The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1878-11-06
The Ed. Richardson Aflaat !
THE eREAr Boar LAuNcHrn.


/ Louisville Courier Journal
Another grand steamboat has been added
/ 70 the marine commerce OF the South. The
new Memphis and New Orleans packet Ed
Richardson, was successfully and ttiuu
phantiy launched from fhe WAYS Yesterday
afternoon amid 3he cheers OF thousands
The uniaVorable aspect Of he weather
cool and ctoudy-kept thousands AWAY but
a u was, there was an Immense audience.
including many ladies. About 300 enioved
he pleasure and excitement Of being on
| board when she moved gracefully from the
ways and plunged like thing of life inro
her native element. We " III save ANYTHING
lige description of this beautiful sieamer
until she i finished. Suffice TO say. she wi |
be one Of the best and handsOmest boats the
Howards eyer built, and this is paying
them compliment.
Miss Pattie Robert. a beautiful and ac-
compished niece of Capt. John w. Cannon.
did herself and the boat the honor OF ded-
Icatiug her. She was attended bV Miss
Sallie Cannon, Miss Mary Voolfolk and
Miss Carrie Voolfolk. Miss Pattie distin-
gujshed herself a. a pretty little heroine of
grace and prowess when she lifted the
em blem Of good luck and said az christeu
this boat the Ed. Richardson" Just before
the graceful monster lett the ways. Will s
Hays, on behalf of Capt. J Ohm W. Cannon
who was on board, approached Col. Geo.
VI oOrUnan, who represented Col. Ed Rich
ar3son, and said "Col. Norman, a rep
resentative OF one OF the most enterprising
business men in the South, am instructed
by my old friend Capt. Cannon to delicate
10 you this boat in honor Of the good ma me
OF the gentlem an whom you have the honor
TO represent. May she prove as successful
AID fortunate "a the man she is named for,
Ed. Richardson"
Col. Norman responded as follows:
CAPT. JOHN w. CANNON-Sir: As the
representative OF Col. Edmund Richardson.
! am authorized by him TO accept the high
honor YOU have bestowed on him by e
selection of his name for your boat, and he
joins you in best wishes for her success.
Ae hopes that your health may continue to
improve, and he will feel still more highly
hattered should you command her in per-
son.
FOR myself, l will say that, in the eternal
fitness of things, il is meet that John w.
Cannon. the steamb boat monarch, should
crown his splendid achievements by nam
ing one OF the greatest of his cre'tions.
which i to try her fortunes on the Father
Of Waters, after Edmund Richardson, TIE
cotton king OF the world. Both of these
men are Napoleons IN their departments;
the one has risen from an hum bic position
on the rude steamers OF the long ago 70 be
the famous commander of The Robert f.
Lee, aud with colossal strides has moved
onward in his honorable and brilliant ca
reer. until he has placed more grand steam
erS, and faster ones. on the anxious bosom
Of the Western waters than any command
tE OF JillS OF an y ptIti Jay DN HIS StHiuS
and pluck he has added renown to the al
ready glorious name of Fulton, and has
gemmed The mighy river with gorgeous
palaces until they glitter like stars in the
ornament.
The other, twenty years ago an OBJ
scure merchant in the piney woods of Mis-
sis-ip pi. to-day one of the Merchant Princes
of the world the goddess of fortune has
been his hand maiden. and success has
marked every step of his Ii e. At his weird
ron axrAT- hi
story of his early struggles, successes and
charmed life aivals in Interest the enchant
ed tales of the Arabian Nights. The ii rm
of which he is the head is the largest re
ceive- of cotton known. lie Is the IargeS5
planter, producer and shipper OF cotton in
the world. making even more than the khe-
dive of Egypt.
Not satisfied with ths, his bu4v brain 1t
to work, and amid the signing pines in Mis-
siSSippi thousands of SpndleS were put in
motion, making him the largest manufac-
turer of cotton in the Southwest. Again
he waved the magic wand, and in response,
in an instant, as it were, from out the gloom
OF the forest, on the banks of the turbid Wa
tfrs of the great water, there arose an oil
mill with all the machinery and parapher
MALTA to prepare cotton seed for the markets
of the old aud new world.
AZ his command the dense wilderness
that fringed the banks of the giant stream
disappeared, aud cultivated fields APP
peared instead. He ordered stores and
appliances of commerce to line its banks,
and instantly were heard the hammer OF
the artisan aud the hum of industry until
it vas studded like gems. In keeping with
his fortune. his generous hand has been felt
equally by the needy, the suffering ones of
earth, and the worthy. Hundreds of young
men acknowledge his timely aid and the
poor his goodness. Reaching New York
from Europe just after the Demon
OF the South had started on his
cruel march to the pale halls of deaJh, in a
twinkling, as soon as the cleo rc cur
currents could be felt, his wealth in un-
stinted sans visited the halls ct the rich
and the novels of the poor alike. The
names of Richardson and Cannon are linked
indissolubly with the history OF the com
MERGE of the greatest of rivers, and the
story of their rem arkable lives will be told
as long as the restless current of the grad
stream flows onward TO the sea.
For the present we will freight the I'd.
Richardson. the noble craft which will soon
leap jovou>ly into the placid waters of the
beautiful Ohio, with our hopes; for tie
future, when she shows her graceful pro-
portions upon the wonderful river. the
great man after whom she il named will see
that she is loaded with the tieecy staple and
the mighty freights his genius has created
and controls
Captain. Cannon bowed himself away
from the crowd around, and in ten minutes
the boat was out in the river and the Andy
Fulton after her to tow her back to shore.