The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1886-10-15

IIOm the rIVeF III OUCkCt 8GCdC0cO W
rope, he watched a chance to try his
hand at the feat Not understanding
the trick, he was very suddenly jerked
overheard as soon as the bucket caught
in the water. Then there was great
TODD. The steamer was stopped and q
boat sent out for his rescue, but he was
nowhere 10 be found. After the search
was abandoned, the boarmen saw the
bucket drifting some distance off and
thought they might as well save that
anyhow, and on attempting to pull it in,
very much to their surprise, found the
boy clinging to the bail. The buckle;
had caught some air in turning over.
making It sufficiently bouyant to keep
the boys nose above water. He ap.
peared to be less disturbed by the adj
venture than any of the passengers,
and when he was drawn out, the first
words he uttered were: "Didn't I hold
on like a good fellow?" There seems
to be a special providence watching over
the mischievious boy. and he is certainly
the favorite of fortune, for when he
comes to be a man, nearly all the big
hings of the world are done by him.
At Baton Rouge a singular incident
occurred. The boat was tied up to the
bank for some purpose just above the
city, and some article was accidentally
dropped overheard, which the mate
thought he could recover with rope
and hook. Whilst he was fishing for it
his hook got entangled in something at
the bottom. and, being unable to pull
it loose himself, he called several deck
hands to his assistance. As they gave
"a long pull, a strong pull and pull
altogether" something broke loose and
they all tumbled over backwards in a
heap.
When the rope was hauled in there
was found caught in the hook q piece OF
heavy gold chain about five feet long.
1t was about the size of an ordinary dog
chain, and was very roughly and clum-
silly made. as if by an ordinary black
smith. The fragment weighed over
three pounds, and what its use was no
one could tell. 1t was suggested as
probable that large gold cross was at
tachcd to the end left in the river, but
as the boat remained only few minutes
at the landing, there was no time to
make investigations.
l had always heard that the river at
New Orleans was higher than the city,
and as we neared that famous Southern
port looked with some interest to see
such a curious sight, and was quite dis
appointed at being unable to discern
anything of the kind. afterwards dis
covered that it was only when looking
towards it from the city that the river
is readily seen to be the higher.
After discharging his passengers and
cargo at New Orleans, Captain d. con-
cluded to make trip up the Wachita
river, for the navigation of which his
boat was peculiarly fitted. and as was
bound for no place in particular, con-
cluded to go along. The Waciita
empties into Red river few miles above
the confluence of the latter with the
Mississippi, and its source is in the
northern part of Arkansas. 1t is one of
the most remarkable of rivers, and on d
first view it seems strange that it should
be called a river at ali. 1t has much
more the appearance of an artificial
canal. The country it runs through is
for the greater part almost on dead
level, and the stream is so narrow that
at almost any part of it one might jump
ashore from either guard of the boat.
1t is always "bank FULL" and the grass
on the margin hangs over into the
water. There are but occasional points
where boats can pass each other. Sig
mails are always given there with the
whistle, and if responded to the boat
hugs the shore closely and waits for the
other boat to pass. The water moves so
slowly as to appear still, and it is hard
to conceive that such a narrow, sluggish
stream can have any depth, but it has,
and a novice is surprised to find plum
met reaching down twenty or thirty
feet. In some places the stream is so
narrow that the limbs of trees on the
opposite banks interlOck, and for this
the boats chimneys are always
with hinges and appliances
by which they can be laid upon the hur-
ricane roof at short notice. From this
popularity very remarkable incident
occurred, in which one of our passen-
gers made a narrow escape from sudden
death. He was seated in barber-chair
being shaved, and the barber was just
the climax of one of his
best stories when crash came dead limb
the wheelhouse, tearing away
it and the barber shop and passing d.
rectly through the arms of the chair in
which the passenger was seated. When
the boat passed from under, the chair,
NTH hn c<sl1 ~ loft 1onnp
ling from the dead limb.
He was so overcome by fright that
when he was being extricated he was
unable to afford the least cooperation,
and had to be handled like dead man.
The water of the Wachita is unfit for
drinking, and good water is scarce all
along its course. To make up for this
deficiency boats trading up that stream
usually carry numerous casks of a cheap
kind of claret wine, which is free to the
in moderation. The deck
hands and roustabouts, who are not
included in the claret ring, banker
after it, only, perhaps, because they
are excluded from it, and would
probably grumble if compelled to drink
it. But they were determined to have
it, and "where there is will there is a
way" is an old saying, and they hit on
a most ingenious device for tapping the
claret casks. These were stored in
little room on the upper deck near the
pantry, Immediately over some of the
hunks of the deckhands, and the device
was small, thin gun-barrel with the
breech-p:n taken out and the muzzle
filed into saw-teeth, like surgeons
trephine. In the still hours of the
night they bored in the flooring under
one of the casks, the gun-barrel was in
serted and the cask trepanned, the wine
through the gun-barrel into a
bucket held beneath. Two casks had
been emptied in this way before the