Daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1865, 1861-06-24

don TImes.-H6S Trip from Monte
| gomery TO Mobile, With accidents
4 MOBILE, Ala, May IL. 1861.
/ The wayfarer who conlides in the maps
of strange country, or who should rely
! upon even the gnide-books of the United
States, which still lack Murray or II
Bradshaw, may be at times embarrassed
by insuperable hills and iuunvigable rivers
! When, however, saw the three towering
stories of the high-pressure steamer South
ern Republic, on hoard of which we tum.
bled down the steep bank of the Alabama
river AT Montgomery, any such misgiYings
vanished from my mind. So colossal an
ark could have assembled no mythical
stream, and the existence and capabilities
Ofthe AIabumn were demonstrated by its
presence.
Punctualily is a rare virtue in the river
steamers of the West and South, and sell
dom leave their warVes until thew have
fbagged n fair complement of passengers.
although steaming up and ringing gongs
and bells every afternoon for week or
more before their departure, as if travellers
were 10 be swarmed like bees. Whether
stimulated by the infectious activity of
these "war times, or convinced that the
a''politeness of kings " is the best steamboat
policy, the grandson of Erin who owns and
commands the Southern Republic, casts off
his fastenings but half an hour after his
promised start, and the short puff of the
engine. is epliHeped by the wild strains of
a steam organ called a ''calliOpe," which
gaddens us with the assurance that we
are in the Incompatible ''land of Dixie
Reserving for cooler hour the attrac-
mons of The lower. floor, a Hades conse-
Grated to machinery, freight and negroes,
4
where we find long dining hall, sur
rounded by two tiers Of state rooms, the
upper one accessible by stairway leading
to gallery, which divides the "saloon"
between floor and roof, We are shown our
quarters, which leave much to be desired
and nothing to spare, and rush from their
su6ocating atmosphere to the other balc0-
ny, where n faint breeze stirs the air.
There is a rooted balcony above us that
corresponds to the second tier of state
rooms, from which a party of excited Sc
cessionists are discharging revolvers at the
clippers on the surface and the cranes on
the banks OF the river.
After We have dropped down Eve or six
miles from Montgomery, the steam-whistle
announces our approach 10 a landing, and,
as there is no wharf in view, we watch Gu.
riously the process by which our top heavy
rent ia to sw;n1 rornd 60 ha. ;n';o SIl
M or;na. A. ,Te a., ~, -. ".lsIole
go, ;aSa.,'so ~ 49, S nis" 10 ~ a Mus W,
soStens into tb. 5ni'ot "| r;n 'u ,isS cam
Iione y md tho steamer Jdnb,os - s Ia ha-
rail- Ike az o,enLant $1,000 u Fo i ner
two s,o;Das beiNG ss ;nJona,sJe ~ ia "I
other as secading states ND sInw, u .t ."n"
ming tho straoT laws b"r roso 80 S'T ,I,.
bnnE and holds IL there Nv iTJici pH. s a;T
of hor naddIes mill a lo4o Dloni, - 49,. $50
ashore from her how ovs. r ,wh;'.l, ~
passengers with vaIises male wev for
nlantcr and HE family 1Io -, ~ -
board. The ponp-nInnE ia bonleJ in Tho
steamer tnrns her IcaIl down stroo,, i,.;,t
the eTnortneSs of a wboio ~ 81 o o wa 1
We reenme onr VOYAGE We ronar' 49, ,b "nu
stonnoCes vaTions fines hccoro 5art' 10
inc here a barrel and tSoro = 30, "a an
cosionaIIv nicl;Do, nm a NJ, SseD,ror
After simmer ,Sbicb - sor,.a,j -, .o.;a.
If narolIal Tables ruDr;n,, otI,,,.ort a., ~,
loon. we return ~ erioy fror, tIo boI.o,,,
the cool obs~nritv of Tie evoDiN,, ~ III
climate where I;gbt means Soat 'nS
olrnye The CLASSY surface of tho SiocI 80
ar the tiuhpr.clo6 HAWKS eeo,1, -, 49,. -,
in more closely and to sbnt mn in tbo Wet,
before ma. and while we Glide dow, ,,;tb ;,
rapiditv which wonld need INIT the roar ,r
rapids 10 prefipure cataract hevond ws
yield to the Caprice of fancy. i1stitntine
comparisons between the dark persnectiye
ahead and the mystery of the future.
Again a scream and a rudy Iight fash
es from our prov, and deeneps the sha-
dows around us. This proceeds from the
burning of s.liTbt wondt % SjaIi. .'' ro. a"9
Gus pine-in a wire basket hung On oim.
halls and held like LANDING net bsInv: ,I,o
how Of the stcomer 60 az ,n mid nTt e n;, one
binding the nilot Who 10 snscnnco% I'LL
Hanson cabmen nnon its root TSe ,oroI,
bearer raises His crrsset rs ,vo sto.D 49, ~
n rho banL "a nion,. :, -, S''I W
when n bowssr IL soiysJ rorn5 ,rs sO' H';
the crew turn osbore ,S, t.,rnod - re-; TL anu
is a steen. hiSI honk above nv Up and ,rE;Ie LII
dnskv forms are gi,t;D0 ~ "a ~ n ~.