THE PILOTS' MONOPOLY.

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couple of years, gratis, while his master sat on a high bench and
smoked ; all pilots and captains had sons or nephews who wanted to
be pilots. By and by it came to pass that nearly every pilot on the

river had a steersman. When
a steersman had made an
amount of progress that was
satisfactory to any two pilots
in the trade, they could get
a pilot's license for him by
signing an application directed to the United States Inspector.
Nothing further was needed; usually no questions were asked, no
proofs of capacity required.