Bloomington herald. [volume] (Bloomington, I. T. [Iowa]) 1840-1849, 1844-05-24
4- From the NY. Spirit Of the Times.
The Little Steamboats, Of the .NjssjssfpDt.

4 From the NY. Spirit Of the Times.
The Little Steamboats, Of the .Missjsstppt.
BIZ THE AUTHOR OF "roM OWEN THE BEE
HUNTER"
The steamboats, of the Mississippi are
as remarkable for size and form as is the
river itself. Gigantic spec:T ems of art,
tina. 60 believing over the swift and mud
dy current like restless monsters, brca,h>
ing like the whisperings of the hurricane,
cIanking and groaning as if an earthquake
was preparing to as'onish the world, ab-
sorhing in clouds Of smoke tie sun in the
OVER s,ie ss,idrk mess 81
night volume Of fane, as n sne vuIcanu
had burst from the deep. Who sees them
for The first time, without wondering, as
they rush along, filled with the ever busy
,hrong of travellers, and loaded with
boundless wealth, that teens from the rich
soil. as The reward of the slight labor Of
the American husbandmen. The Missis.
sippi is also remarkable for little steam
boats, small specimens of water craft. that
are famous Cor their ambitious pufdings,
noisy Captains, gigantic placards, boats
that run up little streams that empty in
to bayous, that empty into rivers, tina.
empty into the hIississirpi-boats that 60
beyond places ever dreamed Of in geog-
raphy, ever visited by travellers. even or
marked down in the scrutinizing book Of
the tax collector. The first time found
| myself on one Of these boats looked a.
| bout ma o.. AID suff1vrr wtrtn ire gu1 III
Lilliput. II seemed as if Ihad got larger,
| and more magnificent than an animated
| colossal. When walked on board of the
| boat, found my feet on the lower deck
| and my head up stairs; the after cabin
was so disposed Of, that you could set in
side Of it and yet be near the .bows.'-
The ladies' cabin had but one berth in it,
and that was only as wide as shelf
The machinery was tremendous, two
large kettles firmly set in brick, attached
to complicated looking coffee mill, two
lille steam pipes, and one big one. And
then. the way the big steam pipe would
smoke, and the lille ones let off steam
. was singular. Then the putting Of the
little coffee mill why il worked as spite
(lpl as q tom ca: with his tail caught in the
crack Of door. Then HE engineer, to
see film oren The furnace doors and
! pitch in wood. and open The lille stop
cocks % see il the steam was not 10 high,
all so much like big boat. The. name
Of the btas, THE U. s. MAIL, EMPE-
ROR,' Ne letters covering over the whole
side of,R beat SO that it looked like To-
: comotiydadyertisement. Then the U.
S. Mail deposited in one corner Of the
> cabin, an\two rifles standing near it, as
! TO guar0, said mail being in bag tina,
! looked lkl gigantic shot pouch, !asten-
i ed to pad *, and said pouch filled with
IF three politi speeches, ranked by Nj.
le C.'s, one lei 10 man that did not live
e. at The place is destination, and a buns
!. die Of post ee documents put in by
\ mistake. -! 90
al The bell i rung for this boats de-
n narture, wal tremendous hell; itswung
= 10 and lro aDly; it was big eneagh fol
Ee Cathedral, u as ii ruDg for the TWEEN
% t;e,h last ii one passenger came on
Z, hoard weigh about three hundred, and
m he boa, %. er weigh. Let 60 that
lin hawser.' shol The Captain, in a voice
lys oe thunder. u zee. wee, plsh-h b. went
ne me little stea pc, and we were of.
IA Our track lay time down the Missis-
ca sippi. and wei ahead lu1ioasly, over
Jay HAULED two i end fiat boat wllhin
or. two hours. and enlede the appearances
d .rs.' big ! ! "'''. '''''''o'' y