time during its patrol.
FLOWING up the river against the
tide, the craft finally reached the
entrance to Little river. part of the
Potomac that is bounded on the south
nv the Virginia shore. 1t was in this
body of water that seven arrests were
made last spring for illegal fishing.
Several nets were captured and this
resulted in the arrest and fining of
the CulprltS 10 tne tune VI oSfV-
On the Virginia shore there are
several launches. motor boats. sail
ing craft and houseboats, and there
are also good beaches where young
sters and grown-ups cool their heated
bodies during the summer months.
On the right bank of Little river is
a section of territory that when COM
nIete and filled in will make an ideal
resort for the people of Washington.
Across from this point is govern
ment experiment station.
All along Little river in the day
time one may see fishermen sitting
patiently angling. In the early twi-
light are numerous canoes. each con-
tanning a male and a female OF the
species AS rule, the members OF
the fair sex are garbed in sport
clothes of iridescent hues-they pad
die not, neither do they swim. AS
the sun sinks to rest and night gently
falls like a velvet mantle, the canoe
lists seek the sheltered hooks where
they are safe from any intrusion save
the spotlight mounted on the police
boat.
A little above is Analostan Island.
upon which a number of years ago
stood an old prison. connected with
the mainland by a causeway. Turn
ing At the foot Of Analostan Island,
one Rlides through smooth section