, 1870-07-08
THE GREAT STEAMBOAT RACE,
BesAKls 81 xke Entire Tr1p.
From H. 81. LssiA D.mocru., July s,
4EE IEF

AT one minute to O'Clock, June 80, 1870,
tie Robert E. Lee left st. Mary:s Market, New
0rleans, Immediately followed BY the Satchez,
and the great race vas commenced Fer an
ruce-Lorpe that il being brought to the scratch;
and then. aartiug forward with Al. impetus
sucl, as they had never felt before, spranS for
ward on their Courses And the Sa.chcz and
th, Lee were Tying! 20 from the excited
thous ands-as from the earth, and ar, and
watsr~carne the thunderous applause, until
tha uir was "el] yell" and the earth, as fas
A. the eve could reach, confusion. .,
Far as the city limits e,tend, and 2nd,
the b1nEs were lined by shouting InAutnhe=,
and ~ one Of the five steamcra which started
up tie riser with exc1rsionists vas passea,
earh csrcoo living freight lent itsiongs to tho
occasion. The only quiet spots u All creation
seemed to te the decks Of tho flying ssea1neIs
On the whatfboat at Natehez were the horns
OF the Princess, tRstefu1ly decorated auo IN
waiting for the leading boat. On tn tnem ps ~ sns
fror, New O1leans 10 Satchez, It hours and
80 minutes; why don't you take the horns.
The Leo touched the vharfboat, and that
question 1aB not yet been repeated.
On tew the boats, and at every bend OF me
river, at every house, at every hamlet, ea-
cited crowds awaited their arrival. Where
cannon could be bad it Was used With viii,
and where it could not be produced anT1ls
were substituted. Old and young, male and
female, white and black. people from the
| river shore and people from points within
| witness tho mightiest race that ever lashed the
| waters Of the turbulent old river into fury.
Thirty-fse miles above New Orleans q sup
| ply pipe on the Lee gave way, causing little
I loss OF time, and forming one more drawback
| during the rest OF the run. No correct esti-
mate can be made OF the time lost by this ac-
! cident in the aggregate. but it must have been
I considerable, al the engineer had to cool her
down to ninety pounds Of steam before he
could fix it.
At So. m, On the first night out, q leak was
sprung III the mud drum, which, when noticed,
progress Of the Lee.
All tho way to Vickhu1g the Natchez WAS
| p;ainIs 10 be seen, though losing ground stead
ijy from that point. arriving ut the long
the bow OF the Natchez WAS observed just
rounding the point. From there on, nothing
| but her smoke at intervals was ever seen, and
BY that she always seemed to be out IN the
country.
| was overLaC1ed and the supply OF fuel sent
aboard from her WIS tako" or hnar1-
| At Memphis tho widest enthusiasm prevail
ed Although late at night, her whole popnla-
ton seemed to have gathered upon the nves
Unfortunately tie first great beauty of the
Eceno waB lost to the Leo, AZ tho Thompson
Dean ahead Of the Lee caused the Memphis
people, by mistake, to touch OH their fireworks
and shout themselves hoarse.
AtCo!nmbus, crowds lined the wharf, streets
and houses, cannon was h1ed, and the cheer
ing was deafenicg.
About eight miles below Cairo the Evans
vile aud Cairo packet 1d1oWlld, the lishtnine
express OF tha Lower Ohio, crowded with poo
Pile from al1 points on the Ohio, who had come
down to witness the great race, 1sy. in waiting
In epeura the Lees louisville people.
idea that il ahe would gather large head OF
steam, and turn on full head just as she
came opposite, ehe could keep alongside auf-
fciently long to allow passengers to get on
board. She did 30, and ran aa she had neys1
run before, but she learned in few seconds
that il was wildly idle for tho laleWild to Try
to keep pace with the Lee. Ringing slow
bell" tho Lee allowed her TO come up and get
| tho passengers.
From tie moment Of catching eight oi
Criro from the bend, roupd upon round Of
artillery was fred by the excited citizens unit
long after the Leo had pasBed the city
ILrungs OF people were congregated from the
extreme point Of tie sand-bar, at the junction
OF the MYERS, all the way up to the city along
Front street, over the wharfhoats, over the
house-tors- -erery rlnce from which view o.
the river could be obtained.
At a point seven miles from the confluence
of the rivers, where the channel runs close Il
/ the Illinois shore, hundreds OF Cairoites ha6
assembled to witness the fight OF the Birds
During the night the river seemed one blaze
OF light, So numerous were the bon6res.
The following is the Lees time:
Left New Orleans Thursday, June 30, 1870
! at 4 O'Clock aud Is minutes p. m.