Hillsdale Whig standard. (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1846-1851, 1851-08-19
western steamers i'm Early Days.

To the earlier days of steamboating ia the
West The Captains and Pilots were men who
had served their time and learned heir trade
upon broadhorns or keel boas, and a rough
set they were. Almost born, and really ed
ucated upon the river, passing their days Ell
thev 10 floating down stream. exposes tc the
various dangers Of the voyage or wearly
working their boat up again in the face of
the rapid current, liable al any time TO be at
tackled by some one Of The many gangs of
robbers that infested all the region through
which they passed, exposed To heat and cold,
"a snow and rain; plying the oar by day and
the whisky bottle and fiddle bow by night.
they formed class strictly sui generis, and
\ devil-may-care, registering ready handed
and open hearted one at that.
By these men were the earlier boats Off
cered, and now for the boats themselves
Differing in every particular from these of
the present time. they were built with
hulls very clumsy indeed. but serviceable in
resisting the attack Of the frequent sUags.
Their engines were all low pressure, and
their cabins upon deck. Accidents were
were then OF frequent occurrence, but almost
invariably the result Of contact with snag
Fires and explosions were then not so com
mon as now. hut perhaps the greatest pro.
portional sacrifice Of human life occurred af
ter high pressure boilers were Introduced.
and before lower deck cabins were disposed
with, The Captains were fresh water va
riety Of the old sea kings; doing pretty much
what hey pleased with boat and passengers,
freight and wood yards,
The pilots, then as now, were selected
from fat and keel boatmen, and the mates,
picked up at New Orleans. had previously
filled similar berth upon sea going vessels.
In all cases of disturbance, officers aud crew
fought for and clung TO each other; all steam
bcarmcn were AT feud with hat- boatmen, bur
when gamblers or any longshoiemen inter
fered with the rights Of either Of them; all
bostmen made common cause leaving the
discussion Of private qusrrels until their mu-
tusl enemies were quelled.
Many tales are told Of the exploits OF
these old river dogs and among them at this
moment recall one Of a certain Captain
Russell, iamilisrly known as Dick Russell.
who commanded the old Constellation in the
palmy days Of boating.
Russell was man OF great strength, one
Of those minor Samsons that are occasional
ly encountered in this degenerate age and
his courage was in proportion To his muscu-
lar power. The boat which he commanded
had stopped at Nalchez, under The hull, for
the night, and many ofhis passengers had
gone on shore TO see the fun going on among
the various drinking, gambling, and dancing
houses. that made up the town, such as il
was. Now the said fun was never over de-
corus, seldom over safe, ard one Of the said
passengers made both discoveries at his cost.
He was robbed Of his pocket book, which
contained the proceeds OF the sale of his fat
boat aud caigo.
Early the next morning Russell was infor.
med Of the robbery, aud sending for the To-
ser requested all the particulars.
Having satisfied himself that the money
was really lost, and that, too. in a notorious
house. Immediately opposite tho boat, on
shore he went, and marching bold as a lion
into the den Of thieves. demanded the pock
o, book and contents Of the proprietor. OF
course the theft was denied. and the denial
accompanied with many threat Of vengeance
upon kussei, whose prowess however, they
were too well acquainted with each other 10
make any overt demonstration,
I'll give you,' said Russell, until get nv
boat ready to GO to hand over the money.
and then il il don't come the house shall
True TO his word. just before the boa,
started, on shore he went again, sccompani.
ed by gang Of deck hands. bearing the lar
gest cable the steamer possessed.
This was passed around the house and
10 and out some Of the windows. and when al
was ready Russell again demanded the book.
No answer but cures being returned, he
jumped on board the boat, sung out to the
pilot TO go ahead and to the engineer to
work her SLOW. aod off the boat moved very
moderately. The rope began to tighten
and ihe house TO creak. Two minutes more
would have dono the business for building
and people, when the latter signihcd ,hoi,