Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1894-09-06
OLD TIMES ON THE RIVER.
some of the Famous Steamboats, of the
Prosperous Days.

Some OF the Famous Steamboats, of the
Prosperous Days.
One of the well known river men
is Judge H. o. Browning. agent of
the Diamond 10 at Burlington. He
has spent most of his life thus far on
the banks of the Mississippi. and has
always taken an interest in steam
boat navigation. As a lad he
watched the early steamers come and
go, and his fascination for river life
was akin to that of Mark Twain's,
although the Judge never followed
the life of pilot. He did great
deal of travelling on the upper Missis-
sippi in his younger days. and says
the class of boats then run between
st. Louis and st. Paul exceeded in
magnificence and general adaptabili-
ty those now used. with the excep-
tion of one or two of the best fast
steamers on the Diamond 10 line.
Those we're days, say from 1854 to
1870, when steamboating on the up
per Mississippi was at its zenith.
And in making this statement one
includes the passenger as well as
freight business. 1t is not a good
estimate of the rushing business of
early steamboat days to 60 too far
back. From 1854 to 1870 were the
years when steamboating was in it's
prime. Judge Browning SAYS that
the class of steamboats, of those days
were about the same character of
draught, etc. as the modern vessels.
vet, as before stated, he doubts if
any boats today running upon the
rivers eXcelled them in speed and
general utility. They were all side
wheelers, and almost every city on
the upper Mississippi was honored
by having a boat named for it. There
were the Pembina, Dubuque. Musca-
tine, Burlington, Rock Island, Gin
ton. War Eagle (not the present
boat,) Brunette, Danube, Canada,
Phil Sheridan. Rob Roy, Gray Eagle.
Black Hawk, Sucker State, and some
others which the judge could not
then recall.
Boats Were First Class
These boats were staunch and fast,
in fact, they were magnificent crafts,
fitted out with all conveniences OF
the times, elegant cabins, berths,
dining rooms, etc. The class of pas.
sengers were of the best, in fact PEG.
pie largely travelled by boat in the
middle west in those days. Judge
Browning thinks that the best and
fastest boat that ever ran on the up
per Mississippi was the Northern
Light. She seemed to fill all the re
quirements of a first class upper
, river steamboat. She could easil,
/, run in the present stage of water
and river men have often thought OF
that boat as model for fast steam
: craft of the later days.
The river never got too low fol
d her, and she was a staunch craft
D too, although of light draft. How
ever, she was sunk in Coon slough
near La Crosse, in tthe early fall o
1874. The ice was running strong a
the time. Diamond 10 Reynolds wa
on board at the time, anG Re was OF
D the point of leaving the boat withou
a taking n number of valuable paper
S that he had left in his stateroom. /
4
U pers and the valuables were secured
!, The hull OF the old Northern Light
b is still in Coon slough. and is pointe'
e out on occasions of low water as tn
d spot where the Northern Light
+ went down.
Many of these early boats have dis
G appeared utterly. Most of them wer
q sunk or burned, or partially wearin
e out. were remodeled. The GRAY Eagl
was wrecked on the Rock Islam
bridge in the fall of 1880.
Blew Up an Obstruction.
:. The stern-post of the Silas Wright
~ which was sunk on the rapids abov
the arsenal some time ago. was blow
to pieces by dynamite by the govern
+ ment crew about two hundred fee
: from the Davenport shore yesterda
- afternoon. The post is supposed t
. have been moved from the rapid
" when the ice broke up last spring an
got stuck near the other shore, til
Il present stage of the water making
obstructive to traffic.
Barge Stuck.
E. A barge laden with baled hay fc
y this city. and being towed by the 81
y yer Crescent, was stuck in the rive
lie at Port Louisa, about fourteen mil,
G, below Muscatine, sometime yeste
Of day morning. this delaying the Gre
r. cent so that she will not reach IL
le city until this afternoon. She wi
4 leave here at 4:30 tomorrow for Blu
N lington on her regular trip. howeve
it
n Accidents.