Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1896-09-03

~ the shores the seem
cry has changed. Farms have loosened
and dropped into the remorseless
stream here and there; other farms
have cropped up under the guise of
giant sand bars, altering the swift cur
rent, Itself always an unaccountable
vagary.
1.-THE river is rising very rapidly" is
simple statement-one frequently
found in the columns Of the daily pa
pers, always at this season, under pro-
sale headlines, perhaps, and tucked
away In some remote corner Of the
page. But for the old residents along
this great stream 1t has a never failing
charm. In the mighty river that glides
swiftly by the city's gate, washing,
cutting, grinding, eating away the earth
walled foundation, there is something
more majestic than the tranquil sea;
there Is a distant power Of movement
that carries with 1t a hint Of uncon-
querable force, river unfettered and
undammed, and beyond weak mortal's
will.
The plain announcement that the
river is rising causes feeling of awe
to creep over the poverty stricken boat
dweller as he gathers his family about
him and stands on the shore, gazing
askance at the swirling, muddy cur
rent. 1t creeps steadily, stealthily, re-
sistlessly up, inch by inch, foot by
foot until the bottom OF the leaky boat
is submerged. Its Entertainments are
like the ways Of the dreaded panther.
When the river is rising rapidly the
cotter along the shore takes a new reef
in the hawsers that hold his small home
to the bank beneath the willows, and
the CLEAN Of the midnight lantern is
seen over the gloomy waste OF waters,
for 1t is unsafe to sleep at such time
when the river Is rising rapidly.
Along the shore on either side Of the
majestic stream the comfortable farmer
puts down the bars and permits his
stock to roam into the uplands that
range away from the towering bluffs,
standing like grim, wakeful sentinels
above the rivers crest-when the river
Is rising rapidly.
Then he stands sadly by the bank
in the green and fertile meadow and
watches the rich black soil, in massive
sods and patches, crumble and roll into
the rapaciOus jaws Of the merciless &C.
topus-when the river is rising rapidly.
Standing on the shore at the foot Of
Felix street, for the watcher gazing
westward there Is peculiar and inspir-
ing charm In the scene when the river
is rising rapidly. Tons upon tons Of
loan from the farm lands have discol-
ored the water until It's depths are as
impenetrable to the sight as solid iron
or granite. The rivulets from the crys-
tai springs that leap down the foothills
Of the far-away mountains, dashing
through gulch and vale with merry
laughter, are changed to black and in
digo, but the shifting sands Of the Mis-
souri, and the soil Of the farm land
simply dlscolor, not destroy. A more
healthful draught than the cup taken
from the rushing current Of the stream
was never brewed nor mixed by art.
When the river is rising rapidly 1t
bears on its current many strange
things. Now a boat, half broken, half
sunk, goes swiftly by, bobbing up and
down In the sunlight Again the body
Of drowned bullock or floating cabin.
Then tree-an evergreen, a pine or
a cedar-borne on the face of an ava
lanche, perhaps, from its perch upon
some bald mountain side and caught
In the sliding snow drifts. Birds hover
in its swervlng branches and fit and
fly as 1t losses and rolls in the angry
stream. Into the high bank the current
rolls, and the swlrling eddies growl and
roar as the whirlpool settles down at
| the base Of the willows, rip-rapped into
the bank. And so 1t goes-rushing
gurgling, roaring, never smiling, never
safe, a thing Of awe, Of grandeur, OF
wonder and mysterious charm, but al
ways to be avOided-when the river Is
rising rapidly.
Into the western side of this city the
river sweeps straight from the west
Here 1t turns directly south for mile
then turns westward again. Away over
yonder, where the ends of the curves
are closest, only mile strip of loamy
Kansas soil stands between a meeting
of the waters. And this is daily becom.
ing narrower. The river is eating into
1t every hour, until it now bears re,
semblance to a vast peninsula.
A mile out from st. Joseph the striI
Of land between the rivers curves II
fully five miles wide. 1t Is predicted
by those who have watched the erratit
Missouri's course and changes for {
quarter of a century that 1t Is only {
question Of a short time until that mar
row neck of land in Kansas is eater
away and the Mlssourl's channel is un
der the eastern slope Of the big, roun(
bluffs that range along the western
horizon. When that happens, st. 10
seph, with its magnificent sewerage
system, will be an inland town, higl
and dry, and its great steel railroad
bridge will be spanning the nucleus
Of a fertile farm, or, at best. a shallow
lagoon. Efforts to prevent such cata
strophe by rip-rapping are CONSTANT!
J l., y,rnoraoc