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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 18, 1901)
riptkt, .'a 3) Pages 25 to 32 &Jfil f PJZ&T FOUR J VOL. XX. PORTLAND, OREGON, SUNDAY MORNING, AUGUST 18, 1901. NO. 33. HY is It, -when liumanity is so busy paying tribute to those -who have contributed to its comfort or pleasure by some im-ention. that the pioneer of in ventors receives not his meed? e Sunday page 25 Head from Art Room, Bronze, marble, eloquence, songs and halls of fame keep the memory of its benefactor ever In the mind of the world. There are Franklin and hio kite, Fulton .and his steamboat. Stephenson and the locomotive. When Edison is no more, the t Izard of the telephone and phonograph -will doubtless be a subject for the sculp . lor. Likewise will TccJa, controlling the j j-iiunaerooits, or chatting with some neighboring planet. They will probably both be .made at home in the Hall of Fame. Even the inventor of the humble, N iii"trant umbrella "comes in for his share of honor. And yet. withal, Noah, the father of inventors, is left out in the cold and prac tically forgotten. The man who, deluged with overwork and anxiety.. Is rescued by escaping, in his houseboat and it is of houseboats and houseboating I would write today to rest, sends no grateful thought backward to the inventor of the Ark. 2Cay, nay! He is never immortalized In bronze or marble; his image never even forms the triumphant figurehead of -a houseboat. And yet humanity owes Noah a great debt of gratitude. Favored by Immortals. John Kendrlck Bangs, in his story. "The Houseboat on the Styx," shows that even the immortal delight in houseboating end will cheerfully forsake the joys of iingelhood to indulge in oroethins ap proaching perfect mortal existence. This, it appears, they are able to obtain, by anchoring their craft somewhere 'twixt the turbid, treacherous mortal shore of the River Styx and the changeless pla cidity of the other "brink. . However enticing' such surroundings to the shades, better far better induce ments offer to mere mortals, on this mun dane sphere of ours; nor In all the world an more delightful opportunities be found for houseboating than right here in Ore- son, on the Willamette and Columbia Riv ers, with their manifold attractions of scenery, sport and picturesque-propinquity Jf Nature's wonderland. The waters of these noble streams have pebbly beach or verdant bank, or wash at the base of Tocky, precipitous cliffs that frown for biddingly; fir-clad mountains rise abruptly from the river's edge, while fertile mea dows slope down to, sandy shores, where fluffy willows bend in friendly converse "with the passing waves. On their clear surface, near-by green hills, distant pur ple mountain ranges, snow-capped peaks, the heaven's blue and each passing. aieecy cioua are laitntully reflected. Inl their depths, fish are plentiful, while in the adjacent forests game of every kind abounds. Warm, sunny days, unmarred by storms or sudden freshets, and cool. quiet nights complete an environment teghich is as near Ideal for outdoor life as be hoped for. To quote from ses," a poem by Dr. Thomas Browne, f-h was recently published In The Ore- jbnlan: " " m fte- ffl-ff00 VIEW OF MORPISJIQUSEBQAT. g I $Misg&$i$MtWM8&MM&&Mi . B '"" of some specific intention or purpose. Is - illllll , ' "T1MI P- always good .company, and Inspires all . HHHHH " M ISI sorts of -dreamy conjectures. The rising. HMraPinK WIW" ' 1 i , i'fi ll f and receding tide, with its charm of mys. Blll JM Sw4R tery, reaches sequestered nooks down BllliilliJM c ' toward the river's mouth, and speaks of lillliM S the distant sea. HM.IirP MBamlMMIgVMg " 'KlW lT During the day, steamboats pass up and Hf ''!l ?f'-TfM plllfl W&kW: $& J 's ! ' down. A sailboat flutters by. and as it MM&SIBS &4I JItJflllll "aM " J Si disappears around a bend. Its white wings BSmSI : 1 'i1lBliilffl P I stand out, sharp and snowy white, against HB Sj?. M BBimBH'aP'y'' ' ' -?'& fpKf wlmMlitWV FfTv m fg 1 ' ! the dark green foliage. A launch or row- flHB ?vV-: -m1 rkwBmywi ' tff" ' "jlirrMi v,'pyy?wi " pf Sinks into sweet shads, oft Been, oft hid; And airs so fresh are flowinc that on high Their very breath would tell pf waters nlsh; While throuch the alr a thousand warblinss run. And many a wing is glltterlns to the surj; And on some shelt'r'd slope, where hillocks meet. Glad echoes answer to the lamb's fond bleat. An Ideal Existence. 3IId such surroundings, on a houseboat I possessing all the modern comforts, life's discomforts arc reduced to a minimum. There are no noisy, dusty streets, no rushing trolley cars, no ringing door-1 boat, with pleasure-seekers, passes gaily In the thick city's smoke, can beauty find A charm a solace for the charms reslgn'd? When, at soft noon, the river that had glowed A flood or sunshine, dazzling as it flowed, Bert, where the wood-hung rocks its course forbid. bells, no troublesome agents only the peaceful rocking of your house upon the water, and the soothing lapping of the waves. Here the weary may find rest, while the dreamer, the artist or the sportsman each may find his own especial terrestrial paradise. One of the greatest charms of house boating is the opportunity it affords for change. Built on a scow or float, the house may be towed by a launch, or an accommodating steamboat or tug, to any desired place; if it be not too large, two men in a rowboat can manage the trick. Anchors cast, your residence is estab lished until you are ready to move on. Your domicile may form part of a nouse boat community, and yet, although It be moored where the lights of Portland can be seen at night, you are secure In the enjoyment of utter rest and quiet. If in clination prompts, remote wild places may be sought. For those for whom outdoor life has a special charm, there Is scarcely any time of the year that a houseboat would not be use'ful here. In the fishing or hunt ing season it might be taken up some one of the tributary streams of the Columbia or Willamette and anchored near a neighboring trout brook, or where' oppor tunity offered for bringing down a deer or bagging other game. During the Sum mer, a busy man could anchor his float ing home near the city and go to and from his business by launch or rowboat, or near-by railway or river steamboat. Where a number of houseboats might be gathered together, one launch, used in common, would sufHce for most trans portation purposes. In the duck season, the sportsman could drift down to the marshes and anchor his houseboat where he .deemed best for his needs. Life on the River. It requires no special effort to acquire an adaptibility for life In a houseboat and an Interest in and familiarity with its surroundings. The river waves and currents each have a significance which the women in a houseboat soon learn, and the women, too, are not long at becoming familiar with the use of oar and paddle. The wrater, ever rippling by. with its air by, or maybe draws in to your floating home, where its occupants have -come to spend the day. Salmon fishers, with .their nets, go out; returning later, with well-laden craft. A log raft drifts by, or maybe a great ocean vessel makes majestic progress up or down the stream, Inward or outward bound. Few pilgrims of the water high way pass without giving the modest houseboat a frienly salute. Thus are its inmates made to feel that they, too, are part and parcel of the great, floating world. Of course, there are no grooerymen or Chinamen to bring food supplies to your door, but there are farms near by, where everything can be gotten perfectly fresh. You may paddle across the water and, after a chat at the farmhouse, return, your boat or canoe laden with eggs, but ter, cream, vegetables, fruit, fowls, or what not beside. Frequently a fisherman raps at your door and offers very tempting fish or crawfish for sale, thusx supplying your dinner for that day. He will probably be a friendly fisherman, in which case he will entertain you for an hour with stories .of the river and its ways. You may discover, too, that this brawny, sun burned man is something of a poet, and his eye brightens and h$ waxes eloquent over some lovely sunrise, when sun and mist did cast a witchery of light and shade over shore and stream. Berry-Gntlicrlngr Urchins. You may be hailed from the land by a couple of urchins, with purple mouths and hands, who have allowed some ber ries to escape into their tin pails, and are willing to sell them. , "Oh! Now, if we were only home, how lovely those would be for canning!" "But we are not at home, and canning go to grass! We will just have a nice dish for the table." The boys are also inclined to tarry and talk over things. They know every thing about the river, its shores and the woods. They can tell you where the good swimming places are, where the birds and gophers have their nests, and where the choicest wild flowers bloom, j A9AIN ROOM IN MM0??5' 10V530AZ and they volunteer to bring you some of the latter, the next time they come. They may not come again; or, if they do, you may not be there. Everything about the river is so transient! Before another sunrise, your houseboat may have drifted off into a nook where "wild, rocky cliffs jut into the water. An ac cessible farm will probably be further away than at your previous moorings, but the way lies over clear, placid waters, with many wild places to be explored, so you are immediately occupied. Books and fancy-work that have been brought along, with the intention of making great progress, are entirely neglected. No mat ter, you are having a glorious holiday. When the men come home at night, they bring the daily newspaper, which reminds you, with a little shock, that there Is a busy, noisy world, full of trouble, somewhere. It must be hundreds of miles away, though. The Empress of China may be putting her small foot In it', and be disturbing the entire world again, and, sovereign of teeming millions that she is, she may be thinking she is having a real, good time But you know better; nothing could convince you that she iSr having a better time than you. After dinner, guitars and mandolins come out; the upper desk is sought, and there, with music and chat, the evening slips quickly away. Stars twinkle over head, and in the river, stars, almost as bright, twinkle back. Presently the moon peeps above the tree-tops, sending a faint silvery glow over the water, and then it comes slowly on, till the light gathers into a shining pathway, and the shadows along the shores grow black, with the glistening willow leaves above the glis tening waves below. Where there is a community of house boats, the evening Is likely to become a miniature, moonlit Venice. All sorts of small craft make their way from house boat to houseboat, paying friendly visits and serenading. The more commodious water residences admit of a dance upon the roof deck, card parties, or a formal dining, if you please. One way or an other, the evenings are always pleasant ly taken up, and even late bedtime comes too soon. But when you do finally go to I and southern waters, lakes, streams, and even the Inlets of the sea, are plentifully sprinkled, at one season or another, with houseboats which range all the way from tho one-room "shanty-boat" to the cost ly, floating palace. The boats or houses are constructed to conform to the prob able weather of a given locality. Those In Southern waters are quite airy, being equipped with awnings and hanging gar dens. Some are accompanied by float ing stables of thoroughbreds and why not? Noah had livestock on his house boat. In New York, the question has been mooted of a floating .hotel, with attend ant launches to carry the guests to and from, the sun-baked city. The most elab orate and complete houseboat ever con structed was for the Czar of Russia. It has a garden and fountain. In England there are many very hand some and roomy houseboats, owned by landed and titled gentry, and some of bed, you fall asleep, in a silence that which are capable of accommodating a Is broken only by the lulling lap of the water and the occasional night calls of birds. Houseboating is a very popular recre ation all over the world, not with the popularity of a fad, but of the long tried, come-to-stay sort. In the eastern part of our country, both in northern ,ryj5t - iJt-t 99 ra l ft hundred or more guests. During the sea son, very gorgeous and elaborate enter tainments are given upon them. . It is very fortunate, however, that the pleasure of houseboating does not de pend altogether upon the cost, or the elaborate style and extensive accommo dations of the boats themselves, but rath er upon the capacity of those who in habit them to appreciate and enjoy their surroundings. A very modest sum will provide a houseboat which will afford every comfort and convenience, and which will yield better returns, in the way a solid enjoyment, for the amount expend ed, than almost any other form of outing. Once get a well-built scow, and any sort of houseboat may be constructed upon it only be sure to have- a kitchanj and a roof-deck, with a railing around It. By a liberal use of railings, the house boat may be made perfectly safe for children, and no one enjoys houseboating more than they, with the royal oppor tunities it affords for paddling in trie water and digging In the sand. Not very far from. Portland there is anchored a small, two-room houseboat, in which two-pair or, rather, two mar ried couples are domiciled; while, not far off, Is moored a very commodious and up-to-date houseboat, where a game of solitaire which, paradoxical as It may seem, is seldom solitary is in progress. It Is nip and tuck who Is gettiag the most wholesome, healthful enjoyment out of the Summer. Suffice it to say, the occupants of both boats declare they have not have a dull moment yet. EDITH L. NIIiES. r I TksLQ Vsi7, IS name, for all any one knew to the contrary, was Stltes "Ola Stites.' the neighbors called him. Politeness was not the fashion in that particular part of South Portland where the old scow Tyas moored. WnwT- f -n-,. , Stites what they called him. so lone as they left iilm to himself, in his own Utile shanty. He was a silent, unattractive fig ure, but this was due to a lack of neat ness in his apparel. And because he had nothing to say, he did not talk. Many people who know a vast deal more than poor Stites are not so wise In this re- j epect. Nobody knew who Stites was or where 1 he came from, and nobody cared. His present home, for he was one of those queer creatures who must have a roof of his own over his head, was a disreputable-looking shanty on the deck of an abandoned scow, tied up at the far end of a wharf in South Portland. How any human being could live that Is to say, cook, eat and sleep In such cramped quarters, was a mystery to all chance ob servers. . Stites had built his cabin himself out of odds and ends. One window it had, con sisting of a single pane of glass, and a door whose hinges were fashioned from, an old bootleg.' A' length of rusty -stove pipe protruded through the roof, and the J SCdDWKDWPi AMI BE MMY, Tin rwnif interior was furnished mainly from the rubbish heap. But it was home! Once 'a week, on Sunday, Stites cleaned house, carefully sweeping out his little dark den and washing the window. The deck of the scow was littered with an as sortment of old barrels, empty coal oil cans, bottomless pans and" palls and broken chairs. Stites always intended to clear up this accumulation, but, somehow, when he had swept and scrubbed the cabin and hung his stub of a broom against the wall outside the door, he lost active Interest for the time being, and put it off till "next week." -' Stites had one companion, a dog. This dog, when a puppy, he nad sayed from j a watery grave one Winter night. A gang of street urchins, laboring under the Im pression that the wrold was already over populated with dogs, tossed this canine In fant off the wharf, with a tin can full of gravel fastened to his neck. And Stites, who happened to be dipping up a basin of water at the moment, fished him out and dried him off, and gave him half of his own frugal supper. The rescued aproprlately showed his gratitude by attaohlng himself to the res cuer. It may be difficult to explain, but it is nevertheless true that the affection of a yellow- dog is a possession that a man will not exchange for gold. Stites loved his dog, and the love was returned with J interest. Cub that was his convenient cognomen had a comfortable kennel in an overturned barrel, with one of his master's old coats for a bed, and he guarded the premises by day and slept with one eye open at night. Cub's owner worked about the mill, when ho felt the necessity for working at all. When he did not, he lounged along the shore and flshed and picked up what ever came his way In the form of drift, that was worth picking up. He was not lazy by nature. It was not Indolence so much as it was a habit of not doing more than was absolutely needful In order to llve-and be Independent. A justifiable lack of ambition, perhaps, for 'when you i have nobody to care for you and nothing to care for but a mongrel pup, you are pardonable, If you do not take a very active Interest in getting on in the world. Sometimes Stites wondered, in a dull fashion, if it were worth while to be In the world at all. There was really, when you came to think It over, so little in life for a man whose only tie to earth was a yellow dog. Benny sat on the end of the wharf and dangled his feet over the edge. Once in a while he furtively wiped the tears from his cheek with the back of his hand, and then glanced about quickly to see if any body was looking. "Cry baby!" the boys in Blank's Row called him, and as he was. a sensitive little fellow, It hurt. He learned early to repress his feelings In the presence of the enemy, and could even show defiance, as he marched down thai muddy street, on his way to school, the target, often, of missiles mora forcible than words, though Incapable of wound ing so deeply. But who was there now to care whether he cried or not this small, thin-shanked child of 7, sitting on the and of the wharf, in the chill November rain, too miserable to do more than wonder what would become of him. The twilight was creeping on, and th,e dull, gray day was growing grayer andf , Concluded pa Pago 30.)'