Volume 47 - No. 05
by lyle e davis
It's a relaxing thing, he thought, cruising on the Mighty Mississippi River.
The shoreline, covered with thick Edenlike jungles of beautifully green trees, seems to beckon one to stop and spend some time. But, of course, you don't. You're on board a paddlewheel steamship, waited on hand and foot by a retinue of highly trained wait staff, equally high trained pursers, tour guides, entertainers . . . it's a happy ship and a happy time.
February 2, 2017
Di iar ry of f a Trramp on n the Rive R r ....
He didn't want to go at first. It was Her idea. He fought it . . . but then they made the first trip two years ago, out of New Orleans. And he was persuaded. These cruises are fun . . . many memories to be made.
She had made the reservations for this trip without seeking his approval. His approval was quickly granted. He's a quick learner.
A Mississippi Cruise is like no other, he thought. 'You travel up river at about 56 miles per hour, go down river at about 11 miles per hour. It is a leisurely pace . . . plenty of time to slow down and begin to learn how to enjoy life. It is difficult to totally relax, being a newspaperman. There are still deadlines to be met . . . and communication by cell phone and the Internet is not always possible when on the river. And you have to get the tasks done as readers and advertisers are counting on you. These were the thoughts that stayed in his mind even while he tried to relax.
The itinerary called for a departure from St. Louis, going to visit Hannibal, Missouri, the boyhood home of Samuel Clemens, whom we all later learned to call 'Mark Twain,' and then Nauvoo, Illinois, one of the first enclaves of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints, whom we have come to call Mormons. But Ol' Man River, as we were to later learn, had plans of his own. Upon boarding the paddlewheel steamer and being shown to their stateroom, they were in awe of its size. Lawdy, you could play a game of tennis in that stateroom. Doubles.
It was at least three times the size of the stateroom they had on an earlier trip.
There had been a lot of rain in the Midwest. He took note of this prior to departure, and a good friend and traveling companion, Dave Schmitt, of Escondido, had said that the forecast called for four days of rain. "Great," he thought, "a five day cruise, four of which will be filled with rain." As it happened, the weather turned out beautifully; but, the earlier rains had swollen the Mississippi to the point that the water was so high the steamship was unable to pass beneath several bridges en route to Hannibal and Nauvoo so a detour was
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made. The boat diverted to Chester, Illinois.
Now, Chester, Illinois, is not a remarkable city. It is very small. It has a courthouse and a library and a main street. Oh, yes. It also has a statue of Popeye.
The creator of Popeye is from Chester, Illinois. It is the chief claim to fame of that city. The guy, Elzie Crisler Segar, had been cartooning for awhile and built his cartoons around a family named Oyl, one of whom was a woman named Olive . . . Olive Oyl. Later, a sailor appeared by the name of Popeye. It was supposed to be a temporary character . . but it caught the public's fancy and Popeye became the central character of the cartoon, which then grew to be internationally famous and made Segar a wealthy man. All of his principal characters were modeled after residents of Chester. Popeye was modeled after Frank "Rocky" Fiegel,
Obituaries Memorials Area Services Page 12
Olive Oyl was modeled after Ms. Dora Paskel; J. Wellington Wimpy is based on Segar's old boss, J. William Schurchert, owner and operator of the Chester Opera House. These people all physically resembled their characters. Photos show a clear resemblance to his cartoon characters, particularly to Popeye. He was not impressed with Chester. It was not his choice of a place to visit on the river, even though he acknowledged a grudging admiration for Popeye. He sailed next to Hannibal, Missouri.
They had sailed all night and arrived at the Hannibal port at 4am. He was sound asleep. So was she. He was awakened by the blast of a passing train that ran parallel to the shore and only about 50 feet away from the dockside. He got up, threw some clothes on, and went outside to watch the boat crew prepare the boat for landing, do the tie downs, tighten up the lines, and secure the boat.
He went back to bed. For the next hour he marveled at how Hannibal, Missouri, had arranged for trains to come by every 15 minutes commencing at 4am and blow their horns loud enough to raise the dead.
Eventually, he fell back asleep and awakened at 7am, bleary eyed and tired. But it was time to grab a quick breakfast at the buffet line, then head into Hannibal to do some research. He wondered what would have become of Hannibal, Missouri, had it not produced a genius like Samuel Clemens. Clemens, who was born in nearby Florida, Missouri, grew up in Hannibal and drew many of his characters from family members and friends; some photos remain of the principals from whom he drew his characters. One of the most important, however, Tom Blankenship, upon whom Huck Finn is based, has no known photograph. There is a photograph of the Blankenship house, and
Diary - of a Tramp on the River Continued on Page 2