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"The Memorial day excursion to Great Falls on the canal, held under the auspices of the District Library Association, was deemed a very jolly outing by the ninety-and-nine who took part. About half the party, comprising the early risers, started with the "mule yacht" John R. Mason at the Aqueduct bridge at 8.30, while the more leisurely members boarded the boat two hours later at Cabin John Bridge.
No unpleasant incidents marred the pleasuse of the journey, and the easy method of transportation made strolling between locks a popular pastime. Some even walked all the way to the Falls from Cabin John, and a pedometer worn by one of the ladies has now registered the exact distance between these points so as to make future surveys unnecessary.
At the Falls lunch demanded first attention. The provisions aboard might have fed the Japanese army for a week, and comprised most known edibles, from the traditional hamsandwich up to caviar and maraschino cherries. Four-fifths of the party followed the advice of the executive committee and provided two meals instead of depending on the uncertainties of holiday accommodations at hotels.
After a stay of nearly four hours the signal for return was sounded promptly at 5 o'clock. Gently floating down the canal through the late afternoon and early evening was delightful. The singing, which began somewhat ambitiously with "set pieces" from the Arion quartet books, decended imperceptibly along semi-classical lines, to the strictly orthodox 'Clementine" and "Bull Dog on the Bank," which might have been heard in the vicinity of Chain Bridge. At 10.10 o'clock, when the last effort of the mule team was over, everybody was just tired
enough to be glad to be at home again and glad to have shared the pleasures of the trip." - Library Journal 1904.
No unpleasant incidents marred the pleasuse of the journey, and the easy method of transportation made strolling between locks a popular pastime. Some even walked all the way to the Falls from Cabin John, and a pedometer worn by one of the ladies has now registered the exact distance between these points so as to make future surveys unnecessary.
At the Falls lunch demanded first attention. The provisions aboard might have fed the Japanese army for a week, and comprised most known edibles, from the traditional hamsandwich up to caviar and maraschino cherries. Four-fifths of the party followed the advice of the executive committee and provided two meals instead of depending on the uncertainties of holiday accommodations at hotels.
After a stay of nearly four hours the signal for return was sounded promptly at 5 o'clock. Gently floating down the canal through the late afternoon and early evening was delightful. The singing, which began somewhat ambitiously with "set pieces" from the Arion quartet books, decended imperceptibly along semi-classical lines, to the strictly orthodox 'Clementine" and "Bull Dog on the Bank," which might have been heard in the vicinity of Chain Bridge. At 10.10 o'clock, when the last effort of the mule team was over, everybody was just tired
enough to be glad to be at home again and glad to have shared the pleasures of the trip." - Library Journal 1904.
Photo: New-York tribune, October 16, 1904 (LoC)
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