The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1894-01-09
Facts Mixed in With some Other
Things That May BE
Fancios
Vichsburr A. II Was aud Is-Imprcss OF
the Heavy Hand Of 1ime-Nioks-
burg To-Day.


c.tg. ] bad made the acquaintance Of a
cynical young Nisss-ippian on the boat
auI found him 81 very agreeable companion.
is hen within BALI q dozen miles OF here he
pointed toa bio of land that jutted out
f,lm the main ehcro ON the right and re-
marked.
"Sce that little peninsula Wonder, with its
tlrce expresses intertwincd with Spanish
mCs'
eyes"
"W.ll. I never sec that spurof land with
on thinking 90 the time when / saw it first.
A cousin OF mine and I were ON oar way TO
New Orleans. We were mere schoolboys,
neither Of us over H., and were OF on va
cation frolic We were out on deck to-
irother as the boat went drifting 10y that
,pur when suddenly the day WAS
very sultry-both my cousin and began 90
silver, and l cried out. oh, how dcathly
cold / ann
'' $50 am 1. said my cousin, dropping into
e sent with face as white as snowflake.
twas q singular feeling that possessed as,
bat b. soon pissed awav.
"Wcll. our vacation in New Orleans drew
to- close. and we prepared 20 return home.
when does the boat leave, Hal'
quer.cd of my cousin.
We are not going home by the boat,
b replied.
But we have return tickets I said.
80 matter he answered. wen so
back by rail-
II won't, replied testify. I have river
passage aud purpose using it, 40 the same
timeopcning my wallet to look al my ticket.
"It was missing and, what was worse
hadn't money enough TO pay my way home.
Hal saw my dilemma. IN tell You what
ID & rrf H..H HHa|H az Hn
me by rail, IN pay your way WIS COM
PEELED perforce 70 surrender and Boy rail We
returned.
"Well. the next day the papers recorded
a terrible steamboat explosion on the Mis-
sissippi at the very place where Hal aud
had felt so strangely, and it was the very
boat on which we were to have taken
passagel Hardly passenger escaped death
in its most dreadful form.
Il handed the paper TO Hal. i knew Il
would happen he said. I dreamed it in
all its details, and knowing YOU would
only laugh at me ii told you my dream
crept out Of bed and stole your ticket while
you slept Here il is, and he handed me
the ticket
As my friend concluded his story our
boat touched the Nicksburg wharf, and we
walked up the steep street 10 the main
tboroughfare. Nearly 20 years have filed
BY since then, but the city Is no larger now
than il was in that far day, and its appear
ance has undergone no pcrcepuble change.
In the meantime cities have sprung into
existence all over the north and south,
hamlets have put on metropolitan frills,
and hardly town between the two sea-
boards that hasn felt thet0uch ~ progress.
Why. then, has Nicksburg stood still
through an these years. think the reason
can be traced 10 the fact that its shipping
facilities have been in a large measure
ruined by the recession Of the river. Once
It had one OF the best ports on the Father
Of Waters. Today 10 has no port 40 all for
steamboats, of a heavy draft mean none
within distance of less than three miles.
Nicksburg is a lovely if not a lively city,
however. It is embowered ia semtropic
foliage-thc matches magnolia being con-
spicuous by reason of its glossy leaves and
its great sweet, radiant blossoms. Flowers
are everywhere-in the garden plots of the
poor, in the lawns Of the rich, trailing down
from terraces aud reaching up to the chin
uey tops of almost every home. And, ola,
such lOwersi
The most salient feature Of Nicksburg in
point Of architecture is It's courthouse. IL
is large, -trikingly elegant edidce aud
stands many feet above the sidewalk ou
plateau that occupies % square. j. seems
ID defy the DIES -rGctIvc touch ol time, for ir
stood there when tine thunder guns of tire
tederals were bombardiug thc CITY. aud
marks of the flying bombs can bee seen ina
places upon its walls, bur b. is Us sub-tau-
tial % building today us it was iu the wear
that it was built and bids fair 20 grace the
green plateau ion "a century to come