The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-01-21

| among tne bprl1B pHSsenSeTH lneTe
are bridal couples, invslids, comfort
able elderly people from the East and
party of nice girls with chaperon
from some where up north. The eti-
quette of the boat makes acquaintan-
ces easy. Almost anybody can speak
to anybody else. In a day or two the
bridal couples find the chart rooms
pleasant, or they will discover a warm
place behind one of the large smoke
stacks. The fare, about 500, includes
state room and meals. The walters
are black, usually men who are work.
ing their passage. The meals are fair
but with little variation from day to
dag.
| LOADING THE BOAT
The boat is loaded at st. Louis by
an army of roustabouts. only a few of
whom remain on the boat when she
moves out-only enough to handle the
freight at the various landings. They
stand anv amount of verbal abuse
from the mate. but 1t is no longer safe
to strike them because OF the ready
razor. One mate is especially success
full in getting work out Of crew
simply because he never swears and
never raises his voice above a con-
fers to all the others impresses them.
They seem to fear that he has re-
serve OF language that will destroy
them when his long restraint ends.
The stranger finds a great deal to in
terest him in the "roosters." When
moving freight they go on the run,
while those who stow it away keep UP
an improved song. From a mill On
bluff sixty feet high barrels OF flour
are seen sliding down a track of skids.
AS thev land at the lower deck they
are seized and rolled down an incline
into the hold. The darkies sing, Roll
dem bahlsl Roll dem bahls! Roll 'em
down de hol'!' The: get a musical
swing and show their sense of melody.
They have no sleeping place and lit
tie time to sleep. Between landlogs
they shoot craps away back among
the cargo or fall asleep on bales of
hay on the deck or wherever they can
find space. Occasionally they fight,
, using the inevitable rzor The barber,
head waiter, cook and two or three
others give an evening concert in the
cabin with banjo, violin and guitar.
Somebody always asks II they are
singers and there is always the reply
mo sab, Wilcox and Gibbs"
The cargo consists of flour, salt
pork, corn, hay, mules and manufact-
; ures of many kinds. On the lower
river cotton is taken on for the New
: Orleans market. The Missouri towns
call for small lots of freight, 30 that
the boat stops at nearly every landing.
At Cairo there is usually a warehouse
full of freight from Chicago to be
empsied into the boat.
AN ANCIENT ATMOSPHERIC.
The first day after leaving st. Louis
the stranger finds himself in an an
cient atmosphere. Going into the
pilot house he remarks to the elderly
man at the wheel that this is the most
, pleasant part of the boat, and is told
} that he wouldn't have thought so dur
ing the war. The war, which the pas
= senger had forgotten, is still near
= memory on the river. The man at the
, | wheel had heard much about Mark
Twain as a pilot from passengers Al
, least a score had taken his Post Office
address for the purpose of sending the
. humorist's book about 1t for his pleas
r ure, but he had never seen the BOOK
| There were no traditions of MARI
: Twain as pilot as far as he knew
He showed no consciousness of the
| VIDE interest III MS OCCupAlAOA SiS"NSN
: by the man who deserted it for litera'
n ture.
, Before reaching Cairo there are
;. points of interest which the passenger
!, must discover for himself. On Lake
, George the captain of the Ticonderoga
or the Mohican mounts a box and re-
:. cites a thrilling history in the tone OF
n a public reader as he points out mem
IL l,,f tha NiGgigSinni fhf
captain scorns to be a Snowman, ant
there is no river guide book. The
American traveller is supposed to know
5 all about Cairo, at the junction of the
Q Ohio, where Mr.. Cleveland discovered
n civil service reform giant in the per
Y son of Boss" Oberly. This was &
: great strategic point in the west at tn,
e outbreak of hostilities, to the eventua
: profit Of the town. The earthwork'
r then thrown UP have served as the
:. foundation of a levee over which tn,
h waters no longer flow. 1t is recalled
:. that it was from this place that Gran
II started for his first battle at Balmon
C and it was to this that he returned
n when he barely escaped capture. If h,
x had been five minutes later in reach
i ing the tubs that carried him, the stor!
d of the war would have had some diff
Vt ferent features.
y NEW MADRID.
!. There is always somebody to recall
- the fact that New Madrid suffered
- more from an earthquake early in III
century than any other spot in Amer
=, lea, not excepting Cnarlestown. TIL
swift current of the river sweeps owe
Ia the center of the old town, which wa
"a swallowed up in a night. Since the
n many of its houses have been engulfed
In the early days of the war the Con
III federates strongly fortified Island NJ
N 10. They had heavy guns mounted o
in earthworks and there was camp roor
M for 10000 troops, of whom General Pop
r captured half. This was selected as
K. point for guarding against the descen
p of Union expeditions, though the i'm
g provised gunboat Carondelet ran tn
n batteries in the dark. But of that isl
h. and, then so large and apparently S
o solid, there has not been a trace 70
~ twenty years. AS the boat passes alon
,s' near the shore, one can see an acr
IN or more sink out of sight with a mud
1y dy gurgle. The Mississippi is the crook
an edest big river in the world. Grea
I'd loops are cut Off and many miles {
or travel saved by the eating of a channt
ng across a neck Of land. 1t is shown tina
e. by this process the river has bee
shortened by great deal during tn