Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1889-01-30
4 GRATEFUL NATIVE.
An Incident Of the Old Days On
the Lower mississippi.
The Most Appreciativs Man Ever Seen By
an Ex-steamboat Captain-A Basket
Of Pecaas which Was Made Pre-
cious by the Doner's Sincerity.

i OI Eoc8H8 WnlCn was N19uo t,Eoo
cious by the Doner's Sincerity.
A weather-tanned, benevolent-looting
man, Of rather less than medium stature,
sat in the lobby of one of the indianapolis
hotels, Q few nights ago, conversiRg with
friend. His bronzed face and healthy CON-
| plexion, at least so much of it as was not
| hidden by full black beard in which the
silver threads had begun TO appear, b.
tokened an outdoor life of healthful exer-
else. A Journal representative was intro
! duced to the gentleman described, and
found himself in conversation with Captain
w. d. Miller, for many years before, since
and during the war, commander of num-
ber Of boats on the Mississippi and its tribu-
tsrfeS, now superintendent OF one OF the
Detroit gas companies. The conversation
drifted to the old days on the Lower Missis-
| sippi, and many were the interesting anec-
dotes related by the captain Of his expert
ences in the service.
"The most grateful man / ever SAW
said Captain Miller, "was detected specl-
mon Of the native along the bottoms in
Lower Missouri. As you are no doubt
aware, it not infreQuently happens that the
| floods in the river wash away the levees by
which the adjoining country is protected,
and whole counties are inundated by the
deluge Of water that Is emptied in upon
them through these screvasses,' as the
washouts are called. One day, many years
4 ago, IN q period Of exceptionally high water,
when the levees had broken and the river
| was perfect sea, we were steaming down
the stream at very rapid rate, aided,
rs we were, by the stiffest KIND Of
current The water was well up
| into the tree-tops along the banks,
| and the few shantes that were to be
found about that particular locality had all
but disappeared below the surface The
| day was very cold, and a raw wind swept
down from the north, making it almost i'm
possible tor me to keep comfortable by
bundling up and moving about constantly
| As we went plowing along / saw ahead Of
| US An old tree, which had been washed
from the shore probably miles above, the
roots Of which had evidently become fast
to the bottom in some way, and the switch
end rose and fell with the waves and cur
rent, sometimes almost disappearing from
view. heard cry, and, looking closely
| into the tree-top as we went by, saw q
| man clinging TO the branches, hanging on
for dear life and yelling as often as he could
get his head above water, for every reced-
| ing wave would let the sinking branches
sonse him to his eyebrows. 1t was impos-
sible to get alongside in that current, and
| we were soon away below the poor fellow
/
knew he must surely perish If not speedily
relieved, so ordered the pilot to put her
about and go back. He objected vigorous
/ ly, and insisted that we would get aground
| on the bar below if we made any such haz-
| ardous attempt; but / insisted, and he
grumblingly consented. 1t was the work
OF an hour to get the boat about, and when
we did 1t seemed an hour more before we
could get her to moving up stream, so swift
was the current Finally, however, we
got her back above the tree-top, and
then put out boat and crew, and, at
great risk, got the man aboard He was as
crude specimen as one ever saw-a regu-
Lar dogeate-, whose hair had never seen q
comb and who had doubtless Just taken, in
| voluntarily, his first bath. He explained
his presence In the tree top by saying that
he lived short distance above where we
found him; that his house had been flooded,
and, after having got his family safely to q
house on little rise near there, he had
been capsized in an effort to get back to his
house for some household effects He
pleaded so earnestly to be put on shore that
got him on after great difficulties and
proceeded on our way to New Orleans.
well. we spent week or more in Or
leans, and then started back on the up
trip / had forgotten all about the incl
dent OF the man in the tree-top, and was
one night soundly sleeping, when an hour
or two after midnight one Of the mates
came to my state-room and awoke me. to
tell me that there was a signal on the bank.
dressed hurriedly and went on deck and
there on the bank saw lantern wav1ng
signal. The night was very dark, the
river was still badly swollen, and / hardly
knew what to do. The shore along there
was dangerous, but l reflected that there
might be something serious the matter, so
let her drop back down stream quite a
distance, and then worked her in TO the
shore. We burned at least five dollars
worth Of coal getting in, and ran the risk
Of grounding the boat but we finally got
her there all right When / got close
enough saw a man and a woman, standihg z
hand in hand, the man holding a little will
low basket They were natives and,
evidently, miserable enough. l put out q
plank for them, and they walked aboard
and approached me.
"'What the devil do you mean by signal
ing me this kind Of a nightl What's the
mstteri" / asked.
"'Don't yer know me, Cap'nr asked the
man.
"'No, don't know you, and this is a poor
occasion for introductions. What's the
matterr ] repeated.
80 Don't git mad, cap'n,' pleaded the
uau- IN Lner Ieucr yer 1eJcned out n
that dinged old tree-top two weeks back,
an me an tn old oman thort as how we'd
like 70 do suthin' fer yer, jist TO show yer
at we 'preciated what yer'd done fer me.
We hain't got nuthin' much ter give yer,
sowe jist picked this basket o. pecans and
lowed as how you might hev some chil'rn
TO home at 'ud like ter MUNICH 'em Hy'ar
they be, cap'n, an we hopes yern take
'em.'
"When first recognized my friend, as
he began his speech, my first impulse was
to throw him overheard. but as he contin-
ned so earnestly forgave him the trouble
he had caused me, and accepted his token
OF appreciation in the spirit in which it
was offered. Then an idea occurred to me,
and ! asked: How the deuce did YOU
know this was my boati The night is so
dark you couldn't tell her from any other. >
"'Ohi know her 'scaper was the ready
reply, and me an the ole woman is been
lookin' fer yer day and night fer more'n a
week.
"Itook the pecans to the chil'r'n tohome.
by whom they were much enjoyed, and
honestly don't believe ever received a
present in my life the reception of which I
look back to with so much satisfaction as I
do that basket of pecans''
|
Singular Accident to - Horse.
| An unusual accident hanpened IN a N;r