Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1883-07-11
Monongnhela shanty- Boats.

where the hills of Soho cast a shadow
reaching across the river nearly to tha
sloping streets that run down from Car
son street, Pittsburg, to the waters edge
! may be seen style of habitation here
and there closely resembling the domicile
that so delighted David Copperfield at
Yarmouth. They are of nondescript
character, these siianty-boatS that settle
heavily in the sludgy soil. or rock lazily
i'll the swell that sets them atioat as an
occasional steamer snorts noisily by.
They are boats that might almost be
called houses, and houses that might be
boats, and yet they have peculiarities of
their Own that belong to neither class.
Sometimes there has been an attempt to
beautify them by daubing on coarse red
pant, picked out with dirty white. The
effect, while possibly satisfactory to the
inmates, has rather diSpiriting effect
upon the casual observer with a preten-
sion to artistic taste. He is apt to Won
der whether the crude pigments laid ON
so layishly have not tendency to engen-
der colicky troubles among the children
who revel in dirt and semi-nakedneSs in
and around these amphibious dwellings,
For there are children, scores of them,
as it appears, who call these places
home, and doubtless could gaze without
envy upon the finest lawn-surrounded
mansion IN the East End. Have they
not free access 10 water and mud at all
hours of the day and night? Can any
thing he more delightful than running
along the gangplanks to the coal barges
! that are always being unlOaded with a
great expenditure of labor, -gruntings
and perspiration on the part of muscular
men who, both Caucasian and Ethiopian,
are all of the same grimy hue? What
| if the sharp fragments of coal do sting
the little bare feet? 1t gives them
dainty, tripping gait that is at once
graceful and unique, and may at some
future time be useful if they have to
act as nurses in smallpox hospital,
where clumsy footsteps would disturb
the patients.
''What kind of people live i'll these
shanty-boats?r asked Pittsburg re-
porter of resident of Twenty-Sixth
street.
The resident gave an odd twist to his
features, which included the gentle clos
ing of one eve, and said, with a slight
smile: "All kinds. Just around here
you can bet they are pretty quiet, be-
cause they have To be. That one,
pointing to an eSthetic-lOoking craft,
the cloudy windows of which were still
| further obscured by crimson curtains.
while what was apparently the weeks
washing hung carelesSly in the sun from
various projections, lis occupied by
man who works in a mill. The family
are decent people, but poor, and they
| live there rent free. Those on the
opposite side of the river, right opposite,
are also the homes of laborers. They
are well-behaved folks, because the
erryman leasing the wharf would not
let them stay il they were not. But
| in those a little lower down there are
some high old times occasionally. Men
and women are all huddled in together.
Their regular drink is old rye, and such
old rye 1t costs about 81 gallon, and
there are dozen fights in every pint of
it, with mole quarrels and bad language
than could be measured. Do any of
them work? Oh, yes, they work. Tn
men are roustabOuts and deckhands on
steamers. They work up and down the
river, and at the end of a trip they come
home for good time. and guess they
have it. At night YOU can hear their
voices echOing over the water in ribald
songs to the accompaniment of mouth
organ or accOIdeOn, with an occasional
yell thrown in for a chorus. Why, they
even have dances Ill those sitting little
places sometimes. ldOn't kI.ow whether
they have the fashionable waltzes or
whether one of them leads the Others in
the German, but do know that they
shuttle through some kind of saltatOry
exercise that seems as if it would shake
the timbers of the shanty apart. Once
in a while the police make raid when
they get too bad, but as rule no one
interferes with them. Theyare isolated
from the rest of the world, and except
when an actual murder takes place, as
in the case of McSteen, who killed his
wife in a riverside shantyat HazelwoOd,
they are allowed to enjoy themselves in
| their own way.n
who are the owners of the boats?"
asked the reporter.
''That would be hard to say. Some
of them belong to the parties who live
W nun DOetl Stlo
all stove up, so that it is no more use on
the river, the machinery is taken out,
with everything else of any value, and
the shell is sold for mere song. Then
two or three will club together and
raise the few dollars required, thereby
getting a house rent free for the rest of
their lives. They have to get permission
from the wharf owner to squat on his
territory, and in return they keep an eye
on his loose property and prevent chains
and such like being carried off by sneak
thieves. They keep an eye on the coal,
too. There is great deal of coal stolen
from the barges, as it Is, but not so
much as there would be if these sh;nty-
boat guardians did not exercise squatter
sovereignty over the flats. Iguess they
help themselves to a lump of coal occas-
ionally TO keep their stoves going. 1t
doesn't take much to warm up one of
those shanties, and the coal men can
stand the loss of what little they lose.
Yes, it seems a funny life to people ac-
customed to a comfortable house on
dry land, but there are many of these
folks vino couldn't be paid to live any
where but in shanty-boat.