The Houseboat Book: The Log of a Cruise from Chicago to New OrleansWaugh, W. F. (William Francis)
General
The Houseboat Book: The Log of a Cruise from Chicago to New Orleans
Waugh, W. F. (William Francis)
Illinois -- Description and travel; Mississippi River -- Description and travel
We secured some food at Morris, with difficulty. By noon the rudder was
hung and we were off for Seneca, the boy happy in charge of the tiller.
We wish we were a word painter, to describe the beauty of the scenery
along the canal. The water has lost all reminiscence of Chicago's
drainage. At 3 p. m. we stopped at a farm and obtained milk, eggs and
chickens, with half a bushel of apples for good measure. The boat
excites much interest among the farmers. At Morris we had our first call
upon the drugs, the boys finding a friend whose horse had a suppurating
wound. Dressed it with antiseptics and left a supply. We each took two
grains of quinine, to ward off possible malaria. Millie suffered serious
discomfort, her whole body breaking out, with itching and flushing,
lasting some hours. And this was about the only time we took quinine
during the trip, except when wet, to prevent a cold. We never saw
anything like malaria.
After tea we had a delightful run by moonlight, stopping several miles
from Seneca. It is a good rule to stop before coming to a town, as the
loafers do not get sight of the boat until it comes in next morning.
On Monday we ran into Seneca, and stopped for supplies. We always needed
something, ample as we thought our outfit. It is always ice, milk, eggs,
butter, or fruit. Here it is gasoline, on which we depend for our motive
power.
It is useless to look for the picturesque in the Illinois farmer. He
speaks the language of the schools, with the accent of culture, and
wears his hair and whiskers in modern style. Probably he hears more
lectures, sees more operatic and histrionic stars, reads more books and
gets more out of his newspapers than does the city man. In fact, there
is no country now; the whole State is merely a series of suburbs.
During the afternoon we reached Marseilles, where we tied up for the
night. We obtained a gallon of milk here, and a can of gasoline. A
neighboring well supplied artesian water, which tasted too much of
sulphur for palates accustomed to Chicago water. In fact, we now hear
that there is no such water as that of the great lake metropolis.
Tuesday, Oct. 6, we left Marseilles with a favoring breeze. Our craft
sails best with the wind about two points abaft the beam. When it shifts
to two points forward we are driven against the shore. We had hard work
to reach the viaduct over the Fox river. At 2 p. m. we reached Ottawa,
and there replenished our gasoline barrel. _Hinc illae lachrymae._ At
Seneca and Marseilles we had been able to obtain only five gallons each,
and that of the grade used for stoves. We also learned that we might
have saved three dollars in lock fees, as below La Salle the water is so
high that the dams are out of sight and steamers pass over them. The
registry and lock fees from Chicago to St. Louis are $6.88.
We had now passed ten locks with safety, but the captain of the Lulu
tells us the next is the worst of all.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account