Mohave County miner., 1889-03-23
MOUNTAIN COMMERCE..
STREAMS ARE THE PRINCIPAL HIGH
WAYS IN EASTERN KENTUCKY.

STREAMS ARE THE PRINCIPAL HIGH
WAYS IN EASTERN KENTUCKY.
How tho ni0aDtainees Gets Mis- Supplies.
Tho "pssh Isoss" msd the Method ol
Navigating it~-TrsveI.nG Up stream On
the Sig sssdy.
Among the many novelties which tho
stranger finds among the mountains OF
eastern Kentucky few will interest man
Of practical turn Of mind more than the
public highways. Tho mountain roads.
except where u mountain gap Is to be
crossed, are the mountain streams. In
consequences there Is scarcely q cross road
or four corners In this county outside Of
this. the only village !.i the eonniy, but
q creek the road forks.
decides where and how new roads shall
be laid out. Tho ordinary mountain road
Is laid out six feet wide. aud tho roadway
proper must be graded not less than two
feet wide. But Judge Wagner, Of this
county, Is an enterprising citizen. who
desires TO improve the country. and In
consequence he lrss refused TO issue any
order for o year past for roads less than
nino feet wide This may seem narrow to
northern farmers, EEo lay out private
lanes at least rod wide. but In n country
where travelling Is done on horseback, and
where the vehicles for transporting goods
Of any sort, even In summer, are narrow
slcds. tho pine foot road Is a novelty
whicl, has set the county to talking.
THE CREEK BED ROADS
or course there are necessarily wagons
wherever logging Is done. but the log
wagon sticks 70 beds of the streams,
which are invariably wide and hollow,
while tho public highway winds along the
bank of the stream and runs In the actual
bcd Of the stream only where the con.
Gguration of the mountain sides on each
bank OF the stream makes It necessary.
When the logging Is done no effort Ia
made TO keep open the highway formed.
These creek bed roads are excellent ia
warm weather and low water; In winter
and spring they arc impassable for weeks.
The creek beds were originally selected
for highways because very little labor was
needed to make highway out Of creek
bed. There Is not such thing In Pike
county as big nigger head rock. Tho
beds Of the streams arc Of sand or sand
stone. and there Is never rapid or water.
fall of such descent as to bother team.
Another very good reason for utilizing
the creeks as roads was the fact that all
the imports and exports of the mountains
have been necessarily carried I'm and out
on the rivers. The mountaineeris supplies
have been brought up from the Ohio river
ever since there was eny one on the Ohio
to sell them. AS all creeks run by the
easiest and generally the shortest route to
the rivers, IL was natural for the mount
aineer to follow the creek down to its
mouth to get his supplies at the stores
which were located along the river.
THE PUSH BOAT" @
The rivers are not very trustworthy
highways The steamboats, on the Big
Sandy very often get started up for Pike
vile, tho head Of navigation, only to get
stranded on bar, or TO find themselves
left in pocket between bars by the sud.
den fall Of the water. Out Of this uncer.
tainty regarding tho length Of steam
boats journey TO and from the headwaters
Of the rivers has grown the craft, very
novel to northern eyes, called the push
boat. No better craft for the water could
be imagined. .... ....
The push boat il scow Z feet wide, 60
feet long and 10 inches deep. At one end
Is q windowless house high enough for o
man to stand upright In and 5ixs feet In
area This is the cabin. There Is sort
of quarter deck abaft the house, and
above this sweeps the tillcr end Of long
steering oar. which the pilot wields by
walking to and fro on shelf b;:ilt half
way up on the stern.
The merchandise Is piled on three wide
planks that run, like keels. the length Of
the boat, so as to cover q largo part Of tho
boats bottom; but q clear Haugway Of at
least fifteen inches in width Is left along
ON each side of the merchandise, no mat.
ter how great the load. These gangways
are also fioored by planks laid bilge- -keelson
fashion. a. ~
A boat like this will carry twelve 10
fifteen tons dead weight Of goods on q
draught of eight inches. There are over
100 of them regularly employed on the
Big Sandy. and tho csrgoes carried mp
consist chiefly of the goods kept In tho
country stores At certain seasons, par.
ticularly In the fall. down cargoes can be
had. a# f.. sra.s4
SHOWING A BOAT. ...
When the boat Is loaded the skipper
climbs to his shelf and grasps the tilier.
The crew OF four men cast OF the ropes
and pick up their push poles. These
poles are about ten feet long and from on
inch aud half thick at the upper end
swell to two inches thick at the bottom,
where they arc shod with q short pike.
Two of the crew stand ON the starboard
bow and two on the port, one behind the
other, and facing aft, place the lower ends
of IA r1SI Y,rla m ha hot nff hn
stream, the upper ends against their out
board shoulders, and then, throwing their
weight against the poles, they walk aft.
As the poles cannot slip along the bottom,
the boat Is forced forward. Tho push
boat Is horizontally acting treadmill.
OF course, the men walk aft on the bilge
planks, which are left clear Of merchan.
disc, so that they can walk there freely.
Ii Is distressing to stranger--it makes
him feel as IL his own back was about to
break-merely TO look at the men as they
shove the boat along: but the Big Sandy
boatmen are hardy and cheerful race.
and not only do not fret and chafe over
their toll, but even walk away TO the
tune of some roliicking love song or ditty
which they have learned Tom the favorite
artist of travelling theatrical troupe ut
The men get 81 day each and board.
Tho day runs from sunrise to sunset. and
In that time four men will shove q boat
from thirteen to fourteen miles up stream
on the Big Sandy. The pilot is usually
the owner Of the boat. He gets seventy
fve cents hundred pounds for general
brought from Catlettsburg
to Pikeville, q distance Of 100 miles.
Flour he brings at 81 barrel II is only
when tho boat has full cargo and q pros.
porous passage, the boatmen say, that
the push boat owner gets any return on