The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-07-12

Engrossed as we are these days with
White Squadrons, ecord-breaking At
iantic liners, yacht races and Henley
regattas, we can with difficulty believe
that far away from all these on the
waters of the Mississippi valley, there
is a great fleet doing a vast business
without fuss or noise and yet it is
true. UD and down the rivers of the
Mississippi valley ply today 5000
steamers and unrigged craft. The crew
that mans them numbers fully 100000
They move annually fully 10000, 900 tons
OF freight and carry more than 10000
passengers. They earn in the gross
some $17,000,O0O and pay out perhaps
S6,OOO,000 in wages
THE PICTURESQUE PAST.
1t Is a monstrous silent commerce,
this of the wonderful valley, and it
goes on unnoticed and unsung; yet
there was a day, not fifty years ago,
when the commerce of these rivers in
stead of that Of the Atlantic, fixed the
attention and kindled the Imagination
OF the whole country. In those palmy
DAYS 1t was by these rivers almost en-
urely that the east and west. the north
and south, held intercourse: the rail-
road had not linked the states into
one, and all who would journey
through the central United States. sent
1he1r wares hither, or bring from with
out Foreign products, did it by the
grace of the waters of the valley. The
commerce which grew up thus was
one OF the most vivid, picturesque and
energetic in all the history of water
traffic
The rivers were used for such a, va
r4ety OF purposes and by such a varied
lot OF humanity that the result was a
conglomeration of craft which was
probably never equalled in the English
channel or on the Thames. When the
settlers arrived the savages held the
streams Their one water craft for
pleasure, profit and war was the canoe
and though the savages went, the ca
noe remained to serve the whites They
soon improved upon it making from
the trunks Of trees the pirogue. a true
WoOosrnans boat When they fitted
out the plrogue with out-riggers and
sans. they had a craft safe. strong
co1nmodlous and easily replaced. After
unese primitive crafts came the RATS
ana hat boats made of green oak plank.
fastened by wooden pins to a frame of
llmper and calBed with tow; the va
Tlatlons OF these were legion and the
keel BOAT. broad horn" ark" Ken
lucky boat held the river unmolested
until the arrival of the steamboat.
IN THE DAYS OF THE KEEL, AND
FLAT-ROATS.
With a raft or fiatboat as 2. FONDA
uon the river men built up some of the
most %rotesque craft conceivable. One
OF the strangest sights were their fleets
OF lumber formed by lashing together
soldly with rope thirty or more long
lumber RATS. The fleets came usually
from the upper Allegheny and fioated
down TO the gulf, that is. they did if
they escaped dashi1ag into the bank and.
breaking apart. in which case the lurn-
Der generally reached the gulf q plank
at time These accidents were not
rare, for the lumber fleets were ungain--
" Things to manage and their crew
oIten careless or the worse for liouOr
Upon FIAT boats and keel boats it
was customary to build sheds. shanties
or cabins, according TO their pusps)se
and the wealth Of the owner. The en-
tire hull was covered with a cabin in
me produce boat and on top of this
was a smaller cabin for the crew. AS
every man built as he pleased in those
days, there We're hardly two fat boats
alike on the river. Many of the boat
men painted their cabins in gay colors.
others blazOned n1ottOs on them New
Orleans or Bust" was q favorite leg
end, and an appropriate one, for so
poorly were many of the crafts nut
together that it was as often bust
as New Orleans
A FLOATING THEATRE.
These boats were manned by a crew
Of from one to fifty, according to size.
In the large keel boats there were US
ually some twenty men. They went
down under oars when the water
was low; if ii was high they ION top of
the water as the expression is, and
needed only To steer. The fleets usually
waited for high water. They carried
often a crew of fifty men who were
kept busy with poles and long oars
guiding the sprawling thing.
Many Of the fiat beats rugged up sail
for themselves and made good speed.
The sail was Of kind to stagger a
seaman Bagging. bedticl1ing, coats,
anything was utilized. though not Of
ten were so queer sails seen as those
Joe jefferson tells Of 1t was in the
early '40's, and he was travelling
through the west with strolling com
pany Of actors who were often put to
shifts for means of transportation as
well as means for paying for it. On
leaving Nashville for New Orleans
hey a2d .ota NTH = afTs
and caboose, and were getting on IA
mously when one day on the Mississip-
pi a fair breeze suggested sails. Steer
ing into shore a hickory pole was cut
and a drop-scene with a wood painted
on one side and palace on the other
was unfurled to the breeze. The won
der-stricken farmers and their wives
and children" says Jefferson, would
run out Of their log ca bins and, stand
ing on the river bank, kaze with
amazament at our curious craft. 1t
was delightful to watch the steamboats,
as they went by. The passengers
would crowd the deck and look with
wonder at Us For a bit of sport the
captain and / would vary the picture,
and as a. boat steamed past we would
first snow them the wood scene, and
then suddenly swing the sail around,
exhibiting the gorgeous palace. Ad-
ding to this sport our leading man
and the low comedian would some
times get a couple of old-fashioaed
broadswords and. fight a melodramatic
combat CA the deck. There is no doubt
that at times our barge was taken for
floating lunatic asylum
The fat boats and barges found a
rival when the steamboat appeared.
THE FIRST MISSISSIPPI STEAMER
The first steamer voyage on the
western waters was made in 1911 by
3 boat called the New Orleans. The
idea of introducing steam on the Ohio
and the Mississippi originated with
Nicholas ]. Roosevelt. who built his
boat himself at Pittsburg. or the
Aionongahela. at a cost of some S3S 900.
The voyage was begun in September !
When it was known in Pittsburg that
Roosevelt intended taking his wife with
him on this trip which everybody re-
garded as q. defiance of the laws OF the
universe, there WAS great hue and