New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1875-08-29
The River EDITORS Story.


with a rather troubled air, and, said be e
just been listening to a story Of the truth u
which bad sno doubt, and which was of O
character to set his hair on end. The hail
Of river editor, man accustomed to dan
gers by field and flood, rne intimate with
all the mysteries of the levee, and familiar
with Che spirits Of the vasty deep, dOesn',
Stand on end on every light occasion, and
so his explanation of the mystery was lis
tened to with interest,". He said that he was
in his own room sitting at his desk and peg
cling away manfully at description of a
steamboat clerks new diamond breastpin,
when the door was opened suddenly and a
stranger made his appearance. The inQi
vidual who had come in unannOunced was
tall, cadaverous looking individual. clad
in a suit Of clothes that had once been bet
ter, and wearing upon his face an express
sion Of the most profound and seated mel.
ancholy.. He came forw ard in shamblira
way, took chair, pulled out battered
handkerchief and mopped his face, and then
inquired, in. q sepulchral voice, if he had
found the river editor? He was answered
in the affirmative, when he cast glance
ers, hitched his chair up little closer to
the astonished river editor, and began:
"Fve come up here ter see yer, young
man, and ter tell yer s0methin' Eve been
carryin' on my mind for going on twenty.
one years, now. 1t won't take long ter git
through with the story, Tor Yal put the peth
Of II in few words. You ember. don't
ger, dov along in che spring Of 1854 shers
was steamboat started from here for New
Orleans with . big load Of truck, bat not
many passengers, that was never heard Of
again! They wsited for her in New Orleans
and they looked for her from St. Louis. but
they never heard Of her, and concluded she
must have burst der biler and scuttled or
burned, though no sign Of the wreck was
ever seen, not sd much as a gang plank.
There wasn't, as said, hardly any passen-
gers, SO there wasn't . great deal Of fuss
made over the less and the underwriters
acted very handsome in the matter. Well,
young man, that vessel didn't burst her
biler, nor she didn't burn, and what came
here for is to tell what became of her. I'd
travelled good deal on that boat, back and
forth, and I'd had good deal Of trouble
on board her, too. alters carried
some baggage, and Che porter on that
boat was just as bad as these baggage men
on the railroad. never made q trip but
the fellow didn't smash my trunk into
slivers, and got mighty disguste1 at last
1 jawed at the porter, and jawed at the cap
tain and mate, and every body else, but it
didn't seem to made any difference, for my
trunk got smashed every "trip. | brooded
over it, and brooded over il, until I couldn't,
sleep. got SO mad, and | made up NY
mind finally fd get even with that boat or
bust. It was a long time before I hit on q
plan to tx EN-, but at lastI thought of it.
| got two big trunks, and then l bought a
hundred and fifty pounds of this 'daman.
ite,' isn't it!-what d, er call 1.-THE stuff
they use in blastin', you know. j put
seventy live pounds Of the stuff in each
trnnk, with lots Of gun cotton piled around
it inside. Then got niger 90 carry the
trunks OF board the TO. 1t very carefully and
put them with the rest of the baggage.
bsughs . ticket fos that trip, bue
[ didbs 60 on board Che boat when
she Started. calculated shere'a be
sOme excitement on that "trip when The
porter goe to mashin' my trunks, as usual.
The boat Lett a night, and l went to bed
expecting ter read in Che morning paper
about the burnin' Of boat down the river:
but didn't find it. There was big &C
count OF an earthquake somewhere between
here and Cairo, which shook the hull coun.
Try and threw over all the fences, but that
was all. The boat wasn't never heard from,
II I said before. For two or three years
after that, whenever the farmers down the
river wanted any. kipdlin' all they did was
,er 60 out IN the fields and pick up splint-rs,
out no one knew where them splinters ever
,ame from. knowed, though. they was
he splinters of that boat. That's the hull
tory, and feel better now I've got it OF
ny mind"
Then the cadaverous man got up and
'huffied slowly out, and the startled river
'ditor eane in snd and told Of what he had
,esrd. He hasn't slept we'll since the &C.
river editor hasn't-for he
nys he belaeves the old fellows story to be
rue, though he doesn't recollect the name
II that missing steamboas.-&. Louis Re-
,u5lican.