Hutchinson gazette. [volume] (Hutchinson, Kan.) 1895-1902, 1898-01-20
THE SAND BAR TOWN.
ONE or THE CURIOUS SIGHTS OF A
GREAT RIVER.

Hen" az MeLhphAs AA"i"N
whose Principal Occupations Are Fish
ing, Begging and TndOlence.
At Memphis the Mississippi river is
nearly / 10 miles wide. Just at the foot
Of the United States custom house the
river bends into the shape of II fowl
and this place is called the "old hem
From the Arkansas side Of the river to
the mouth Of Wolf river, which supplies
the city with water, is nearly three
miles, and in this mighty bend lies the
biggest sand bar in the Mississippi river
from mouth to source. The vast bar is
more than a mile long and three-quar-
tiers of Il mile wide, and on this bar IS
the most interesting colony in America,
saws a Nashville correspondent,
On cold days, when the stiff north
western breeze comes down the "old
hen, several hundred campfires may
be seen on the bar, around which Il
heavy smoke whirls and rises into the
taces of the dozen or more men crouched
about each fire. poorly clad, cold and
shivering. Men and women from every
state are huddled together there migra-
tory by nature or necessity, Indifferent
and cheerful.
Their abodes are either the close and
dark shanty boats tied to the rivers
bank, some rudely thrown together hut
of driftwood and stray boards, miserable
little tents, OF, rudest of all, nothing
more than Il square pen built Of logs, i'll
the center of which the fire burns and
about the inside edges of which are the
men huddled together, la2ily passing
the hours away. If census were taken,
it would be found that they represent
every section and all the large cities,
but they generally claim homes in the
great Mississippi valley. The Crescent
City will secure the increment in the
winter months, and when warm weather
comes the southern visitors again go
north. The unfcrtunGtes on the bar con-
stitute the human dIiftwood Of the val
ley, and they are copyrighted all the
year around on the big bar, which is
but waste of sand covered with logs,
branches and debris.
Most of these visitors come to the bar
by boat. Those who arrive in this man
ner generally live in their boats, but
others, having left st. Louis i'll Il shanty
boat, have met with misfortune, been
forced to sell out, and with their sur
plus have purchased a slatf and tent
and have reached Memphis in an open
boat. They soon pitch their tent and are
at home. There is vast number OF
these transients, however, who are
members Of the great army of rapid
transit devotees who, disdain anything
slower than a freight train, who arrive
on bumpers, trucks in cattle cars and
"blind baggage. The sand bar is known
to all the hoboes of America as a good
thing, and it is probably the largest
tramp colony in the country, its popula-
ton being from 400 to 1,200 al the
year round When hobo strikes the
city, he soon learns the whereabouts of
the rendezvous and isreceiyed into camp
with welcome.
The city and certain individuals have
been in dispute for many years over the
possession Of The bar But the real own
ers Of the bar find a fruitful source Of
revenue in the squatters who sojouu
there The settlement assumes the
character Of q small empire The owner
is emperor, and he has his collector,
who draws tribute from the men who
enjoy his land and his driftwood
Twenty-Five cuuts II week is collected
from each tent, hut, pen and shauty
boat and The collector is morciless in
dealing with them. Each day the agent
comes to the bar and takes u census eft
its inhabitants These he notes carefully
in a book, and at Inc eulo OF a week they
must pay Or be subject to cjccdJn, Fish
ing washing begging ard Incidence are
the occupations Cf ,ho people, Ill Of
whom decla-c that they are willing t.
work, but cannot find it.
River men have observed that size,
the Mississippi has been falling lately
the big sand bar which has long threat
ened the Memphis levee has not only
been given a higher surface by new de-
posils, but has been extended in dimcn-
sions until still less Of the Memphis side
is now navigable The recent reports ct
the river commission in the matter Of
appropriations give nothing favorable t.
this danger. Two methods have been
suggested to remedy it. One cont5m-
plates the changing Of the mouth Of tho
Wolf river in such a way that the out
flowing current would wash away IN,
accumulated bm. The other involves an
artificial extension Cf Hcpefold poiu. in
such manner rs to carry the main cur
rent Of the river across the sand bar
with the certainty that it could BE
washed away in short time. The lat
ter is considered the most feasible plru.
though it would cost Il great amount ~
money. Year by year the danger to the
city becomes mo-c imminent. Much of
the old and most valuable Of the river
front has been washed away. If succeed
ing years repeat the inroads of the past,
it is question of only u short tine
when it will be necessary to construct
new leyee facilities for the river trade.
Chicago Record.
Great Oratory.
There are many stories of the disap-
pointing effect Wendell Phillips had