❖ Fleet Captain Oliver Van Nieuwenhuise ❖

Drawing of the well known
Capt. Oliver Van Nieuwenhuise
a.k.a. "Ole Wooden Shoes."
Fleet Captain for Black Ball Ferries.
Sketch dated, 1945.

Quotes submitted to The Piling Busters Yearbook, 1951:

Running along in the fog, blowing the whistle at least every minute, more upon approaching a landing––a lady passenger said, "what are you blowing so much for, Captain?" He replied, "It is foggy and I'm trying to locate the landing." "But look up, one can see the clouds and the sky." The captain replied, " you are right but we are not going that way unless the boiler blows up."

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A lady stepped up to the ticket-window and laid down a 10-cent piece and in a Southern accent accent asked for a ticket.
Ticket seller: "where to, please?"
Lady: "on the ferry."
Ticket seller: "what place are you going to?"
Lady: "San Juan Islands."
Ticket seller: "which island––and besides we have no 10-cent tickets."
Lady: "well, hell, that's all we pay to cross the Mississippi!"