The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-04-19
RIVER ROADS DOWN SOUTH
lPALAoH' 10 CHA7TA ON
THE WAY no CoLUMBUs.

Come aud GO In the Wichita Yo,,,
esorEiaa who Disappsnred Up n Hill
ALAoA, Ala, April l4.-This place IL 10,
young yct and perhaps too mall to appeal
upnn tho maps, being merely q little settlement
and railway station at the end Of a long iron
railroad bridge thnt crosses the Chattahooche,
River from Georgia 10 this State. IL takes Il,
name from ~ combination Of TIE abbrevlntion
OF the names OF the two States: Ala, Ala.
bsma, and Ca, Georgia.
IL might DO too much TO say that after one
mar maker puts n dot on his paper to repre-
sent Alaga the others will soon follow suit
but there are some evidences crtant to show
that tho map makers are only human, and that
tho map Of 1905 Is considered a pretty safe and
trustworthy guide in making the map OF 1890.
The ancient and extinct city of st. Joseph, in
Florida, furnishes nm example Of this. THE
Fun showed a few weeks ago that tho city OF
1t. Joseph disappeared from the face of tho
earth In ls42. every building being either moved
AWAY or torn down, and that it, site is now
covered With a dense pine forest. But n little
circumstance like that does not discourage the
ma makers. Take ua map OF 1898. whether
made for school use or otherwise, and IN most
cases you will find st. Joseph set down. rs
prominent as Its little black dot can make II.
though the place was utterly wiped out nfty-
thres years before. Some of the latest maps
oven show the railroad between lola and st.
Joseph, though that road has been nothing but
= long sandbank for over half n century.
Besides its railroad and It's telegraph Office,
Alaga has n steamboat landing; but that does
not mean, on Western und Southern rivers, that
there are whnrves and warehouses. A steam
boat landing hereabouts Is any spot along the
river bank where a mi can poke her
no Q In and lay q plank to the shore; and
when the old landing place becomes choked
with mud tho boat goes a little further up or
down the river. The boats that touch here ply
the Apalachicola. Chattahoochee, and Flint
rivers, between Apalachlcola and Columbus.
The system of naming these Georgia and
Alabama rivers is confusing to the visitor I'M
I'll he masters 1t, and must 10 doubly confus-
ing to the reader. Few Of them carry to the sea
the same names with which they started
among the hills. The ChatuRa River, for in
stance. rising In lower North Carolina, becomes
the Tugaloo In upper Georgia, and the Tugaloo
after a long run becomes tho Savannah. The
Ocmulgee River after its junction with the
Oconee and the Ohoopee becomes the Altamaha.
The Coosa River in Alabama becomes the Ala
bama River. which after its junction with the
Tombigbee becomes the Mobile River, emptying
into Mobile Bay. These streams have hard
names and are mostly muddy and shallow. but
they are all Of vast Importance in developing
the agricultural and other resources of Ala
bama and Georgia. A few years ago they
were the great highways Of both States.
The Chattahoochee. in the same way. IS not
allowed to reach the sea under its original
name. Rising in the extreme upper part Of
the State. hardly ten miles from the Tugaloo,
which becomes the Savannah. II keeps its name
until 1t 4. joined by the Flint River at Chatta-
hoochee. and thereafter 1t is known as the
Apalachicola. Tho big dam at Columbus,
more thah 4oo miles from inc tulr' puts an
end to further NAVIGATION. but above the dam
the c~hattahooohee is a big river for several
and provisions from the interior to Columbus.
,o,ts ,.v,y.t.d th,. .,v.r all oo,+on ,odou nn.
ooa's haVlsateo TINS river all cotton laden are
wheelers, built after the Western pattern. are
much better adapted to tho purpose. Tho
River Queen. now on the ways at Apalachicola
for repairs, gives an opportunity of seeing how
the hnils are constructed. If the boat was
loaded down to the guards. as it often lie.
she would draw between two aud three feet of
wa,er. hut sueh poA.s as 1n's anu the Apa.
lachee, both among the largest and deepest
draushts on the river are for use only when
the "ater s hiRh. In .hose seasons when ths
water Is low. before the summer rains begin.
Full enHllOWNT DOnJh are uSeu-DOAIS OF SOcn
i,aht draugbt that mud banks and sayd har.
liRh' urauHh' tha' Muu oanhs anu eald OARS
have no terrors for them.
When q shrill whistle blows In Apalachicola
everybody. knows thar a boat II about to star.
up the rlver-an event OF some Importance
there. for there is no other way Of leaving the
place except by taking the seagoing boat along
the Gulf coast to Carrabslle. where a small
railroad ends. BY taking u boat up the river
the Apalachicolan can get Off at Chattahoo-
chez. and there transfer himself to the rail
the river on its own bridge runs a line of
steamers, for OF late years the river has be-
como merely a feeder for the railroads. Then
there Is an Independent line; and as each line
runs one. boat at II time, and each boa makes
one round trip a week. four boats leave Apa-
lachicola for -'up-river points every week.
On n Monday evening It is the. Apalachee,
the Plant line boar, that blows the long, shrill
whistle. She leaves before dark. and is due
in Columbus on Thursday or Friday. according
to the strength of the current. Then on Sat
urdav evening she starts back again, and
reaches Apalachicola by sunrise on Monday
morning, making the down trip in half the
time that the up trip takes. But whether up
make, adding to her freight and passengers at
every landing,