Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1882-02-16
A BELMONTER ON THE WING.

great impeachment to its navigation
Some, and not many years ago, Bruins
wick was on the Wisconsin river, bu
to-day the town is fully two miles dis
tant from the channel of the "Big Mud
dy." The town was at the junction Q
the Missouri and Grand, at the foot of
curve, but the former cut across coun
try and left the town on the Grand, bu
two miles from the Missouri. The chan
mel of this river is continually changing
and therefore exceedingly difficult t.
navigate. l had the pleasure recent,
of coming down the valley from kansa
City to st. Louis, and found the rive
very low, and therefore was afforded
good opportunity of studying its char
acteristics and the causes of its peculia
freak. The course of this stream is ex
ceeding crooked, and its bottom full Of
sand, which the currents of high It'd,
pile into little islands here and there
wherever there should be an obstruc
tion to start the heap, or wherever tn,
wild waves may, in their uncontrolled
whimS, see proper to throw it up.
Before the much-needed barge line be
tween Kansas City and st. Louis can b,
grain in bulk, it will be- necessary tt
straighten the water course, and devise
some means to keep open the channel
Pilots never know the river, as matter.
now stand. and indeed they never car
learn it until a channel can by some
means be established and fixed. 1t would
pay Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri big
money on the investment to improve
this river, should it cost millions of dol.
lars. Cincinnati, the "Porkopolis OF
Ohio" put sixteen millions in the Gin.
cinnati Southern railway, and expects
in time to be well paid. Kansas City
can afford to do that well to improve
the channel of the Missouri
My route from st. Louis to Memphis
was on the St. Louis, Iron Mountain
roads, to Belmont, Columbus and Hum
b0ldt. When we arrived at Charleston,
17S miles out from st. Louis, and about
Is miles from Belmont, We were in
formed that the Mississippi river had
broken over the levee and washed away
some trestleing, preventing our going to
Belmont by rail. We were put in a
sleeper, switched on a side track, and
the balance of the train, including the
conductor, went back to St. Louis. But
after four hours' wait an engine came
Gs fIom Birds Point, fastened on to
our car, and hauled us down to Birds
Point, where we We're met by the Stm'r
w. b. Duncan, a large ferry boat, and
transported, car and all, 26 miles down
the Mississippi river to Columbus, KY,
and put aboard a train for Hum
boldt, Tenn. The "Mother of Waters
at this stage is really wonderful to see.,
1t is the highest it has been since TT,
being nearly As feet at Cairo-several
feet higher than the town itself. Going
Down from Charleston to Birds Point,
the water had backed up in the timber.
ed lowlands for a distance of fully 15
miles on our line of road. In many pla-
ces the levees are threatened with crew
asses, and the country as consequence,
with inundatioH. All this country, ex-
cepting where there are blaffs, is lower
than the surface of the river current by
several feet. and protected only from
overflow by the levees or embankments
that have been thrown up for that par
pose. Houses are half submerged, and
stock penned up on small patches of
high ground. At the mouth of St.Fran-
els river, saw poor horse penned in
the small door yard, and the entire as-
tablishment surrounded by water. There
is row of houses here extending along
the bank of the ST. Francis out to the
shore of the Mississippi, on narrow
ridge of high land, and all these were
hemmed in by the two rivers. l stand
out on the guards of our steamer, and
almost as far as the eye can reach the
whole country on either side is COM
pletely submerged with the water of the
big river.
The Cumberland and Tennessee riy-
ers have been the highest ever known.
At Nashville, Tenn, 5000 people are
rendered homeless by the waste of the
wild waters. On the S. & w. railroad,
passengers were transferred from John
stonville to Camden, II miles in skiff,
at their own risk and expense. through
the brush and timber. At Johnston
vile house was caught floating with
"a hogs confined therein, averaging 200
pounds. A lumber dealer here lost 75,-
900 feet of walnut lumber, and so the
story goes, telling of wonderful destruc-
tion of property and many thrilling,
escapes. These high waters
delay all travel, destroying all system,
and as result your correspondent was
21 hours at Humboldt, which
were devoted to study of the old town
on the border of the cotton producing
portion of the State. This town is a
pretty fair sample of many OF the inland
towns of the late Confederacy. 1t has
population of 1000 inhabitants, and one
free school, known as Odd Fellows Col
lege, receiving its name from the order
that established and supports it. 1t has
also normal school, employing two
teachers. who hold forth in a large frame
building, badly, very badly indeed, affect
ed with decay. Evidences of past great
ness were to be seen on all sides. Our
hotel was located in the right-angled
triangle, formerly the intersection at
right angles of the i. & n. and NJ. & o.
railways, and is about 60 by $50 feet,
fronted and flanked on sides, and pre-
sented to the railway. Here you see the
Southern style of architecture prevalent
in the sunny South during the palmy
days of slavery. The houses of this
style are generally oblong, with an open
porch or hallway in the center, extend
ing the width of the building, and in
this hallway are found the flight of
steps leading into the attic of the upper
half-story. The chimneys are outside,
built against the ends of the house. An
other style, also popular in that day, is
the two-story house, fronted by the long
porch and verandah, the whole length
of the building.
The country from Charleston, Mo-, to
Humboldt, Tenn, is generally very poor
and low, and covered with heavy
growth of timber. All through these
woods are scattered the huts of the poor
negro, squatted on fve-year leases.
These people are perhaps doing good
service to the land owners by cleaning
off their lands. but evidently are not
thriving very well themselves. The
country around Humboldt is very poor,
khnl lNll