The south-western. [volume] (Shreveport, La.) 1852-1870, 1867-03-13


PENSION BRIDGE.-The observer posted in the
middle of the longest single span suspension
in the world, opposite Cincinnati, cannot fail
to be filled with awe.
Now that the Ohio River has assumed once
more its occasional mammoth proportions as
| it sends its turbid self-ladened water down to
the gulf and glitters with a golden sheen in
the sun light the scene is indeed wonderful.
It RACES with its great strength against bust
ness houses along the city front. Far up the
puny Licking it sends its surging tides Of back
water. Tt makes of Millcreek lake and de-
stroys the profits of hundreds of toilsome gar
deners along its banks. The leyee is lined
with huge steamers that seem to seek among
streets and alleys of the submerged portions, a
refuge from the immensely Gifts waters. With
tifty-ive feet in its channel and twenty or thirty
laundering against bridge piers that ordinarily
do not feel it, the proudest steamers, that bow
ia lovely submission as they lower their smoke
stacks for the privilege of passing beneath you,
where there is now space of only forty-eight
feet, seem really but insignificant things in the
comparison.
brushes wildly beneath you, this wild, curb
less waste of yellow water, as though in haste
to leave mparatively quiet scenes and min
gle with its powerful allies in the work of de-
struction, hundreds of miles away.
In 1892 when there was nothing in this Vi
entity to denote much oftivilisation, this angry
stream, that like quick-tempered man rises
and subsidies in its passlon-and that with more
rapidity than any of the rivers of the world
became So high that its wave lets washed up so
far as what is now Pearl street. And this
was repeated in 1904, 1916, and finally in
1881 In this last mentioned year it reached
the highest point. The rise commenced early
in February and eliminated on the 9Th of the
same month-sixty three feet above low water
mark It moved then at the rate of over six
miles an hour, with its sos, 147 cubic feet per
second.
In 1847 we had our last great flood. Houses
and people hoated down the river then, and
in this city there was much suffering and loss
of property by the overflow. This last rise,
from twcnty-i to fifty-fye feet, all occurred
within eight days, an average of three and
tbree-quarter feet per day. The waters are
now Slowly subsiding
TCincnnati Commercial, 25th.
SOMETHING IN Ir.-A good story is related
Vi q CoHS ieS9ulaH, WIZ, Ill Ills Sdl ~ udyS, re-
fused to believe in the telegraph, and expressed
his incredulity even after the line from Balti-
more to Washington had been many days in
successful operation. A certain friend of this
honorable gentleman happened to have little
joke upon him.
Walking late one moonlight night in the
Capitol grounds, the doctor caught glimpse
of bis distinguished friend in company with
lady very much prettier than his wife Lest
the jealousy of the latter should be excited,
the pair hastily separated to avoid observation,
and coming over to The doctor, the congress-
man, with a communicativeness entirely I'M
called for, assured his friend that he had wan
dered up to fairgrounds ''to get some grass
to feed his rabits.' The doctor consented to
keep his joke to himself, with no restriction of
his own enjoyment of it. Now when this same
one day entered the Baltimore
telegraph Office to demand an experiment
proof, and they told him to name whosn he
would in Washington, it happened that he
named the doctor aforesaid. In very few
moments he was surprised to get word from
the doctor, of some commonplace import.
He still suspected forged message, and Or
iered that fact to be communicated to the doc
,or. The response was prompt:
:" want little grass for my rabbits.''
The operator was confounded. The incred-
llous honorable looked at the message, and
With a blush tore it up, exclaiming:
-'' The thing works, for that is the doctor or
he d-l.'