Evening star., 1950-01-14
Letters to The Star
Some Memories of q River
That Was Loved and Lost

Some Memories of River
That Was Loved and Lost
To the Editor Of The Star:
A friend sent me The Sunday Star maga-
zine OF January /, filled with SO years OF
Washington past and present. Delight and
nostalgia were the expressions of my feeling
when reading it.
would like to be able to write, so that
I could add a chapter or so to saga that
would bring to many of the oldsters on both
sides OF the Potomac memories of adventure
and delight
For example, I have in mind simple
story of the Potomac River when it indeed
was highway for travel and freight; when
there were steamboats, that thrilled a little
country girl beyond words just to see them
at their docks or approaching a wharf on
which she stood waiting to take a trip up
to Washington from one of the Maryland
counties down along the rivers bank.
The last one of the boats that remember
was the Wakefield, a beautiful boat, thought.
AS late as 1900, when was well along in nv
teens. felt quite "tops" as strutted into
its dining room for corn mullins, sausage
and coffee breakfast, just after leaving the
Washington wharf around am.
What solemn moment when we passed
Mount Vernon! The ships bell always tolled
then, and even the youngsters felt something
of reverence in the air.
week before Christmas as the boat came
up the river on its way to Washington its
decks were filled with Christmas greens,
holly, mistletoe, crows foot "a lovely ever
green vine that creeps on the ground in the
woods. sometimes called ground pine, because
1t has sweet, piney smelD and small cedar
trees with tiny blue berries-a combination
that made an unforgettable fragrance.
The boat would go into some Of the
creeks along the way, on the Maryland side
-Popes Creek, Port Tobacco Creek and
Nanjemoy-to collect freight, both live and
otherwise.
Putting Cattle Aboard.
Once remember. when was very little
girl, coming out on deck with my mother,
and standing at the rail to watch some cattle
being put aboard" A neighbor and her
young man Joined us, and as COW started
across the gang plank, man on either side
one behind would twist the poor things tail
to make her run ahead and land on the boat
deck instead of backing off when she saw
the water and became frightened. The young
lady and her beau laughed, and I, feeling
sorry for the poor cow made my first re-
membered faux pas, by looking my six-year-
old daggers and saying: II don't see any,
thing funny!" .a..
can see them now as he turned one way
and she another and began to speak of sea
gulls. My mother, very straight and with
firm grip on my small hand, stalked into
the cabin and I was told to sit down and
eat my lunch. That always was joy, those
wonderful lunch baskets, packed as the first
bands OF daylight colored the horizon-fried
chicken, buttered rolls, ounce preserves. My
mouth waters now at the memory.
We often had to drive several miles to
take the boat, and the anxiety of wondering
II old Dobbin would get us there in tirne
to catch" it was pretty awful, but we always
arrived on time, and the deep -throated blast.
as the boat rounded some point of land about
five minutes away as we came galloping
up to the wharf made everything all right.
When the boat came down the river in
springtime, there would be all kinds Of things
Tor the farmers needs. farm implements,
seed and fertilizer for the spring sowing.
The smell of that fertilizer also is an un-
forgettable memory. The only thing have
encountered since those far-away days that
comes anywhere near ii is sapsago cheese.
Three Old Craft Recalled.
There were older boats, the ArrowSmith,
Thompson and the Mattano 1'm not sure
Of that spelling). I was in Washington this
past October and went to the wharves just
to look around. There were no boats max
ing the day trips up and down the river, and
no one around the waterfront remembered
any of the old boat names. OF course, there
is boat that goes to Norfolk, but It is
a night trip both going and coming. under
stand: and I wanted to take the day trip
that in the fall was so beautiful, when the
foliage made both banks look like Persian
carpet.
I remember the excursions to Marshall
Hall, Chapel Point and Cedar Point. Oh, I
could go on, and on, telling about the
wonderful tournaments in that same old
county so long ago. Places below Cedar
Point were not so familiar to me by river,
but in the oyster season from our piazza we
could see the lower Potomac filled with
white sails of boats as they tonged for oysters.
beautiful in the early morning. and at eve
ming with the setting sun painting them
many shades 1t was like a regatta.
Rock Point was the end of the country
that I knew, and loved, and lost, some SO
years ago. MRS. A. D. S. PRAY.
NorWalk, Conn.
Tells About Smith College Girls -