Article September 27, 1947 Issue

NAVIGATION

WILLIAM FRYE WHITE

Mark Twain in his "Life on the Mississippi" relates an experience he had while training as a river pilot. The great river is an ever-changing puzzle for navigators because of the constantly shifting channels. Currents are treacherous. There are no buoys to speak of, for it is little use to place them; they are here today and gone tomorrow. A pilot has to be ever alert to these varying conditions.

Mark had mastered the river and was a good steersman, but one bright summer day Mr. Bixby, the pilot, thought he would give him a final test. Saying he was going below for a while, he asked Mark if he knew the course across the river at a certain point to which they were presently coming. Mark replied that he could cross it with his eyes shut. Bixby then asked him how much water there was at the crossing. Mark answered, "I couldn't get bottom there with a church steeple."

Bixby then said, to shake Mark's confidence, "You think so, do you?" and left.

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