Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1896-01-31
Cairo, Memphis and Other
Cities-ImpOrtance of
Steamboat Busi-' y.
ness.
"A Good Country for North
ern Men to Stay Away
From.
[BY I. E. SrApLEs.]

By river from st. Louis to Cairo
makes a very pleasant Journey. and
the enjoyment of boating still con-
tinues. The population has more of
the cOlOred race as we 60 down the
river; at Cairo they seem to be fully
yne-th,rd, and are treated the same
as white people OF the same stamp
and grade. Here. Is located 4 large
marine hospital, where river men
are kept and treated while sick. 1t
was built and is kept up by Uncle
San. The city has a levee. all
around her. The Ohio river empties
into the Mississippi here and swells
the size and volume Of the latter
quite materially. The residences In
\ the city and country surrounding
are built upon blocking or pillars
from four to eight feet high. The
distance between high aDdlow mark
Of the river IL fully twenty-five feet.
Cairo has about $4,000 people,. The
country tributary cannot he sur.
passed. In fact the lower part OF
Illinois IL rightly termed the Egypt
.Of the States.
Our next place OF stopping was
Hickm man. KY, a place 2,5CO inhab.
itants, the cOlored brethren quite
prominent. Hogs in abundance
roam the streets. The main street
is forty feet wide with fairly good
brick buildings on either side. 1t is
evidently an old town, and quite a
centre for trade. The river between
it and Cai'o IL swift and deep, with
every few miles a landing, where the
steamers stop to take on passengers,
wood and productions OF the
country. These landings invariably
have u little store and sometimes
quite y mill. Mills saw the native
timber (sycamore. gum, elm, and
cOttonwoOd) into lumber which
finds u ready market up the river.
These mills increase in size and NUM-
Der as we approach the sunny south.
The logs are cut into 10 and IL foot
lengths, and scale from to 6 to the
1000 feet. These are sawed into
one-half and one inch boards as wide
as possible (no dimension stuff
whatever.) The lumber as a rule
Is quite clear and free from knots,
but about one-thlrd Of the mill run
is shakey and unfit for use Other
than rough sheeting; none Oft will
retain it's shape when exposed to the
elements, unless :. stayed in some
manner. ..
We note with interest the islands
from this point down, as they are
numbered and range in size'frOm 200
to several Thousand acres. and snch
enormous sand bars. perfectly bare
with here and there a pile of drift
wood and logs. These are covered
by ducks and geese. They feed in
neigLboring fields and roost here at
night. Island No. 10 (where the
sconiederates, after five or six weeks
sof continuous fighting, surrendered
to Comm odore Foote) is just above
New Madrid, Mo-, where We again
stop. This place has 1000 people,
fully One-haf negroes. Here the
color line is strictly dra wn-negro
hotels, restaurants. etc. They claim
that the white who will associate
with the negro Is not fit for tfe
negro to associate with. Inoted on
one lunch room window, '!'No color
line dra wn here" With some curl
sosity looked within and ell were
black. The saloons have two sep
sarate and distinct bars in adjoining
rooms, one for whites, one for
blacks. the color line being drawn in
these resorts as well as in many
other ways and places. The. killing
'Sof a negro attracts about as much
attention as the killing of a horse
with US. The killer is sometimes
taken before local justice and put
under bonds, but there the matter
generally ends. Many of the mates
upon the packets and other boa is
club the negro help around, claiming
they cannot handle them otherwise,
often killing fellow, which, as a
rule. increases the value of the mate
to HIS employers. At New Madrid
the white people feel that they are in
great luck, keeping the negro in his
place, permitting him to have but
few If any rights; the negro salts
4 fled with his lot but not wishing to
go further south.
From Cairo down we seem to
strike a people with an
accent SO different the children even
notice 1t. While conversing with an
,,sold lady living on island No. s and
speaking OF the war, she got off
1omething like the following:
s 5s 4s5i ~ ssss