Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1882-02-27
FLOOD HUNTING
Up in the SwampS and the Region
Of Overflow.
How IL Looks This side Of
OsceOla.

for business ana mails, anu Vuo l"A
ing places are not far from a hundred
though the boat does not stop at half al
many at present, the frequent voyages
and slack business making it neces'
sary to call at way landings, Other
than postofices, only now and then.
The down voyage is made in about the
same time as the up-twelVe hours
and the round trip occupies twOnty-
four hours.
THE BOAT TO TAKE.
The foregoing pleasure trip eau
be made on the Lee Line
steamer Coahoma, a favorite boat,
now doing the mail carrying and
other traffic all the way from Osceola,
90 miles above to FriarS Point 1lO
miles below this port. Usually the
Coshoma runs from Memphis to Osce.
ola three trips a week. The high stage
of the river, submerged landing
places, and light business rendered it
proDor Tor economical and other rea-
sons to shorten the cost of carrying
the mails by taking of the steamer
Lee and letting the Coahonla do the
whole work. She is doing it hand
somely, carrying two sets of pilots
one pair for the upper river service
and another for the lower. Two mail
agents divide work same as the pilots,
and one extra clerk for the lower
trade, who knows the landings, the
people and the tea chest or hero
glyphic marks usually put on freight
packages. The Coahoma is not so ex-
pensive a vessel as the Lee is-335 per
cent cheaper. on fuel-and this, when
business is light, is a big thing, espe-
cially when it is noted that the Goa
homs, next after the Lee, Of course,
is the incest and best business boat
ever in a local trade to or from this
port. She is not only = good boat, but
a lucky one. On her last trip to
Osceola there was aboard all at once
two brides, with their fresh husbands,
and three white mules, yet the boat
ran under that load with perfect
safety to all.
A HIGH WATER EXCURSION BY BOAT.
A trip up to 0sceOla, the capital of
Mississippi county, is highly interest
ing at this high stage Of the water. A
boat can go through all the chutes,
take every near cut, run through the
the willows and not hurt herself if she
wants to, and very often does it. From
the deck of the vessel a scene hunter
can see unsual sights. Just above the
city, for example, the boat runs along
between FRAMES island and Paddy's
Hen and Chicken island. They call
it a chute now, and it is right narrow,
though once the main deep channel Of
the river. 1t has filed up with sand
drifts, however, and is now only navi-
gable at extreme high stage. FRAMES
island is we'll under water and a cur
rent isseen all over the surface through
the young cottonwood timber growing
profusely over it. The Hen and
Chicken island opposite may have a
dry ridge somewhere on it, but it
can not be seen from the deck ola boat.
The first stopping place of import
ance is st. Glars Postofice, formerly
Redman's Point, about ten miles up
the river. This place has always been
more or less subject to overflow, but
now the water is deeper over it than
ever before, all because Of the Cen
tennial cutoff, twenty miles above,
sending an extra supply of water down
upon it. The houses on this aud the
next place above are all surrounded
by water. No living objects are visi-
Bile except some folks perched in the
upper story of the main residences.
The lower floors are all covered. A
mar came out in a skif, threw a mail
bag up on the boats deck; another
was pitched out 10 exchange, and the
steamer passed on to let the water
bound family at st. Clair read the
news in solitude.
BELOW FORTY.
Bradley's Landing, twenty miles up
is the next stopping point. Here in I
spirit of enterprise, the inhabitsnts
have erected plank walks on silt
from house to house and they manage
to get about by dropping into three o
four feet ofwater now and then, with
out dugouts, though they have a few
specimens Of this convenient swami
furniture close by to use in case O
need. The people at Bradley's looI
happy and seem cheerful. A water
waste has a gloomy picturesquenes
about it, calculated to depress tn,
mind Of a stranger, but it don't hav
that effect upon the inhabitants
The surroundings, though wet, ar
like the traditional litter of SINCE.
cats, better than they look. A visito
would think all the country aroun
was submerged, but this is a mistake
Only $50 acres or such a matter ar
under. They are good acres though
every one Of them turns out a bale Z
cotton each year when not o~verhowet
and the owner, Mr.. Clarke, ofthis cit,
naturally hopes the patch will dry o
10 time to plant. He has $50 acre
dry as a powder horn, just in rear {
the submerged patch, and plows al
busy stirring it up for corn and cotto
mainly cotton, Of course,-thouEh
does not yield quite so literally Al thl
now under water. A few miles FIJI
Their back Mr.. Clarke has still mo
dry land, Of the richest tillable nj
ture. A telephone between the plac,
five miles long enables people to tai
the same as if right in front Of eac
other. 1t was put up last May,
small expense, and is still in fir
working order. The connection say,
the expense of a feet Of gondolas an
a relay Of couriers just now, and saw
deal of message traffic at all season