40 DUCKING DAYS 



that the most critical boat maker or builder would go 

 into ecstasies over. 



"All aboard!'^ was the call for which we were waiting. 

 D. R. Lewis, president of the Hibernian Bank of Chi- 

 cago; Dr. Thomas Henry Lewis, also of Chicago; Dan 

 W. Voorhees, Sr., president of the Duck Island Club 

 and Illinois State Sportsmen's Association; Dan Voor- 

 hees, Jr., and the writer, were seated in most com- 

 fortable chairs aft, while Uncle Dan Voorhees took the 

 wheel with the contidence of Mark Twain piloting a 

 lower Mississippi River steamboat. 



When Dannie, Jr., turned her over there was a ma- 

 chine effect from the engine. "Cast off!" came the 

 command. The "Marguerite" made a most graceful 

 circle, then straightened out for a thirty-four-mile down 

 stream run to Duck Island Club. Our boat responded 

 to her engines, fairly raising her nose from the water 

 as she rushed under the numerous Peoria bridges. 

 Pekin was soon sighted and fourteen miles of the dis- 

 tance was negotiated. 



Trouble in Passing "City of Peoria" 



The steamer City of Peoria was soon met on her up 

 trip. She was on shoal water and drawing an immense 

 ground swell. Our boat fairly jumped at the wav(-s, 

 skipping the tops of some and cutting directly through 

 others. We were compelled to shut down our engines 

 until we again entered untroubled waters. 



