Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-10-30
REMARKABLE CHANGES.
Mississippi S~teamboating Twenty Year
Ago and To-day.

.AiSSISSIppl lIlDohlluS twenty Years
Ago and To-day.
81 tell you.' he said, throwing him.
self back in a heavy armchair, 1.-The
Mississippi is no longer what it used to
be; the railroads have ruined it. There
Will be no more such steamers as the Il.
E. Lee, the Richardson, or Others Of
their class built. The steamers used to
float all the cotton of the valley to New
| Orleans. and were built to carry from
5000 to 5000 bales. The week. how.
ever, which it required a steamer to
take it down. is now reduced to twenty.
four hours by rail. Railroads are fol-
lowing the coarse Of the river. and rob-
bling it of its trade. and l look forward
to the day when the Mississippi River
will be abandoned entirely in favor Of
rail.
''Yes," he continued, in answer to
question. gamblers used to have a
picnic along the river: but that day, too,
is past. 1t is not because people have
grown better, but because they have
less money. l once saw two men in
a dispute over a game, rise from their
chairs. place their pistols at each 9TH
er's temples, and fire simultaneously.
Their dead bodies were carried awav.
and the game continued as if nothing
had happened. Those were wild days,
and are not likely to return.
THE mode of getting other peoples
money has merely changed in some re.
spects. With the exit of the honest
gambler who told his business, we wit
ness the entrance of the sneak thlet.
But a few days ago a rich planter
boarded this steamer Oft Natchez.
While sitting right where we are now,
he purchased a paper from a newsboy
and was soon lost in its perusal.
"'Colonel, said a bland young man,
a few moments after. you have Just
dropped this handing him a tifty-do-
lar note.
Il reckon not said the old gentle
man. as he overlooked his spectac!es.
Il Just picked it up under your
char repl ed the Young man, ana see
no other way to dispose of it. how
ever, since it seems to belong to nel.n'
er of us. we might just as well dl'ue
it. -,
1.-The plan worked well. The old
gentleman passed over S25 in chanee'
and the young man sauntered care'ess
ly out on land. A few minutes altsi
the vessel had taken to water the oa
gentleman presented the $50 mole "
| the clerk in payment for his fare.
"'Counterfeit!' exclaimed the clerk,
and then for the first time the WHY
truth dawned upon the old mau >
mind.
1.-The deckhands are ahard lot: ihes
work. as you see, with a vim whne
port. and pass the time until the L neA,
is reached in playing craps lno,
are paid IS. so a day. When they AZ ~
| called up to get their wages, they
vide into little gambling parties a.
once. and by the time port Is reaeu viii
of the fifty men paid OF, about ten + nLe
have all the money. This ten WI. '. ,ha
one night on land. coming back 10 uo
boats dead broke, and on the 1e' NO
trip there will not be a nlcSel ln an 90
whole crew. And the way thes u"lkrr
through a stranger" said the spt' ne.
growing warm, lis a caution; the
gro got on board at Nicksouls NJ.
other day and fell asleep: IL Wa' new.
ticed that his underoaothlng "as nnel
Quietly the men went to WORK. 1ellr
him, divided out his undersi sh Fl
put him back into his old shoes When
and pantaloons, and left HIM m ns-
that negro awoke andfoundt the f Sa was
which had been made in him. ne ut
completely mystiied: He e co1la
understand how his unoeic' to1,ch-
could have been stolen without n,e;tu.
inc tbs rest."-AAanta (Ga') o""S"
!on