The Mena star., 1898-04-06
oalo RIVER LORE.
os the Crews That Man the
 |ststus pIttsburgh Boats.


 o;ties may have their iron and
 0iDss s;sls their glass houses, their
 steel 'nl a,ate factories, their foundries,
 Sr1nol. rtshurrh possesses an industry of
 Da' 'sn n the signs of whose existence are
 iis Ovn so,r strikingly visible to the ob-
 jus' D' who may chance to visit the
 ser'e' ,rabela river wharf. Pittsburgh's
 Dopops snsiness of shipping coal by river
 grea.. 10 n be peculiar to this city alone
 $ salu n the towns in the. United States.
 sf an ssed by six months low water, it
 Beplss, ra,n become evidentsinc the rains
 has z as sr Inst week have filled the Ohio river
 ?, 2 '1 bOating-stage depth.
 ~- r, most important phase of prepara-
 ny for q towboat trip to New Orleans
 h0us sa. -, nrocuring of the supplies for the
 $ sps sonds In hearing the term deck
 aecs ,he average visitor from an in-
 aaul laaS town is apt to confound the tow
 lars deekhands with roustabouts. But
 D psrs in Pittsburgh the difference be-
 'sasn u deckhand and roustabout is
 '"s5 srs5 and the former would resent
 us ..r ciassed with the latter. The
 s.rsiabout, generally a negro, is ac- '.s.oned to being driven while atwork E m sr the swearing steamboat mate; his ~ smsoa ,s brought to him in a tub, and he
 .sss f. off tin plate. The deckhand in- sists on being respected; no captain or saots curses him; on the contrary, his Il ,selinps are carefully regarded, for .owboat with load of coal for the ,outhern Mississippi could i'll spare the d.ckhands. who might desert if they were not we'll treated. The deckhand's -rvlces are in demand only portion = of the year, but when needed he is needed badly. The captain who would .xpect his deckhands to eat from a tin olate would soon find a mutiny on his hands. The men work hard all day, ,nd take turns at the watch at night. Their duties consist of making up the tow for the steamboat that is to convey t down the river, and in taking care of the tow during the trip. Their work Is dangerous, walking along the edge of barges, when single misstep on the pIanking would mean sure death in the icy water, or working at breaking barges, cutting loose those that have struck a snag, and must be cut out to save the rest of the tow from being wrecked.
 The average towboat deckhand may fI-. L.. zle loE Ea~s.. houses during the dull season, he may be satisfied with ten-cent meal dur ing that period, but put him on a tow boat and he insists on fhe best of food and clean sheets. He doesn't want the fancy dishes that are served to the pas sengers on the packets, but he desires the substantials to be well cooked, served nicely, and given to him plenti- fully. All towboat deckhands are American born, and, as they are in the south for good part of the navigation season. they have all the southern prejudices against the negro. It is re- lated that once n captain, against the warnings of other masters, hired negro as a deckhand. The whites mur- mured when the darky came to work among them, but they were petrified when he sat down to table with them When they recovered. as 1t was the most natural thing in the world, the man on each side of him took him by the arm. led him out of the cabin. and calm ly pitched him overboard The negro was picked mp by passenger skiif. and no more darkies were hired by hat cap tain.
 The average cook on board T towboat could fill with ease similar post on passenger steamer The cooks are so perfect in their profession that they call themselves chefs. and the deckhands see so little that is ridiculous in the name that one speaks of the chef and his ability as naturally as if it were at Delmonico's.
 During the last few days scores of tow boats have taken supplies, and visitor to the wharf could see roustabouts car rying in the best of beef pork. mutton, and bacon, barrels of the finest grades of flour, white sugar by the barrel, fresh vegetables, and eggs by the case. And the eggs are fresh. too. The deckhand recognizes packed" egg with the un- erring exactness of an epicure.-Chi- cago hitter Ocean.