The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-11-08

Dill or fare. In the past they have invar1-
deck passage being too rough for them,
Notwithstanding their tough appearance,
and ,tenderfoot passengers have often
thought themselves in the midst of a dam
gerous gang of rowdies. only to find after
a few days that the Swamper are as in
farmers' boys. and generally well Informed
in public affairs. They are not all farmers;
clerks, out of a job. all sorts
of young men of muscle and energy living
along the upper river take a hand at the
big expresses In winter.
The Swamp King was the first of the yell
low Households to land here for supplies,
and five of her crew of seven came up into
the city to stretch their legs and make pur-
chases. The whole five looked like back
woodsmen I'm their old clothes, but several
of them talked more like professional men,
n all acted more as If they were making
a winters pleasure trip than as II they
They made considerable purchases, and
paid for everything they bought.
Where are you bound for?' one OF them
was asked, an intelligent young man who
said afterward that he had taught schoo
for two winters in Ohio, but gave 1t up
three years ago to- become a swamper
For the Red river, first" he answered.
''Then we go up the Red a little above
Bougere, and branch off into Little river.
We all nave work in Catahoula parish"
Without mitch persuasion he went on to
say that the Swamp King came from Aber-
deem, i'm Brown county, Ohio, about fifty
miles from Cincinnati, and all of her men
six men and a cook, and expected to spend
the winter in the boat, keeping it anchored
as near their work as possible. He was sur
prised to hear that SO many similar boats
had passed. and laughed when he heard
that they were nearly all painted bright
yellow. like his own.
ST think 1 can explain that" he added.
when we came to buy the paint for our
own boat, we found that yellow was the
cheapest color we could get, so We took
yellow. and i suppose the other fellows
chose it for the same reasons. There is no
organization among the M that L
know of, and certainly no determination 10
travel in yellow boats. Why we have be-
gun this year to travel in Households in
stead of going by steamboat as we used to
do. / can hardly say. except that we have
made up our minds that 1t will be cheaper
and a great deal more comfortable. The
thing was talked about in the camps last
winter, and our party made up our minds
to try a houseboat this year. l don't know
who just started the idea, but 1 think it is
a good one.
WHY THE BOATS ARE USED.
"You see, it's not for the sake Of getting
here that we want the houseboat p~articu-
larry. The steamboats, carry us all right,
and give us good diving for a reasonable
price. It's for the sake of having a decent
house to live in while we're at work. There
are no houses in the swamps where We
work, and we have to sleep in log cabins
that are not very comfortable or very
healthful after standing all day in the mud
and water. The work is always on or near
the river or some navigable stream, as it
has to be to get the lumber to market, an.
when somebody suggested Households, We
all saw the beauty of it. The standard pay
is $40 a month and board, but we talked II
over with the boss last winter, and he
agreed if we came down in our own boat
this winter. to give us $50 and let us board
ourselves. Well lose the sport of finding
fault with the fare. but every other way
I think IL will he better for rs.
"Since leaving home we have had about
as pleasant a time as any of us have ever
had. with nothing to do in the daytime but
fish and read. We brought plenty of salt
with us to cure the fish we do not need.
and by the time we reach Catanouia we
will have enough salt fish to last us all win
ter. We have done some shooting in more
States than 1 ever expected to set foot in.
Almost every night Nv we da tied VP s Snws ssot;
birds in Ohio, Kentucky. Indiana. LIMOS,
Missouri. Arkansas. Tennessee and Missis-
s,ppl, one n'gnr we n uee abov 20 cairo. and
three of us went ashore for a coon hunt
and brought in two coons. We have gath
cred enough hickory nuts and wainuts to
| start a store. About everything we need we
have with us. except fresh meat and vege-
tables, and we buy them Wherever we can.
for it's precious little we see or either after
we get down in the swamp. About a week
! after leaving Louisville we passed Cairo
and got into the Mississippi; ana IA ano1ner
get to Catahoula by the 18th OF OCTOBER,
even if we have to pole up the Red river.
If we get a tow we will be there sooner"
The Swamp King. like most of the other
ANN households that have passed
here. is substantial enough to brave any
thing she is likely to meet in the river. The
oil floats on which they are built are 30
feet long by 20 feet wide. and the Swamp
Kings house is is by 20 feet. one story
high. This leaves a passage along the deck
on each side, and a little deck room fore
and aft. The after part Of the house has
four hunks on each side, in two tiers. and
in the space between them is a long board
table. with q swing lamp over 1t. The for
ward part is the kitchen, with a small cook
stove. and a hatch opening into the hold
of the float. where such provisions are
stored as would not be injured by a posi-
BILE flooding. For provisions she carries sew
eral barrels of flour, a barrel OF salt pork,
several barrels of salt fish caught on the
way. and a good stock Of canned goods.
The idea is to provision her for the winter
after her arrival in. the Red river, as MOTH
ing. of course. can be bought i'm the swamp
region. With nearly four feet depth of hold.
but a draft with all the crew on board OF
less than ten inches, she is capable of GO
ing to any part of the lumber region of the
great swamp where logs can be fioated sue
cessfully.
More than two hundred of the
so far have gone down the river in these
households. and the number of boats is
not decreasing. If the experiment proves
successful. it will soon lead to a new in
dustry for some Of the river boats, taking
home long lows Of houseboats In the
spring.
The Matter ~ Creeaa-