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RivermenandRiverboats > Mazie Krebs Introduction > Mazie Krebs Go to subcategory:
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Fiddlinsue
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  • From:USA
  • Register:11/11/2008 8:17 AM

Date Posted:12/08/2008 8:04 AMCopy HTML







She had not been tough enough with the President
commission. The engineers and builders were sick-
eningly condescending, despite her experience in
Chicago and Los Angeles. Because her grandparents
spoke German, and she had studied French in high
school, Mazie read the European design magazines.
But she had been too busy with the President to attend
the 1933 Exposition Universelle in Paris. How she longed
to see the rounded facade of Henri de Velde's Belgium
Pavilion with her own eyes.
Mazie pronounced the names of two St. Louis boulevards
"Choteau" and "Gravois" like a Parisian.
No she told the slightly disappointed Captain, she would
wait for the Admiral's maiden voyage in two weeks. She
was having a special dress made and such things were
not to be rushed.
Although, forty-two, Mazie was usually thought to be in her
late twenties. But these past months finishing the Admiral
had taken a toll. She had worked at night, never rising be-
fore eleven. She visited the dry-dock in the late afternoon
after the workmen had left. That way, she could inspect
without interference the finishing touches on the quilted
doors of the great Blue Ballroom, the curved chromium
fittings of the Art Deco glamour room, and the round mirrors
in the three powder rooms she had named after movie
stars Sonja Henie, Greta Garbo, and Deanna Durbin.
All her designs and instructions for change were written
or drawn, with detailed notes for the workmen. She signed
her work M. Krebs and used the rubber stamp of president
Joseph Streckfus's signature under it.
The S. S. Admiral was her piece de resistance, worth every
ounce of effort. Now, with just two weeks to prepare, she
would get a facial, and redo her limp hair. As she finished
her third glass of champagne, the tightness in her shoulders
eased and she hiccupped.
She deposited a peach on the linen napkin across her
lap. She cut the peach into precise wedges, admiring the
color she sometimes specified for interiors, and then
chewed thoughtfully. As the breeze picked up and dark
nimbus clouds blew in from the west, she smelled the
coming rain. Mazie looked at the aviator's watch that
curved around the top of her wrist. By now Captain Streckfus
should have reached the mouth of the Merimec River where
he would bring the Admiral around for her slow, return
upstream to the dock beside Eads Bridge.
As she was packing her picnic basket into the trunk of her
white convertible, she heard the Admiral's whistle blast.
Either the Captain had shortened his run, or he was run-
ning at full steam to impress the inspectors. She walked
to the edge of the bluff and looked down. Like a massive
toy, the Admiral chuffed by under her, and she could hear
the hiss of the steam drivers like the blowing of a great
whale. Then she caught a movement beside the angled
jack staff on the lookout bridge. It was Ray Maxwell waving
to her, dapper as usual, in a tan, double-breasted suit.
Beside him stood Captain Streckfus and a young woman
in a white dress, Marie Kantjanis, who had been selected
as Queen of the inaugural voyage. Ray waved his hat in a
slow signal. Just then the stream whistle blew when it had
no cause to. The girl jumped and threw her arms around
Ray's neck. It was one of his cheap tricks, and Mazie felt
her cheeks go hot.
She found herself side-arming the champagne bottle and
watched it arc and shatter on the afterdeck. The scared girl
ran into the pilothouse.
Mazie strode to her car and closed the top, got in,
and pushed back her hair. She jammed the key
into the ignition, stepped on the starter, and felt
the V8 gurgle to life. As she hit the gas, the
convertible spun gravel and picked up speed.




No part of this story is to leave this site
under any circumstance. It is used with
permission from the writer, Al Gowan.
Thanks Al.  ©Maiden Voyage.
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(©Fiddlinsue). Background html code was
provided by Liz from Beyond the Horizon.
Thanks Liz. Image is from ©image-cafe.net.
 









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