Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1896-01-02
A GOOSE FOUR-IN-HAND,
Driving Down the Falls of the Ohio In
Washtuh.

WaShtub.
Jack Harper was an odd man. He
came to Ohio Falls from New Castle,
England, and was employed by the j.,
M. &c T., Railroad company in its shops,
which were at that time located in this
city; good mechanic and fond of fun.
1t was in the summer of 1870, and there
was to be grand Fourth of July cele-
| bration at Old Camp 10 Holt, in which
not only the shop men, but hundreds of
| others were to take part. The man
| ayers of the affair were very anxious
| to make it a grand success, and for that
purpose racked their brains for novel;
ties, but when Jack Harper proposed
| to tame a team of geese and attach
| them to a washtub, in which he pro-
posed to sail down over the rapids Of
the Ohio and land just below the pic
mic ground, they were paralyzed, espe-
| cially when he insisted that it could
easily be done, and to prove his asser-
ton began forthwith to train his pro-
posed team of four geese.
Many of the persons who took inter-
est one way or another in the picnic
are still alive, and some of them reside
at Indianapolis. These will remember
that Harper began to train his odd
team on the quiet waters of the Ohio
above the falls. He put queer, three
cornered yolles upon the necks of the
birds, and by means of these, attached
them to his frail craft. He guided them
by means of reins attached to their
bills and long, straight switch. 1t
took him nearly three months, and
much patience, before he had his birds
in trim, but the geese showed them
selves much more intelligent and teach
nble than they generally get credit for,
and the people of Jeffersonville had the
satisfaction of knowing that in their
city was the only four-goose team in
the world.
Long before the Fourth of July the
queer outfit was the talk of the three
falls cities, and when the great day
arrived there was q concourse of thou
sands at the picnic grounds, waiting to
see the novel Lohengrin descend the
river. 1t was near noon when he
launched his unwieldy bark from the
and began his descent, the geese swim
ming proudly ahead and drawing the
teetery vessel in which Harper was bal
ancing himself. The falls of the Ohio
are not safe for a good, well-manned
boat, unless the crew understands the
currents and knows the rocks, so it can
be better imagined than told what a
risk Harper ran in his washtub. But
he bravely went on, keeping his geese,
who swervcd occasionally from the
channel, in the way they should go
by means of his switch. He managed
his team admirably in spite of his I'M
comfortable and delicate position in
the tub, and the crowd cheered him
40 he safely passed one danger point
after the other, but as he swung around
the bend to the deep and swift waters
of the big eddy the wind rose to almost
gale, and water began to dash over
him and into his tub, and, to make mat
tiers worse, the geese became unruly
and would not obey his guidar.@r.
He must have been cool-headedr " n
not to have lost his head, but he did hot,
and with great effort and much coax
ing and whipping he managed to turn
his refractory team in shore and
reached land safely amid the huzzahs of
the crowd. He was completely
drenched and worn out. Since then no
one has attempted to descend the falls
| of the Ohio in tub drawn by team of
| geese.-Indianapol News.