Evening star., 1923-07-08


and you have often wanted to see just
how men negotiate these bodies of
swirling waters. You have yeafned
to see the men turn the fragile canoes
this way and that. and have wanted
to see IL the wonderful stories of their
skill were facts or Pigments of fancy.
You have wanted to see just how they
did the, marvellous things that have
been printed about canoeing. but you
have not had the time to travel the
distance that was necessary.
You do not have to be away from
business for a day, however. to see
some Of the best whitewater men
in the world perform feats of dar-
ing that will bring you to your feet
cheering when they have safely navi-
gated the rapids that are but a few
miles from the place In Washington
that you call home, for between here
and Great Falls you will find white
water that would test the skill of
the old-time Indian paddler. and In
this connection 1t may be stated that
in the earlier days the men of the
forest used to gather at these near
by points and hold contests of skill.
+ 4 +
TT is matter of record that one
i enthusiast, who had negotiated the
majority of rapids in different parts
of the country, after he had visited
Washington declared that among all
the rivers he had visited in the central
part of the United States and Canada
he had never viewed any that afforded
! such wonderful sport as does<the
! Potomac From the beginning of
tidewater up to Great Falls there
can be found excellent going, and
those who live in Washington do not
have to visit any other part of the
country in search of excitement in
this form of sport.
, The stretch of white water between
Great Falls and Little Falls is in
tenaely interesting, but portions of
it should be used only by people who
have had considerable experience in
| canoeing, and while, as p. H. Cath
cart says, canoeing in expert hands
is one of the safest sports as we'll
as the most exciting, yet in the hands
Of an amateur it is extremely danger
Gus and should not be attempted by
any who have not had a good deal
of experience in this form of out
door recreation.
Washington is particularly fortu-
nate in having an organization such
as the Sycamore Island Canoe Club.
for mong it's membership are to be
found numerous expert paddlers. 1t
must not be thought. of course, that
i,,ft h. ,hAr o1 xxyt,o
might call tried and true men. but
the percentage of experts in this club
is probably the largest among such
organizations in the United States.
In addition to the members of the
club who are expert canoeists. there
are other citizens who indulge in this
sport. Some of them have summer
homes along the river and others
merely come up now and then to get
the time thrill of shooting the
, rapids. The officers of the Sycamore
Club are as follows: Mr.. Stoddard,
president better known to his friends
as "Admiral;" James Webb. vice pres
ident: r. ID. GessfOrd, secretary; f. X.
Thompson. treasurer; z. H. Cathcart,
for many years captain of canoeing.
at present captain of swimming The
captain of the island is T. r. Edwards.
To return to the matter of shoot
ing the rapids, as far as the Indians
were concerned, there exists a legend
that a number of years ago a party
of Indians made an attempt to shoot
Great Falls. None of them that
time were successful in their attempt,
and the next spring another member
of the tribe took a number of logs
and going, with friend, to a point
some distance above the falls, ar
ranged to have the logs float down
through the white-crested water
ways of Great Falls proper. After
having studied the currents and the
action of the logs in the water. he
made an attempt to shoot the falls,
but was not successful A little later,
according to the legend, he again at
tempted the feat and this time his
efforts met with success. According
to the story that has been handed
down. he performed the same feat
upon several subsequent occasions.
There is no record, however, of any
of our modern canoeists having been
able to duplicate the feat accom-
plished by Lo.
.nNE might properly say that from
" the head of tidewater there is a
stretch of nine miles to Great Falls.
practically all of which is good canoe
water. OF course, 1t is necessary at
one point to portage around a dam
that is three-quarters of a mile be-