Omaha daily bee., 1893-07-09
"PILE ON THE BACON, BOYS!"
A Bit Of Wild Life on the Missouri in
Early Days.
A RACE THAT WAS A RACE INDEED
1t Was in the Days when Business Was
Flush and Steanboating Led to For
tunc-Carguss of Butter and
Bacon Used for Fuel.

AS the railroads of the present day
contest for supremacy in speed and
good service. so did the steamboats, of
twenty and forty years ago struggle for
position in the public eye. All that
money could purchase and the hand of
artist and artisan devise and construct
to further the comfort and pleasure of
the passengers was to be found on the
packets of the western rivers. The
high class boats stood on an equal foot
ing in this particular. The point in
contest was always that of speed. Many
were the races OF those early days. The
long train of black smoke, the measured
but labored exhaust of the steam pipes,
| the excitement of the passengers, the
| orders of the hatless and coatless cap
| tain, here, there and everywhere in
| search of ideas that might give his
| vessel the advantages; half way down
| the main deck the begrimed stockers,
| stutfing the roaring furnaces with coal.
| wood oils, bacon and even butter, that
| the flames might be longer and hotter,
| to reach through the boiler tiues and
out into the black night through the
stacks-in this you have the story of
the steamboat race in part but in part
, only.
Years ago the trade on the Missouri
was prosperous. AT least 100 boats
ascended the stream every season before
| July, many of them going as far as
| Fort Benton in Montana. a boat that
| made this trip and returned to st.
Louis in two months without profit of
| 200, did poor business. Those
| were the days when freight was freight
| No competing vessel cut the rates. The
boats ran Independently, and when one
captain fixed the tariff there was no
| other boat TO be found that would offer
| cheaper transportation. Horses, chat
tells and food had to go to the west.
| The Missouri river boats were the means
| of getting them there.
1t must have been early in the fifties
that a wonderful steamboat race took
| place on the Missouri, writes Homer
| Bassford in the Detroit Free Press. The
high water of lS44 brought many boats
from the south. their owners gaining
an impression that the Missouri became
| II veritable inland sea every spring. In
1914 chutes were abandoned and boats
ran over farm and garden, through
towns and across wooded patches, re-
gardless of channel or landmark. 1t
was this condition for one season that
for ten years afterward crowded the
river with strange boats. Early in the
| spring Ol one year bne t1enry ~. Joln-
stone and the Martha Aull came from
southern waters to try their fortunes in
the muddy stream of the DakOtas. Both
reached st. Louis at the same time. At
the busy levee of the growing metropo-
lis each vessel took on freight for the
northwest. Owing to the large number
| of vessels out that spring. cargoes were
in demand, but despite the brisk rivalry,
rates were maintained in accordance
with the ethics of early steamboating.
1t happened that the two boats
dropped away from the wharf about the
same time. The Aull, Henry Sorgen-
son, master, was probably half an hour
ahead of the Johnstone. Bristow, mas
ter. 1t was late in the afternoon. Each
boat was loaded with merchandise and
both cabins were filed, most of the
passengers having been men who were
headed for the boundless west in search
of fortune. There were, however,
women on both boats. The Aull
steamed away briskly and by midnight
had turned from the broad Mississippi
into the dark, turbulent waters of the
Big Muddy" 1t was only a few mo-
ments later that the JohnstOne passed
into her wake. When daylight broke
the boats were in sight Of each other,
both steaming away steadily, with no
apparent effort to show high speed. 1t
appeared, however, that the Johnstone
was the faster boat. BY noon the ves-
sells passed St. Charles, within hailing
distance of each other.
The passengers of each vessel sat on
deck and watched the other boat push
ing through the water but a Jew rods
away. The crews, too, eyed the boats
from their respective forecastles, com
menting on the rival steamer. 1t was
this talk from the idlers on the main
| decks that set passengers to thinking
that something should be uone to en-
liven the day. A young fellow on the
Aull called to passenger on the John
| stone:
Tell your captain that we can leave
| him 80 far behind before sunset that he
can't see our smoke"
This taunt was at once conveyed to
Bristow, who appeared at the rail and
shouted a response.
And you can tell your man." said he
, ! "that he can burn every side of bacon
| in his hold and not get bend between
u.s."
, Then Captain Sorgenson came tt
| the front for word. THE Aull did
, | not come into these waters to race any,
said he, "but If you want to see what
| sort of boat she is-why, guess well
| have to accommodate YOU"
A shout went up from the Aull's pas
t sengers, drowning the reply that Cap
, | tain Bristow made. AS he concluded
: however, he waved his hand to the mate
Y below, who sang out: AYE, aye, sir,
4 with the air of an old salt, and ran back
) toward the boilers. In three minutes
: the lazy smoke that came from the Aull's
stacks had changed to rushing volume
of coal black, streaming a quarter OF {
mile astern; seemingly dipping into the
0 dark brown water of the river. Five
minutes from the closing of the littl,
speech making the Aull's engines begar
to move moro rapidly. Then the blum
: nose of the vessel crawled through tn,
water faster and faster, until the wheel
= house of the boauwas abreast the jack
9 staff on the Johnstone. A passenger OF
y the Aull shoutedi
]. Better poke your fires up, or they'll
go plumb out"
y Bristow was not at the rail to respond
He was in the cabin in consultation will
2 a number of the passengers.
?, "Well, what do you say, men?" he wa
(. asking. ., .,
l 'Do itw shouted stout youth Of 22