Jan. 38, 1892.] 



bOREST AND STREAM. 



91 



Way up in Vermont. 



Putney, Vt., Jan. 23.— Inclosed you will find a report of the last 

 shoot, of cue Putney Rod and Gua Club held -Tan. 33. We expect 

 to open the season about .April 1 with an increased attendance. 

 Will send scores weekly after we eet "at it" in good shape. I am 

 very much pleased with Forest and Stream in its new dre«s. 

 W E AvevHlllll011llll011111-lS 0 Wilu rail 'OHinCMrjOlOOOU 1-11 

 L Crosby..lumilOllLOOUlllll-ie F PemberlOOOll 10100010011101— 10 



W. E. A. 



CLUB REPRESENTATION AT THE MEET.— The early weeks 

 of the year are always marked by a renewed activity in canoeing 

 circles, the dull EeaHon of the early winter being broken by the 

 club meetings, annual dinners and similar gatherings. Just now, 

 when plans are being made for the coming season, is the time for 

 the A. C. A. members in the various clubs to take up the matter 

 of attendance at the meet. It is a duty which every club owes to 

 itself to make a creditable showing at the great annual gather- 

 ing; nothing does so much to increase the interest and spirit of 

 the members, or to establish the reputation and standing of a 

 club among canoeists, as a creditable showing at the meet. This 

 may be made in various waye; three or four energetic racing men, 

 even though none of them are cracks, may by energy, careful 

 practice and good boats properly fitted, place their club in the 

 front from a racing standpoint; those of the cruising men who 

 can spare tbe time cm make a fine showing by a cruise to the 

 camp, liviDg in the real old-lasbioned il8S0 cruising style with a 

 good cruisiEg outfit. Any club which can muster half a dozen 

 members in camp can make a name for itself by a neat uniform, 

 a well arranged club encampment, a vocal or instrumental quar- 

 tette with a few good songs for the camp-fires, or any other means 

 of contributing to the general enjoyment. Members who are 

 planning to be present will find it far pleasanter, especially if 

 they are new comers, to be a part of a well organized club dele- 

 gation rather than to camp alone; and they should urge their 

 friends and associates to join them. Of course the labor and ex- 

 pense of transportation, espt cially of canoes and outfit, are but 

 little greater for half a dozen or a dozen than for one. 



If anything is to be done, now is the time for ac'ion, before 

 other plans are made. The Mohican O. C. has already taken the 

 matter in hand; now what is the New York C. C. doing, the 

 Knickerbocker, the Rochester, the Ianthe, the Toronto, the 

 Springfield, the Ye=per, the Puritan ? It is time that all were at 

 work, and that as soon as plans were made they should he an- 

 nounced in order to encourage others. Enough is known now 

 about Willsboro Point to give every assurance of a most success- 

 ful meet; the experience of last year bas shown where great im- 

 provements can be made, which, with the recognized advantagt s 

 of the location, will insure convenient transportation, good meals 

 and a fine camp ground. The meet of 1892 should and probably 

 will be the largest and most successful ever held. 



WESTERN OANOE ASSOOIATION.-In spite of the manifest 

 advantages of Ballast Island in many ways, there has been a 

 strong feeling for some time that the interests of the W. C. A. de- 

 manded a change of site, and this year the movement has been 

 8ueee6fful, the decision of the executive committee being in favor 

 of a meet at Oshkosh, Wis. The move has been made none too 

 soon, as the cramping influences of a fixed camp with all the at- 

 tractions and surroundings of a summer resort have been strongly 

 felt in the W. C. A. In spite of ths expense and labor attending 

 a frequent change of location, it is only by such moves to each 

 part, of its territory in turn that an association can preserve its 

 essential characteristics and avoid the danger of becoming a 

 large local club. 



MORE BEAM IN CANOES. — A few weeks ago we quoted and 

 commented on a proposal made by the Field to enlarge the limits 

 of beam in a canoe. We quote this week the. same suggestion in 

 fuller detail, from which it appears that the interests of the SOin. 

 canoes are to he fully conserved. While it is possible that little 

 harm may result, it seems to us best for the good of canoeing that 

 the admission of a totally different type of craft to all canoe uses 

 should be discouraged. 



THE CANOEISTS' CLUB OF NEW YORK. 



AS long ago as 1883 the canoeists of New York arranged and 

 carried out, a very pleasant and interesting series of winter 

 meetings or campfires, as they were then called; social gatherings 

 at which many practical matters connected with canoeing and 

 club oiganization were discussfd; the result being that many new 

 reeruits were added to the existing clubs, while new rTubs were 

 organized in various nlaees. The meetings were mostly held at 

 the rooms of tbe Kit Kat Club, a lecture being given by one of 

 those interested. Last year a similar scheme was inaugurated 

 and successfully carried under the management of the New York 

 C. C This season a new attempt has been made on a still larger 

 scale by the canoeists of New York city and vicinity, all or nearly 

 all members of the Atlantic Division of the A. C. A. Yery com- 

 fortable quarters have been leased in the old Raquet Club Build- 

 ins,No. 55 W.26'h street. which are open every eve ning.and t he fol- 

 lowing officers have been elected; Pres., L W. Seavey, Knicker- 

 bocker C. C; Viee-Pres.. William S. Elliott. Marine and Eield 

 Club; Secty, James K. Hand. Knickerbocker C. C; Treas , Frank 

 L, Dunueil, Brooklyn C. C: Council: The officers ex officio, fend 

 William Whitlock, New York C. C; Robert H. Peebles. Unat- 

 tached Canoeists; William R, Haviland. Yonkers C. C; J. Herbert 

 Bagg. Crescent Athletic Club: Lincoln B. Palmer, faotbe C. C. 

 The rooms were opened early this month ai.d will remain open 

 until May, the dues being 85. Monday night is the special meet- 

 ing night. On Jan. 18 Mr. W. T. Wintringham gave an exhibi- 

 tion of canoeing views from a huge collection of lantern slides 

 which he has made. On Jan. 25 Mr. Poulmey Biglow described 

 to an interested audience his recent cruise down ihe Danube, his 

 companions, Messrs Willet and Parsor s being present. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR A CENTER BOARD. 



Editor Forest and, Stream: 



If Mr. Silscee, who has given an illustration of his proposed 

 centerboard (and which by the way is very elevei ) in your issue 

 of Jan. 14, wishes to ra>ry his experiments further let him make 

 the board narrower and in t wo sections, that is rivet togethertwo 

 similar plates side by side, but. far enough apart to inclose a thin 

 space, and 1 hen put a Stop ar each end to limit the extent of drop. 

 Let the inclosed space be sufficient for another plate to work in 

 and fasten the lifting and lowering device to the short arms of 

 the central plate by passing through the arms of the main board. 

 He will thus be enabled to nearly double the area of bis board 

 when down, use less keel, and thinner material if desirable, or by 

 using heavy plate get good low down ballast, and also reduce the 

 height of the trunk and gain more room thereby. Cattjqa. 



KNICKERBOCKER Y. C— The following officers have been 

 elected far 1692: Mr. All red Yt>n an, who has been the secretary 

 of the club tor 12 years, declined a le-election, his present home 



Charles Coughtry. Meas.— E. P. Mow ton. Fleet Surgeon— Dr. E. 

 Ringer. Board of Directors— E. M. Macdcnald, C. R. Smith, Jr., 

 G, K. Rosenquest, George Gage and W. H. Ward. 



SEAWANHAKAC. Y. C— A steam launch, 42ft. over all, 8ft. 

 benm and oil. dralt, is now building by Seabury &l Co., of 

 Nyack 



DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI. 



A Canoe Cruise in 1883. 



BV COMMODORE GEO. W. GARDNER AND WM. H. EOEjMAN. 



WERE I about to spin the yarn of our cruise to an audience of or- 

 dinary land lubbers, I should proceed at once to enter upon 

 the story of peril, hardship and adventures; but as I find myself be- 

 fore a congregation of intelligent, learned and experienced old sea 

 dogs, a few preliminary remarks of a scientific nature seem neces- 

 sary. 



Our cruise extended from Pork to Banana, that is to say, from Cin- 

 cinnati to New Orleans, through boundless area3 of corn, cotton and 

 sugar; ami it is to be understood that tnese several vegetable growths 

 do not affiliate. AVhere it's corn it's all corn, where it's cotton it's all 

 cotton; and neither corn nor cotton invade the domain of ?ugar cane. 

 There's no option— it's com, cotton, sugar, or nothing— that is so far 

 as tbe ra w material is concerned. Corn juice has been found in the 

 cotton belt, aud there are several well-authenticated cases where it. 

 has got down as low as tbe sugar belt— indeed it has gone down below 

 many other belts, sometimes straight, sometimes in the seductive 

 form of a cocktail. My experience, however, is limited. Cotton has 

 gone up and down, and it's a singular fact that we found numerous 

 aboriginal savages as low down as Honduras and Guatemala wearing 

 cotton shirts and nothing else, others were clothed in the same man- 

 ner without the shirts. 



The waterway passing through these broad areas of corn, cotton 

 aud sugar, is a lawless, relentless, resistless surge of liquid mud, con- 

 tributing nothing in itself to the enjoyment or pleasure of ihe 

 voyager upon its broad yellow bosom. The lower Mississippi is a 

 monster, which bas ever defied, and probably always will defy, man's 

 efforts t© restrain it and keep it within bounds. Its cbannel is con- 

 stantly shifting, invariably tending westward. In time— if lime lasts 

 Ions enough— the Mississippi Valley wdl be somewhere in the Pacific 

 Ocean, and the future canoer will then miss the corn, cotton and 

 sugar fringe of the river banks. 



The winds in the Mississippi Yalley are as regular as grandfather's 

 clock. Tbey nave no occasion for weather vanes in that section, as 

 it always blows one way — up stream (bear in mind we were going 

 down). The liver is very crooked, at times doubling upon itself for 

 miles, but it's a fact, and I'll produce our log to substantiate it, that 

 the wind was always dead ahead regardless of bends, crooks, turns, 

 angles or sinuosities. 0 bis wind usually sets out in the Gulf o£ Mexico 

 as an innocent zephyr, treighted with the fragrauce of the tropics; 

 as it approaches the confines of civilization it grows as formal and 

 stiff as a Presbytei ian elder; later on, that is to say higher up, it de- 

 velops into masses of frigid ozone, and finally terminates in that 

 exclusively northern production known as a cyclone. On the occa- 

 sion of our cruise, however, a special dispensation seems to have 

 been ordered, and we had more cyclone than zephyr— by a very 

 large majority. 



"With tnese few scientific preliminaries I will proceed to unfold the 

 tale of our midwinter cruise. 



There were two of us, a pair, not a very good pair to draw to, as 

 each one of the pair had a skin full of aches and pains, a choice col- 

 lection of rheumatics and neuralgia, and the diversity of omnion— 

 medical, expert and otherwise— as to the result of our venture was 

 contusing; but we left the croakers and our good clothes behind, 

 donned a suit of butternut duck, stepped into our 14ft. craft, 30in. 

 beam, at Cincinnati on a raw Thanksgiving morning, paddled out 

 into the swift ugly stream, with the dull November clouds and a 

 dense veil of blade smoke overhead, waved a last farewell to our 

 fiiends on shore, and drifted under the great bridge with New Or- 

 leans 1500 miles away. Thirty-four days alter, on New Years morn- 

 ing, we landed cold, wet, muddy, and hungry at the Crescent City. 

 We left Cincinnati as 1 said on Thanksgiving morning, and not, being 

 inuured to work, nor quite free from bone aches, made short runs 

 and early camps, averaging about 30 miles between 8 A. M. and 4 to 

 4:30 P. M. Later on a steady pull of 50 miles and eve.i more in 10 

 nours was an eisy run, made without great exertion or weariness: 

 and as our canoes were sharp fore aud aft. and drew but four inches, 

 it can be seen taat the current was of but little assistance. It was in 

 fact a steady paddle, as in all the distance we did not have to exceed 

 ,24 hours of fair sailing breeze. 



Tne constant raising and falling of the waters of the two great 

 rivers renders the shore in many places entirely inaccessible, and we 

 invariably experienced difficulty m finding a camping ground. Ou 

 this account and for other reasons, these streams are not desirable to 

 cruise upon; to this face may, at least in a measure, be attributed the 

 entire absence ot craft devoted to recreation or pleasure- 

 To follow the log closely would consum 3 more time than is allotted 

 and I win therefore select a few pages at random— reserving the 

 balance, together with wise deductions and phdosopbieal moralizing, 

 for some possible future occasion. At the outset, by an itnpliea 

 understanding, the light weight assumed charge of the culinary de- 

 partment, while the other discharged the onerous duties cf chamber- 

 maid, and in a few days our respective duties were so evenly balanced 

 tnat the evening meal, (we had but two) would be served at the same 

 moment that the pitching of the tent and making of the bed was 

 completed— the same rule neld good at the breakfast. This had its 

 disaavantages as well as its advantages, as ou at least one notable 

 occasion a simultaneous demand tor the single hatchet in tbe outfit 

 bred an incipient riot in the .camp. The cook had hacked out a 

 section of cuticle while chopping drift wood; had raised a lively 

 blister m a vain endeavor to rescue a toppling coffee pot— the con- 

 tents of wbic& had extinguished the fire; had upset the lantern, 

 leaving all things in darkness, and sec his rubber clad foot in a skillet 

 of frying bacon. The chambermaid had been equally as enterpris- 

 ing-tent cords were in a snarl, tent pins were refractory, blankets 

 were mislaid and— " Where's that hatchet" came like an angel 

 whisper simultaneously from both sides of the camp. Tne elements 

 seemed to grasp the situation and a hush fell on all things. ik Where's 

 that hatchet?" This occurred near Posey county, Indiana, and as 

 one of its citizens had informed us that Posey eounty was the 

 wickedest corner of the Americau Onion we felt somewhat relieved, 

 hoping that our little outbreak would he overlooked in the generul 

 and universal wickedness. 



Our first bill of fare may be taken as an example of all. there being 

 an occasional variation of fresh meat, devilled ham, lobster, and 

 other canned edibles — it was this— fried bacon, potatoes and hard 

 tack fried in the bacon fat, baked beans, pickled onions, coffee, 

 toothpicks, and a pipe. For our stomaca's sake a hot punch on 

 retiriug, and for several evenings at the outset, oil earust recom- 

 mendation, three grains of quinine. Writing up the log finished the 

 day and by 8 o'clock (rarely later) we baa turned in, 



We were at first inclined to be a trifle fresh with the homespun, 

 butternut clad natives, but that soon wore off, as we began to tullv 

 realize that our 1 acuer unique costume gave us at least an appearance 

 of being no better than we should be. The first stab was admin- 

 istered ihe second day out at Sugar Creek, 62 miles below Cincinnati 

 — we had pulled into the creek, made a landing, and were preparing 

 to go into camp ; when there appeared on the bridge spaLiiiug the 

 ereek a frowsy headed damsel, a sort of symphony in red hair, red 

 face and red dress, This figure silhouetted against the setting sun. 

 which was ablaze in a glory of red clouds, stirred tbe poetic young- 

 ster and in his mildest voice he said, ■■ Fair maid, can you give us 

 our bearings, indicate to us the particular section of fairyland we 

 are in?" The maid replied, '"You must think you're smart, don't 

 you, but you aim." "No, out tell us where we are," m a milder 

 tone. " Yes, but I shan't, and if you don't get out I'll set dad's dog 

 on you." The conversation was dropped, as dad's dog was an un- 

 known quanity that we had no use for just then. 



Some days after we had an experience somewhat similar, but with 

 a more agreeable sequence; there wasn't any prospective dog this 

 time. We had pulled out of Louisville at 2 o'clock, maue the dash 

 over the falls of the Ohio, of which more acen, and having caught 

 some dampness in the operation, concluded to go into camp under a 

 roof, and the town of .Bridgeport, Ind., 12 miles below Louisville, was 

 determined on. Our guide-book informed us that Bridgeport was a 

 town of 200 inhabitants, where boat building was carried on quite 

 extensively. We were skirling along the Kentucky shore, witn an 

 eye to windward to discover this enterprising town when a nondescript 

 craft, a cross between a Chinese junk and a threshing machine, hove 

 in sight near tbe other snore; a ferryboat propelled by two horses— 

 that is to say an assortment of oone and horse hide, tramping in a 

 circle on the'main deck ana thus turning two spavined wheels. The 

 crew cot si ted of father and sou, both fitted to their vocation and 

 surroundings. 



Having sized up the craft we hailed the master—" Ahoy stranger, 

 Where's Bridgeport?" 



'•If you were here you would be there," came the somewhat par- 

 adoxical answer. 



We got tnere. " Can we find a place here to put up over night? " 

 was our next query as we clambered on deck. The modern Charon 

 eyed usclO:-ely for a moment, sized up our brown physiognomies 

 and onr butternut logs and then knocked us over with, " Wall, I 

 don't know about chat. What be you any way— chicken thieves? " 



Slipping out of our uniforms, our shore clothes being underneath, 

 we had no difficulty in saii-fying his scruples and Mr. Ned Smicb, the 

 ferry-man, housed us in his snug litrie cottage, half a mile back 

 from the lauding, gave us a supper and a breakfast, and in company 

 with the entire family escorted us to the canoes in the morning and 

 waved us ban jour. 



Our host's family consisted of himself, his wife, four strapping 

 sons, a buxom daughter and a pretty visiting niece from Canada. 

 The most enjoyable feature of a pleasant evening in this goodly 



company was the host s account of himself. An Irish immigrant, 

 married soon after arriving, drifted to New Orleans, got scared at 

 sin and wickedness of the city, declared his conviction that the tbin 

 crust of dirt on* which the city was built would some day break up, 

 started north on a steamboat, froze in at Bridgeport, disembarked 

 (this was in 18o0\ found the whiskey was good, cheap and plenty, 

 and stayed. I would like, had I time, to pay a tribute to this good- 

 natured, jolly, happy-go-lucky son of the old sod for his hospitality, 

 but may omy say that the memory of our sojourn under his roof is 

 an abiding one, even though he did inject bitterness into our souls 

 by suggesting chicken thievery. Faith in our guide book was rudely 

 stiakeu by Smith's assertion that the town never had over fO inhab- 

 itants, he never knew of a boat having been built there, and as to 

 Blakesrrille-, 6 miles below, as the guide book had it. he never heard 

 of the place. 



We pulled into Louisville on Dec. 3, the last 8 miles of a long day's 

 paddle being made in the darkness. I can do no better than quote 

 literally from the log. 



"Sun had set in a crimson glory flecked with shimmering gold, and 

 the pale crescent moon gazed down coldly and calmly on our 

 struggles with the paddles, the evening star gleamed brightly in the 

 lingering streak of color in the west, and a tbin veil of murky smoke 

 floated across the horizon from the chimneys of Louisville. The 

 color faded from the sky, giving place to the cold blue of night, with 

 it went the many ever changing hues of the water: deep shadows 

 gathered on all sides, taking upon themselves weird and ghostlike 

 forms. The tower and twin smokestacks of the water works stood 

 as tall, grim, silent sentinels over the waste of waters; the sound of 

 the flood tumbling over the falls came floating up from below like 

 the echo of an endless chant. It was a lonesome stretch wirh, how- 

 ever, enough of poetic charm to kill mouotomy, while the uncer- 

 tainty as to our proximity to the falls gave some, zest to the situation. 

 We passed through a shute behind an island, encountered a forest of 

 snags and a maze of coal barges; edged up near shore, not knowing 

 hut that we might at any moment be caught in the rapids and hur- 

 ried into the falls. A blue light ahead became an unknown but wel- 

 come beacon." 



"Hello! Boat ahoy! Will you please show us a light and give us a 

 hand to make a landing?" 



"Aye, aye. Are you the canoers from Cleveland?" came the unex- 

 pected but welcome reply. 



That night and the next day we were the guests of Captain Wm. M. 

 Devan, of the Louisville Life Saving Station, and right royally did he 

 entertain us." 



Among the mail received at this point was a letter from Dr Neide, 

 Secretary of the American Canoe Association, who had gone over the 

 falls in a much larger boat than ours the year previous, advising us 

 not to attempt it. Captain Devan also urged our going through the 

 canal. But it was not to be thought of. Ours were the smallest 

 craft in which the jump had been attempted. The stage of the river 

 was Oft. lin., giving a fall of 28ft. in about a mile and a half, through 

 a tortuous channel tlamted by great masses of rock, against and 

 around which the water dashed and eddied and swirled in a wild and 

 boister ou fury. We started from the Life Saving Station at 2 o'clock 

 in the afternoon, with a lowering sKy overhead and a cold raw breeze 

 ahea'1. Captain Devan preceded us in his large lifeboat, manned by 

 four lusty oarsmen. We followed in his wake, with instructions to 

 obey his word or motion after getting into the whirl. 



Paddling out into the stream we got our first view of the falls. It 

 had a ticklish look, but we were in for it and with a swish we were 

 into it. This is what the. log says: 



'• Hatches were battened tight, every nerve was at concert pitch, 

 the trusty paddle was tightly held, prepared for any possible emer- 

 gency that flood or rock might briDg. With a rush tbe Cuyahoga 

 plunged into the surge, the spray tumbling over the forward deck 

 and into my face. On Ihe starboard quarter twenty feet away the 

 City of Cleveland was dashing ahead in gallant style, and beyond 

 was the life-boat with Captain Devan standing up shouting his quick 

 commands. 



" Starboard— Port— Steady." 



Then there came a moment when neither the Commodore nor the 

 Captain had any interest for me. Either Captain Devan had given 

 his command too late, or I had been too slow to obev, and, eausht in 

 the eddy, I was being carried up stream at the rate of about" 7,000 

 knots a minute, so far as I was able to calculate the time. 



" Come about, come, about;" shouted the Captain, in a voice to 

 resurrect the dead. 



Well 1 was working the lee end of my paddle over the port rail of 

 that obstinate, self willed, measly Racine canoe with a zeal that was 

 simply frantic, but the brass bound nose t f the crazy craf c kept a 

 point up stream and sizzled and cavorted over the foam as though 

 seven devils were after her. Now I leave it to any reasonable man 

 if, under such circumstances, the innocent victim was called upon to 

 submit to being yelled at to " Come about." 



'• I recalled a large and choice collection of miscellaneous profanity 

 which would have fitted the occasion, but had neither time nor 

 energy to spare to fire it off. Had I done so I think that good-natured 

 hut unreasonable life-saver would have shrivelled away into some 

 diaphanous nowhere and been heard of no more. 



'■ I never brought that canoe about at all, and I suppose if it had 

 not been for an accommodating back action eddy, I should still be 

 going up stream to the music of a loud and sonorous " Come about." 

 It makes me t ired to think of that pull. 



Afcer I got about and went scurrying down stream again 1 discov- 

 ered the City of Clevland had also gone on a tangent, making Dexter 

 time towards a breaker, big enough and htmsrry enough to swallow 

 au entire American navy. Holy Smoke! how that cedar shell did 

 plow through the water, but there was a bunch or so of iron muscle 

 in that cockpit, and the muscle conquered, not however wuthout 

 catching a tub full of that breaker." 



Days followed days, some cold, some warm, some dry, some wet, 

 and each day brought its incidents of pleasure or hardship. The 

 canoer cannot be sociable en route, as it is impossible for any two 

 paddlers to remain for any length of time within speaking distance. 

 For hours we were not only out of speaking distance but out of sight, 

 and yet at no time was there a sense of lonesomeness. Dull and un- 

 interesting as the river and country is, there was always some feat- 

 ure or circumstance to relieve the monotony. 



Probably the nearest approach to the lonesome feeling during the 

 cruise was experienced in the 50 miles run from Paducah to Cairo 

 made Dec. 13. We had been most hospitably entertained at the for- 

 mer place by Captain Godey and other gentlemen, all of whom and 

 the usual complement of small boys escorted us to the landing to 

 see us embark. 



The morning was raw and cold, and very soon a drizzling rain set in 

 which continued uninterruptedly. Before noon a semi-darkness 

 followed, which shut out from view every animate and inanimate 

 thiug beyond a radius of ten feet. 



We had agreed to make Cairo. W r e made it, but despite tight 

 fitting hatches, rubber coats, hats, boots and gloves we were soused 

 to the skin, soaked to the marrow, but as dry as tinder inside. It was 

 a long, dreary, solitary, moist, uucomfortab'le, never to be forgotten 

 day of dip and paddle, drip and drizzle. Even the consolation of a 

 pipe or cheroot was denied us as not a spark would live in the ail 

 permeating moisture. 



It will forever remain a question as to which of us arrived at Cairo 

 first, but there never can be aDy question as 1o who was the most 

 thoroughly soaked, as no mortal could be more soaked than either 

 or both, not barring the chap who on another notable occasion ob- 

 served to Noah that he didn't believe 'twould be much of a shower 

 anyway. 



It may not be entirely uninteresting at this point, where we leave 

 the Ohio and dip into the Mississippi, to introauce you to captain 

 and crew r and describe the outfit. It will hardlv be worth while to 

 go into the details of size, features, weight and antecedents of the 

 two mdividuals, who constituted all hands; but a word about their 

 twin make up is worth handing down to prosterity. It was simple— 

 a baggy roundabouc buttoned to a pair of baggier pantaloons, nolh 

 made of butternut duck; simple in material and construction, but, 

 my sympathetic friends, those roundabouts and pants developed such 

 improbable possibilities, suggested such thoughts, aroused such fears 

 and hopes, and created such divergent and irreconcilable moods of 

 hilarity and despondency, as to keeep our minds in a constantly un- 

 settled state. We could never be certain as to what new and unsus- 

 pected shape those garments might take upon themselves. The 

 wrinkles and kinks were a sight to behold in their calmest moments, 

 hut when they took a notion it was a picnic. McGinty was nowhere 

 in his best suit. There were hills and valleys, yes. "mountain tops 

 and canyons, of butternut duck, not always in the same place, but in 

 any place, and in the most uulikely places. 



The scribe in his log says, "A great fear took possession of us, 

 that we might gruw to fit those duck suits. That as the suit would 

 not conform to our bodies, our bodies might in an unguarded mo- 

 ment mould themselves to the suit. These suits, besides winning 

 for us the title of chicken thieves at Bridgeport, caused us to be 

 mistaken for raftsmen at Paducah, where we could get no civil treat- 

 ment from the wbarfmaster until the togs were shed, and at Cairo 

 " No river pirates could pull their skiffs on to the wharf boat," but 

 the gentlemen canoers from Cleveland were accorded every court- 

 esy.'' 



[to be continued.] 



AMERICAN Y. C— Arrangements have been made by Com. 

 Watt for a steamer between Milton Point and New York, East 

 24th St. She will leave Milton Point at 8 A. M., reaching New 

 York at 9:30, returning in the afternoon, 



