The Bryan daily eagle. (Bryan, Tex.) 1895-1898, 1896-04-09

MM most head waters
y IL come from points
very near the North
Carolina line says the Cincinnati Trl-
bune. II ia saucy. insolent little
stream down to PlnevIlle. yociferous
when the rains hll It's narrow way,
snarllng and gnawing at lis stony hanks
and digging holes in It's muddy bottom
But NJ Pinevllle Il changes.
The bed grows wider and is sand
plagued. The banks are low and crum-
bic easily. From Plneville to Catletts-
burg the river twists about and sports
with the sand that keeps continually
piling mp In all sorts Of undesirable
places In the channel OF dropping out Of
sight 70 puzzle the pilot at a critical
point. The channel is never In the
same place two days In succession and
sometimes Is changes morning. noon
and night But there has never been
a Ierious disaster 10 a steamboat on
that stream. which plays clown with It's
sand and Is always muddy-faced. and
even In food time proves a friend TO
Thousands
The Big Sandy Is the highway TO all
the far-baek counties In northeastern
Kentucky II carries what little pro-
duce the farmers up that way have and
returns very dearly every dollars
worth Of groceries. dry goods and all
other commodities that a population Of
10000 needs. Steamer navigation
covers about Eve months IN the year.
Good rates are maintained and ave
good months on Sandy means big
money TO boat-owners. who In the other
months rent their boats TO Ohio river
companies when that stream gets too
low for It's craft.
A Big Sandy boat Is differently built
from other steamboats,. and, like the
river, is a subject for jokes In other
waters. But In the stream for which Il
Is built Il Just fits Il is always fat
bottomcd. A steamer to travel on tho
Big Sandy must not draw over eight
inches. The steamer must also be very
squat. The berths are usually on the
same deck az the boiler. but there are
floating palaces on the Sandy that have
two decks and a texas on top. The
most frequent steamer, however. Is the
little stern-wheeler. known IA a "ily-up'
the-creek." II Il q little. lat-holtomed
boat. sixteen feet long. the sldes built
straight up from the wall OF the barg,
on which Il rests.
The width is eight feet and a bit OF I
wheel about two feet In diameter Is the
pusher. The boiler is a two or foul
horse power upright affair; the oabiI
contains no staterooms and no neal
arc served. The smokestack remind
one OF the play tile hats clowns veal
and the pilot house Ia about as biz
as a s. refrigerator. There Is one win
dow about by ~ inches on each side o
the cabin AID II carries only way pas
sengers, light packages and often fer
ries people from one side Of the river 4
ls the other.
But the king OF all the boats on tn
n Sandy, the favorite OF the plebelan. IN
70 delight Of those with means. Is IN
a pushboat II came on the river whei
c. the Indians were yet here and until las
n fall had ruled the sand. a first-elas
e, push-boat Is 100 feet long. eight Zee
n wide. and draws when loaded fror
ct $50 to 800 tons, about eight inches.
ID Is fiat-bottomed and both bows turn u
he sometimes like a gondola. and alon
rs each side. hanging above the watel
he runs a plank seven inches wide the en-
tire length Of the boat.
s. The crew OF such a boat consists Z
he the captain. an extra man and eigh
It, stalwart pushers. When the boat
Is ready TO start the captain takes hi
II. place at the rudder and the eight mel
h. four on each side. stand close togeihe
H. Al the signal TO 20 the pushcrs pJ
es their metal-toed poles, fifteen feet lonI
a TO the bottom Of the stream and pusl
NJ As the boat moves the first two, sti
Mt pushing. llft their feet as n walkln
at until the rear end OF the boat com,
r. along.
Then they hurry to the front an
e. again push. the other three couple
w going through the same labor. Elgh
ed cen miles In twelve hours Is what n GOO
M take a boat. There Is vel
trent In the Sandy. even VIII,
ds are on. The water runs
not strong enough 10 act
polls. 20 that pushboats go I
very nearly as rapidly as dow
time there were 100 pushboa
Sandy. Of which nearly all we
- property OF 1--WE companies. u
es others being independents" The
ne was much racing and rivalry, Tn
ID line Of boats. the most costly OF viii,
'g cost less than $3.50. earned over SiOC
an 600 each season.
10 An summer drought scorched q
as Sandy valley and the stream sank IN
IN the earth, and was the victim OF u
no sun until Il became a mere rlvulet. NJ
the pushboat for weeks was almo
10 nothing but a memory. The absence
IL the pushbOnt caused much suffering, Il