Evening star., 1955-07-03
By GEORGE KENNEDY

ny OEO14E A64t4s14
Booming over the Great Falls,
|chattering through the many
rapids below. the Potomac River
courses the short distance to
|tidewater at Washington amid
spectacular cliffs and deep forest.
This stretch Of water. 30 close to
the city. Is as romantically wild
as when the white man first
entered it.
It is unspoiled because it is
inaccessible. The only way to
see it is to shoot the rapids In q
canoe. Last week Walter Oates. q
photographer Of The Star. and ]
were taken down the stream tn
two canoes. each manned by two
expert paddlers.
The river in its changing
moods goes through deep gorges
Iand then relaxes In wide lakes
James w. Johnstone, associate
professor Of physiology at the
Georgetown University School
LOT Medicine and q whitewater
canoe enthusiast. arranged the
"trip. DR.. Johnstone is a member
lof the Sycamore Island Club,
one of the oldest canoe clubs in
the country, on an island be-
tween Glen Echo and the Dis
Itrict line.
Arrangements For Trip
DR.. Johnstone obtained the
services Of Andy Thomas, an
official Of the American Canoe
Association and one of its best
whitewater men. as stern
|paddler on the other canoe. MFR.
Thomas is a photographer ct
the Nays David Taylor Model
Basin at nearby Carderock.
Oscar McCollum, q civilian
lemploye Of the Defense Depart
ment, was the bow paddler In
the first canoe In which I was
to be supercargo. Sidney Hess,
Ia biochemist at the National In
lstitutes Of Health, was brought
along as bow paddler for Mr..
Thomas canoe.
We launched the canoes in the
river and went down the Great
Falls gorge, q magnificent sight
from the surface Of the river.
|and through a rapids which
turned out to be- minor.
At the rapids near the mouth
lof Difficult Run we took the
short cut to the left Of the island
instead Of the longer and sportier
run. This one proved to be
sporty enough.
Too Close to Rapids
After resting at a rock. we
showed OF too close to the rapids.
For a moment ] thought we were
going over them broadside. But
Oscar and Jim, using short
power strokes, managed to turn
the canoe and head upstream
despite the swift current.
We turned and started down.
mo matter what happens, t"
Oscar shouted, stay in the
middle Of the boat"
I resolved to do same.
We're going right down that
tongue" shouted Jim. pointing
to smooth water In the middle
of the rapid that ended in q big
wave.
Down we went. When we hit
the wave. the bow went under
and q lot of the wave entered
the boat. The water was about
three inches deep where I was
sitting. There was q marked
loss Of stability as we balanced
precariously the rest Of the way
through the rapids. We turned
right to q beach behind q big
rock, pulled the canoe ashore
and tipped the water out of it.
We waited for the second
canoe to make it. Jim trained
his camera to photograph it as
it passed the big rock on our left.
We could not see them but Oscar
climbed the rock and shouted
that they were showing OF.
They're over" he shouted.
Canoe Upsets, Dunks Two
I hoped he meant that they
were over the rapids. But In a|
second an overturned canoe
swept past the rock with Wal
ter Oates head bobbing near the
bow and Sid Hess swimming
astern.
MY first thought was about theI
camera and the film. Had all this