KATHERINE: I remember when the mill used to blow whistles and it was quite a sight to see the people coming from those mills, you know, when the whistle blows, or going to work when the whistle blows. But we used to set our clocks to the whistle. Where do you have transportation?
INTERVIEWER: That’s the next thing.
KATHERINE: We had five trains a day at Pocomoke. And we had one at six o’clock in the morning that went north, I think. And we had two between one and two o’clock, one went north and one went south. Then we had one at eight o’clock and I don’t recall whether that went north or south, I’ve forgotten. I think it went south because it seems to me, I came home on it once. And then we had one at midnight. And then we had steamboats. And the steamboats, I think we had three a week. And I have something here that I want to…. Would you mind helping me lift that up? Now this is when a steamboat arrived at the station. This is something that somebody had written up. It’s perfect because I remember it so well.
“The Arrival of the Steamboat. There was always a crowd on the wharf when the steamboat was due. The farmer’s sons all newly washed and combed. The more sophisticated white-collar town boys and the neighborhood girls in finely starched dresses. Negros with their shining teeth indulging in wild horse play, but careful to avoid jostling white folks. One would have a (audio not clear) and a group would start dancing and clapping hands. All of these vessels are remembered with brushed carpet, easy chairs, shining brass on steps and rails. Everything as clean as a pin. The fare to Baltimore from Easton was fifty cents which included a clean berth, a private stateroom with extras. When the deep-throated whistle sounded,” and I’ll say here that many people went to see the steamboats come in. That was one of our pastimes, was to go to the wharf and watch the boats come in. “When the deep-throated whistle sounded every eye would be fixed on the bend. A whiff of smoke might be seen in the sky and at last she swims into view. Here she comes! What a moment! She drifts slowly alongside, with engines stopped. How big she is! What majesty and what grandeur! The white coil lines are flung ashore. The wharf tender jumps, catches the line and hauls it on the holster, drops the heavy loop over the wharf post. The captain on the hurricane deck signals to the engineer to reverse speed, while every face on the wharf turns admiring regard at that Superman in blue and gold. In those days, every small boy on the shore dreamed of becoming a steamboat captain. The gang plank was run ashore and a scene of (audio not clear) activity took place. The passengers did not go aboard yet, that would have been to miss half the fun. Jazz had not been named, but the Negro roustabouts with their banging hand trucks conducted all their operations in the rhythm of jazz. Prancing, shaking their shoulders, rolling their empty trucks on one wheel, and singing in time. The racket was terrific. After the dead freight was on, the cattle were loaded. If the beef had horns two grabbed him and pulled while a third walked followed behind pushing his tail. An animal would often escape where upon a mad chase took place, everybody hollering to get her. At the very last the passengers walked over the gangplank and were hustled on board. The steamboats left Pocomoke in the afternoon, arriving in Baltimore in the early morning. The service had traditions that helped to make each trip on a steamboat a festive occasion. For one thing it was an unwritten law that the captain should be a gentleman as well as a navigator. He was expected to play host to the passengers to see that everyone had a good time.” That expresses exactly what happened because I been dancing the wharf many times.
INTERVIEWER: Everyone went down there to watch them come in?
KATHERINE: No, not everybody, but that was one of things we liked to do. We used to enjoy going down and watching. The trains, I didn’t tell at the time, but there used to be a bus. There used to be two buses that met the trains from the livery stable and the buses took the people to the hotels or if you wanted to go to the station you’d call the livery stable and they’d stop for you. One thing I have overlooked that I hadn’t told you. We had a fair in Pocomoke. Had horse racing. And that fair ran for years and years and years, every summer and that was quite a big event.
INTERVIEWER: What kind of things? Was it just horseracing?
KATHERINE: Horse races and it was an agricultural fair too. People would take their products there and they would give them prizes. They had side shows like a carnival, but it was a fair. But the horse racing was really very good. Of course, they had a bandstand and they had a band. Pocomoke used to have a band, from the Pocomoke adults had a band. Here’s a picture of the fairgrounds. Alright, what’s your next question?
INTERVIEWER: Do you remember when you got your first car, when your family got a car?
KATHERINE: I remember the first automobile in Pocomoke. That was Dr. Walters. I’m sure you don’t know him, well it’s Henry Walters’ grandfather. He had the first automobile in Pocomoke. He was a dentist. There used to be a man down in Virginia that had a great big automobile, and Mr. Parker, the proprietor of the Parker House, was a good friend of my mother’s. And Mr. Bodley would come up in his big automobile and Mr. Parker would come around and collect all of us children, ours and friends, and take us for a ride. Oh, that was, we thought that was just a wonderful thing to happen. Probably I was six or seven years old, but I remember it very well.
INTERVIEWER: Did you ever learn to drive?
KATHERINE: Oh yes.
INTERVIEWER: Did you just get in and start driving? How did you learn to drive?
KATHERINE: No. I think my husband taught me to drive. I drove until I broke my hip. After I broke my hip, I kept my car two years thinking I would do better, you know, and I would be able to drive.
(Continues next Saturday here at The Pocomoke Public Eye.)
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