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Show LIVE ON-CANAL BOATS;, n , , i S II I' Colony of 'Cbntented ?yple Which the March of tmpfdre ment Has Forced From Their, ttomes-T-InterYiew I ' WithOqliofthe Women ' Members " For real contentment thoro lp only one thing that beats living on a Icanal boat afloat and. that is living In,. a canal boat that will never float again, that has,gono out ot commission! and boconio abusfjboat pn-'a tnudflat, says a writer ln'the Now York Bun. )M , ". There is an,abodo, that is tejthor taxed ai real estate nor levied on for tonnage duos. r It Is Just a wreck but a wreck! with' laco curtains kti tho windows, 'canary birds singing In the cabin, and tho old cook stove, still blazing In the, galley. , , 1 But there 1 cause for worry on tho part of .the boatraon and their families t ' rVLfiV" rnrrt wnri . "I've Been Boatln' Sixty Years." ' i i already retired from- going and com- ;lng,on the rlvers'anftj canals and (ot ttj still lhVccttralssjpn, who ar TooWng forward" to "Jong years of rost with the boat bottoms hard and fast on the flats. The available mud spots 'are getting scarce and one colony? of wreck dwellers patter anotter Is being! "ousted (0 make room for lnjprovcmenUt tssa'tjuinv'twQ years agojtljero woW happy settlement of fifty or, more fam?1 lllos llvlnaf oa riottlng laWrs, scdws 'and bullheads at tho foot pf Fit toentu ' Kreet, Ilobokori but tho" ' ImproVor came along jwltii a dredgelto convert paxtpf their Wd flat intogood solid ground -'for j warehouses ojid to dig out the1 rest? afjit tor ablp basin. And the colonials had tor'fleo befpre the dlgslnr'aadi;tbe dredging. ' lII "-'Anioaliirth1 other dfy" the Erfo, man plckt a ?his j way along tho crumbling crum-bling plan of an old whart at the foot-ot foot-ot BeventMbthj Hobokenjf with nin dispossess lipUcia In his pocket, one' Cor each ffaally in the last colony of canal boatffamlltes on thewest shpre of the Now River. 1 The last colony to fall under the ban of .improvement and. be ordered, out to' ulik:j roorn for some mbrfepurAtra'ckB and a new plor'was'ostabllshcd twenty rears, ago, .when Capt. Wade retired, from active-coating. He's now 79. ' Capt Wade has read, his, dispossess' notice every, hour or soJslncojV got It, hoping to ; discover thatihe.waa mis' taken when he read It first and got the "ImpYCSBlon'thatlia'musrmovo. j .rl . Tv.beena-JfcoatInljj$tyjearphe aid, jfand tbis Is thevtorsti thing; I've run afoubof..It's worst-tnatvUuoflm lurance company's bustln 'and the, wreck of my jtwoifaJs;j' ThatTUl happened hap-pened abouthjatftjmw jJlu "I had two as good grain boats as ever wont thraugfc-tho-anal-iB4 thoy were both Insured, flfeutj a htoajmshln, eut into the tPW"dn6 day ana'Tflbthinv. boats went down. And when I mfti, uhore.ta. get, the Insurance I fPBtt. that thb'compnyf.bad busted lust W lay before. I , "I got a little aomethln' out of'ihe! teamshlp and bought an old boatjwrttf it, ut, tt a,K MVujridl,t ti(iiti (HfA-M fil .ihj( oJ '1. min t ( ,I1( J5 cl iffflj,,n tJ't'' isi Jltlf r t1""" r; "We Alp't Sinful Folks." get b cargo( bo I gavo a towboati man $5 to shoyo mo In hero on this mud flat . VndTvo lived here ever slnco. , t was the founder of this colony. AH hands oamo over on my boat three years ago to my wife's funeral." From 'his cabin Capt. Wad 0. has a good view of the open rlvor, and the neighbors say that sine, his wlfoj died he hasn't done anything but ait on deck with a spyglass, looking a the long strings ot canal boats and barges towing up and down stream. j Funerals In tho colony are frequent, and they always weatv. lot, of Work iBlh,rien,l'folk,rkT)iy'lavoNo go eut before the day ot the service and make patches on the old wharf, ;be- 1 their shoulders and at the same Urns look, down, to avoid the holes. Thq rotting pier Is tho board-walk of tho colony. ,It Is also tho common sourcQ of fuci supply, '..There, are spur plank, ,walks loading troWltj to tho deck of ech wreck. ' t Ot courso, horsos and a hearse conld nover get' down there, so when, thq end comes, for any membor of tho colony tho neighbors vplunteor ,'to board up enough, holes to makoia reasonably Bate path , and then a guldo walks ahead of tho bearers to, the waiting hearso a quarter ot a mllo away bn solid ground,, , , ' ' "That rotten old whart ain't so bad as you might think," said one of the Vomen' membors of the colony. "You see, it'a so full of holes that thloves don't daro come down here at night, and tho missionaries ' and folks like that botherin' pgopio with fooVnPtldhs( are too squeamish to cdiafi down hiar "Tho last mlsslonef'tjiat caine'down' hero foil half way"througn anol. and If she hadn't wcighe'nlgh rfnto 2B0. pounds Bhq'd'gon'e Vay'through iftto the mud,. ' Thcro'a Wmo 'W'. h'traijU now, stuffeYi thafcVabk,"o1vbV tte window. , . , , "But you mustn't think that We kre sinful folks just because we don't like to have busybodles pokln'1 aroflnd aboard tho boats and aclin as It they thought wo were heathen. We' ain't sinful' in particular, and we aln't'soi all' powerful Ignorant 'as 'you might t.hlnk; att' we ain't what you'd oal slums! 4 ' . J ' p, , "Ihero's ,old Cap'n Holly on the bun-head bun-head ooat over there wlthr'tho Breen Srid. btui cabin, that' probably, "gbt Wore hook'learnln'Jhaji half the; folks1 on Bhore. Woucalt;'hlm the hermit .cMBo h'jJlvq.alpng over there.for Sfteen years and-donj'tudp nphln'-bnt. o sums and rda4uJhOjDlbloand.oW, sermons. ., n,tWrI-,i icv il . 'MToln't alj flggojsthat.ho , djoes, sums In either, but he. haa,l,etterf J Kp says, 'Let, x equal somethln', and y "' ,' J. ,cM,, '6qal' somefhlr? so',' ntf5 before -yer1 knHw'lC-the1 ca'tf tdll'fiA.limg tflsW (b4t Vlil hold togettifcIrff1tholtldr ilnH''mory'nlWhlg,8,aiKps',la'Vlnter ard'thfire'ttln't n&rb'fi prats' 'fTfeAawin.', 'bt'ibti rilill. 'mhl u111"'"1 Jo"jr i '. , ' HThcap'nV'got tf'fafldW'tiio,! ud he plays for tho partlos-'wo'hdvo yls-itlniuroundi yls-itlniuroundi taiione another's docks 'in iUib jauminer.'jil guesinlf . nono otth'e neat C jus didn't, know, enough to write -oumb,n namfr,;.whlch, oln't jao.'t Cap'n-' lHoUy'BLgot enough learnlntiiorja'-btg-gercfleet of, scows than thja.urjir nstfiWfS'rftfhonpst, .too.) andodoot stflali jooalltitha Brio dpes.ibaclcthjelrjtni, full of Itirlghtjdpwjiiihexo.bpforo.oui; face and eyes on a cold night. !wq dqnVtdactMOf Wo'iust 'ctfoTaway 4at' o3r?&frn,ftwiriantfrtpaM,rafuellVo' 'need.'''-""1'1 oAi e,iV' l)av''oJa ,nfl ''' "'TnVthe mlstres,s,"of' tno"lakorii to p'oInt?,nerrspe,a6h Iri'to .WoValitt'the colony, f dfistp"d,,WWo,,'Ma thoid Iblffi fanilryJBlWe,Iwnlch','Ipldccdr6ri"t6pi9t .-?,Mi !iWe?0;-,m?;H0. alcon' ,$ mto fife? WlfiM 9PJW voHgeal and final, standing "on -the dat8"6t tno'hpusoboat. ' ' , J i ' ' "But we've "got to' got out," groaned! a caller'frora dbbat' beached along side, -"as sho unfolded1 her 'dispossess notlco 'ttnd compared1 it' 'once' mora. !tti that of her hoatbss'.i "Tha'tj prle man ain't got ahycdrrimbn sonso) Hasn't every onq of Unpaid 1 a month tor years f6r'ntb6"i.rlVll6go ,pf being agrpun'd.'.herciT J ? ' ; ' ' "And'now'ho coraeS round and calls lis1 fool things llko1 tho narty of r the second part; ho's tho, first part, and ho thinks tho whole thing. An', as' if, it yapn't enough toituru uajout ot house nndihpmo, hpjchargpa us aJl.Xor court ihati weialn'tipover beon,to and on top of. tbati chucks ?0, cents, moro for what ho calls mlleago to Jersey City You can go to Jersoy City for a nickel. "But that ain't tho worst of 'It Wo'vo all got to turn to and'llvo In houses and 'pay rent and buy coal, 'cause you can't' chop 'up a1 pioce of your rhousp for- kindling." , "Yes," interrupted tho hostess, with aslgh, "and thoro's them Janitors. I called, on a cousin ot mlno once that lived 'in a house and sho was having such a row with a man that t thought ho, must bo'hon husband, and I up and tod her that she ought to get a divorce. di-vorce. She Just laughed and sayi: t"UQT', me, that's the Janitor.'" |