The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1880-09-17

possessing the divine afflatus. His poem
commencing,
20 boatn1an, wind that horn again,
For never did the listening air
Upon its lambert bosom bear
So wild, so SOFT so sweet train,''
will long hold its place among the gernsr
of American poetry. But the days when
the only means Of transportation on on
great Western rivers was the fatboat
have passed away. It may almost be
said to be a thing of the past, and hence
the fine flavor Of General Buffers poem
is lost to great degree. to "a generation
who only know of it by tradition.
A voyage from Pittsburg to New Or
leans by datboat was an enterprise once
of greater peril than a tour around the
world isnow. It was certain to be full of
adventure, It required months for its
accomplishment. A shot from the shore
by some Indian OF reckless desperate
might terminate. abruptly the voyage and
the lives of the nayigators in blood A
moments neglect Of the steersman might
wreck the unshapely craft and all the
hopes of its owners, hundreds of miles
from home and in an inhospitable wilder
ness. There was danger everywhere-in
the currents, eddies, whirlpools, bayous
and snags of the tortuous Father Of
Waters; but there was no less danger
from the half civilized dwellers on the
banks. The outlawed criminals and the
desperate adventures from civilization
shulked along the shores, or prowled
with light canoes among the bayous and
creeks watching for chances to plumber,
even if murder was necessary to aid them.
A fatboat voyage down the great rivers
was perilous enough from natural causes
even if mans inhumanity to man had not
increased the peril. In those days the
government had not thought of snag-
boats, and the Mississippi was full of half
hidden dangers. The current was con-
stantly changing. It was easy to be de-
ceived into an old channel from which
there was no return. Bayous were often
traps-watery outside ac-leading no.
where but to ruin. The organized river
pirates and wreckere were always on the
lookout for unwary voyagers, so that a
slight mishap generally ended in COM
plete disaster If, under such circum-
stances, the fatboatman reached his dis
tant home, footsore and weary but penni-
less, months after leaving it, he was
lucky. In the early days of fatlooating
safe return, even when the venture had
not proven financially profitable, was a
grand event, and the occasion of trlmult-
uous Joy. The business bred special
class who sought it for its adventure and
dangers as much as for its profits. The
river pirates met in the fatboatman of
that early day class ready, eager and
willing for the fray-a class which, like
the rancheros of the plains, accounted a
trip tame and spiritless if unattended
with danger. They were rough and
ready, careless and care-free. Dreamily
floating slowly down the Ohio, they
whiled away with song and dance the lazy
hours. The boatman's horn walked the
echoes from distant hills more musical
than steamboat whistle or that cards.
tracing horror, the calliope. 1t, was a
romantic life, beftting the grand scenery
and rude time. Ninety days and a slow
moving fatboat, the scenery constantly
changing but ever wild and beautiful,
was thing never to be forgotten The
spice Of danger in it only gave it zest.
An occasional adventure with river
sharks only relieved monotony and adj
ded interest. -I2diGnQp0liS ..I0U771dt