The Lancaster gazette. [volume] (Lancaster, Ohio) 1863-1886, 1870-04-21
Prom The Columbus oaretsc.g
Letter from COIF John Noble

Prom the cOlnmbus Gazette. :.
Letter from CoIE John Noble.
FRIEyp G&vIsEn: II would ma
tiltally occur to you or any other
business man Of today, how could
men manage to obtain funds to sus-
tain, tradey when prieesoF prodnce
were reduced TO wheat rs cents,
corn ! 2 cents, and oilts 10 and IL
cents per bdshel! Twill give you
my experience Of one or two years
in Lancaster, Ohio, II you
haze patience TO read it.. a zoii
After part Of two summers hard
work on the Ohio Canal, making
thesffst mile or more south Of the
deepcut in Fairfield county, II be-
ingthe extreme south contract, let
in July, lSgh p being - noyice at
the work, lost money, To contin-
nc the hard luck, I bdilt a Banking
House, by contract, for the compa-
ny Of the Lancaster Ohio Bank, on
the north side Of Main street, in
the Pail and Spring Of 1926 and
'27.F / had all the teams and tools
used on those works, now on hand
and to continue my bad luck, ] en-
tered into a partnership With a
young man who was conducting a
distillery on the Carpenter farm,
one and ahalf miles south Of Ian.
caster. He was enterprising, and
proposed enlarging the establish.
'ment, renting the next farm north,
where Carpenter had built a saw
mill, with a 80 feet fall Of water, the
stream being a. spring stream
brought from 1.-The ~ distillery,
and thereon erecting a mill
for our grinding, and Z large
enough in the two upper stories
for the Introduction Of cotton ma.
chinery, or anything that would
make money or rather spend it, as
! afterwards found out). Thefar1n
we could use to advantage, and VIC
turned the farm house into a
boarding house for our hands. i
enlarged the capacity of the distil
lcry by purchasing machinery Al
Pittsburgh; built new mill house
went to Raccoon and purchased |
pair of mill stones; bought stool
hogs; and began to find mysel
hard up for, money. My partne
had but, little invested, except hi
labor and capacity to conduct tn
distillery, and like myself was reth
er an expensive genius, We hat
accumulated largely in whisky an'
pork, and now to obtain money
We must seek a market for our sur
plus. New Orleans was then mos
accessible. 7 - 80 .isI
! Moses Crosiss, a single man, VIII
! had been in the. river trade, aliye
near us, AID as he been to New o.
4 leans the two previous years, o
Supercargo and Captain of his ow
boats, we made a contract with hiI
to have two boats built at Circle
[yille, on the ,Scioto,, where we coul
Head them. The boats for thi
trade were first. called Arks, an
then, Broad-horns, but now, a
Cincinnati, Flat boats. They wei
] about ten or twelve feet wide,7 81
feet high, and fifty or sixty fec
long; well framed at the bottom
1.-TWO timbers called gunncls, stut
ded firmly; then planked with tvs
inch oak on the bottom and thrt
i or more feet up the sides and enc
9 then well corked with hemp an
3 tar, to. make them water-tight;
E fiat roof of thin boards, doubl
! sprung up in the center, to carr
!. of the rain; the sides above wat
: enclosed with common boards;
!, fire place and chimney built in ii
: front end, ruddcr in the ster
! and two long sweeping oars, al
!, you have a river boat. The ere
: consisted of one steersman, two
9 the oars, one Captain, and in I'll
7 a Supercargo, and if two boa
r double the hands. The winter
c 1s273'2S was unusually wet, b
c notwithstanding the bad roads al
twenty-five miles Of distance,
r had the load of 500 barrels delive
S ed on the bank of the Scioto, tV
y miles above Circleville, and loadc
d ready to start, on the third day
If February, 1928. We had emplo
Il ed an experienced'pilot Of the. $
le otto, to Portsmouth, after viii
Captain Crosiss would take char
d of the cargo. The constant raj
l. of that winter, without frost, had
If flooded the country, and partiC
d larly the river banks, that our Ca
;e tain became alarmed at the respc
6 sibility. He feared the Lower NJ
If sissippi would be out OF. its BAN
d and the overflow is always df
It gerous to cross floating on the. c'
Is rent, as they may be drawn out
- the main river. Ers
r was on the river, seeing to
IS payment of boats, ,&c. After 10;
c. ing the boats, l sent my: ho
home, with word to my wife tha
G. would go to Cincinnati and hi
Iy the boats and cargo insured, a
le return home from there. We pa
cd the mill dams, went by Chi
ly cothe, and on to Portsmouth; L
id the back water of the Ohio, ten
ID more miles from the mouth Of 4
m Scioto; pulled out into the Oh
the pilot was dismissed; Capt. G
siss took charge, and we aoa'
safely to Cincinnati. / forthw
went to the Insurance Office, II
hesitated, and then required
re much for the insurance, that W
Mt the advice of the Captain, I conc
g ded to go to Louisville. We
~ rived there safely, but at Louisv
D., they understood the magnitude
as the flood, and would not insl