Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1870-07-06

Idlewild, Armada, Rubicon and 9th
ers which went down the rive
several miles to see the wonderful
racers pass under full Roadway. The swift
stearoer Idleyild. tho crack boat OF tn
lower Ohio river, went along side the LIE,
TO obtain passengers, and although thu
Idlewild was at her gveatest speed. the Lee
was passing so rapidly as 70 render il i'm
posSible to make rope last to the IdlewilC
until the Lee stopped her engines. During
q greater pant of the race the competitors
have been in sight of each other, adding
greatly to the exciterneat aud character o.
the race Some Southern paper said the
Lee ran into the chute and was compelled
to back out. Her pilots contradict this.
About eight miles above Cairo, the Lee
seemed to touch. bottom, and f9f some
minutes she was turned crossways Of the
river in full sight of the city. The Natohe7
ran the same course, and did precisely ca G
same thing. Each boat lost about four
minutes. Both boats lost one hour. and
probably more, last night by fog and dark
ness
The Memphis AUalanche contains the
following:
SiEHoRANDA OF THE NAToaEz.
Mr.. Cook Creighton, who came from
New Orleans to Memphis as q passenger on
the Natchez, gives us some interesting facts
and incidents of the great steamboat race.
Mr.. Creighton is a we'll known resident of
this city, and everything be says can be
relied on as correct He informs us that
during the entire run from New Orleans as
far as Helena, at every bend, reach or
strait line of the river, the Lee could be
plainly seen, as she sped swiftly up the
stream, and long line Of black smoke
that followed in her wake and assembled
heavenward until lost TO view by its distri-
button among the clouds, was at
no time out of sight. After lesv-
ing Helena nothing more was seen
of the Lee, but Captain feathers
saws he is determined to overtake her be-
fore the race ends. This is hardly posi-
bic, as when she left this point the Lee
was exactly one hour and ten minutes
ahead, and full fifteen miles up the river,
surely wide gap to close up in a 40
milesr1n to st Louis, but Capt. Leathers
thinks the small river above viii give
him the same advantages over his COM
petitor that she has had over him to this
place. The Lee had among her crew four
of the most experienced and skillful plots
on the river, besides eight regularly
licensed engineers, extra mates. and full
complement of firemen. She also had as
passengers several steamboat commanders
of long experiences on the riyer-all of
whom aided Capt. Cannon in every posi-
bic way. One or more of them was con-
stantly on the upper deck, while others
were resting or looking after interests in
different parts of the boat
Every thing had been prepared with the
most careful precision, and everything
worked like charm. She lost no time at
the few landings she made, and everything
appeared to favor her, until some distance
above the mouth of White river, when she (
suddenly struck bluff sanbar and sprung
several of her bntts, and also leak. 10
her skilltul handling her success is entirely
due, as her running time has not equalled
that Of the Natchsz, when allowances are
made for delays. The Nstchez made three
landings more than the Lee below here, at
all of which she lost time. She landed at
Natchez, putting out both her stages, and
her coal flats we're badly arranged, causing
delay of several minutes The Lee only
touched there for coal and lost no time. At
Vicksburg when the Natchez arrived,
twenty-four hours and forty-two min
utes out, she lay at the wharfboat four and
half minutes. The Lee lost no time
there. At Greenville, which was reached
by sunrise Saturday morning, a landing
was made, and thirty-six minutes was lost
Ii repairing broken valve Of the supply
pump, and mending the cold water pipe.
Fifty-three miles above Yicksburg, during
the night, the pump broke and worked so
badly that for the next hundred miles, to
delay was rendered unavoida-
bic. An hour after sunrise the Nstchez
was again under full headway, In the rear
of her adversary. The distance from
Greenville to this point is two hundred
and fifty miles, with a rugged, turbulent,
swift current of full four miles an hour,
sweeping down a declination Of four
inches to the mile on its pathway to
the ocean. With these lights before
US, the run from that place to this city by
midnight, may be regarded as a wonderful
achievement in the annals of steamboat
navigation, and considering the nature
of the river and the fact that the time
made from Helena to this point was sew
eral minutes short of the Lee, and that
better runs have been made by other boats,
it is the general opinion that less skill was
shown by the pilots of the Natehez, Frank
Cayton and Mot. Burnham. As the Lee
is reported to have cleaned out her fire.
beds between Helena and this city, it is
more than likely she was run close to the
points around the circling bends of the
river, shortening the distance, and was
generally better handled by her pilots,
Yves Conner, Frank Pell and their aids,
an, = ~
The Lee had sent the Psrgoud on ahead to
Greenville with 100 cords Of pine wood. 1t
was transferred under way without loss of
time, as the speed of the Psrgoud is only
second to that OF the Lee and Natchez, and
gave the aid of all her steam power.
THE HORNS AND THE RIBBONS.
In 1860, the steamer Princess, then the
finest and heetest vessel that had ever run
in the lower river trade, made run from
New Orleans to Natchez in seventeen hours
and thirty minutes, the quickest time on
record. The time has never been beaten,
though several fast boats have tried it.
Even the NatcheZ on her last trip, which
was the quickest ever made to Vicksburg,
Memphis, Cairo and st. Louis, failed to
reach Natchez in the same time the Prin-
cess had done, nor could she lay claim to
pair of splendid gilded elk horns placed at
Nstchez by the friends Of the Princess,
only to be won and worn by the boat that
could beat 1890, The Lee passed up this
trip with the horns on her upper deck,
beautifully dressed and decorated with
handsome sky-blue ribbons. She carries
them because her time is seventeen hours
and ten minutes, twenty minutes quicker
than tho Princess had made The Natchez
has also beaten the Princess time, but she
has not equaled the Lees by six minutes.
When the Princess made her fast run the
river was in much better condition than now.
1t was the month of September, the water
was low, though amply sufficient for nagi-
cation. The current was Stacker than at
any other season of the year, and the
weather fine. Her run was re-
garded as q wonderful achievement, but
how much more wonderful is the recent
trip of the Lee, made in so much less time,
with swifter current to contend with.
She is surely entitled to the honor of wear
ing the horns, and it will be many day
before any steamer can win them from
her.
THE FOURTH AT SHELBY
VILE, TENN.
The Match Game of Base BaII-The
Blue Stockings Beaten 1.-The ApOl-