Newport weekly independent., 1902-05-02

The strain on my self-control was great and 1 could hardly restrain n.y. self from putting on more speed, when my partner suddenly appeared at my side, his eyes blazing with the fire of contest.
 sammy" he exclaimed excitedly, clapping me on the shoulder-"Sam- my, throw in more coal and wood! Throw in all you want, and I'll pay for it! But don't let that boat pass you"
 Strife for speed records was not al- ways or indeed generally inspired pure ly by racing sentiment. The first boat of the season to get in at the port of destination received her wharfage free and was sure of a rich cargo, and the fastest boats were invariably in favor with the public.
 Among the boats which held high place in the galaxy of racers were the War Eagle, the Hawkeye State and the Gem City.
 In the golden days of the river it was not uncommon for good boat to clear $50,000 to $60,000 in a season, and one or two of them brought their owners as high as $100,000 year. A single trip in some instances yielded $1O,0O0.
 The Gem City, commanded by Capt. Davidson, deserves an especial place in river history as being the first boat to carry an electric light on it's waters. Electricity has been an important fac- tor in lessening the rate of river freightage by doing away with the necessity of tying up at night. This is especially true of towboats.
 Some Famous Pilots of the Past.
 Of the famous pilots of the old days volumes might be written. They were a distinct class, of marked individuali- ty, with the common characteristics of great courage, decision and sense of locality. Their handling of boats and knowledge of the river were so marvellous as to seem intuitive, almost supernatural, to the lay mind. It is mistake, however, to suppose that in the essentials of their craft they were superior to pilots of the present day. This common supposition no doubt arises from the fact that the old veterans were in the lime light of pub- licity, and that their successors are comparatively unobserved. Now the pilots of the rafting boats receive the highest wages, their maximum of com- pensation being in the neighborhood of $25O a month.
 When, however, the river was in it's full glory, the ''crack'' pilots who ranked with Scribe Harris, Smith Har- ris, Orin Smith, the brothers Ludwig, Ed. West, and my own boyhood hero, Dan Wright, received from $4OO to $500 a month, and lived the lives of nabobs. Many of them vied with the owners and masters of the boats, and some of them were graduated from the wheelhouse into the captains cabin. In the main, however, a pilot lived exclusively in the atmosphere of his craft; he thought piloting, talked piloting, breathed piloting and knew no other element of existence.
 Of the terrible disasters which at- tended river navigat tion on the Mis- sissippi history has made abundant record. Certainly one of the most dra- matic incidents which took place on the river was the picturesque rout of the Indians by Capt. Throckmor in the Black Hawk war.
 After the engagement of BattIe-Ax, when the warriors were swarming on the river between the shore and Battle Island, little below La Crosse, this captain drove his steamboat into their fleet of canoes, the huge paddles of his wheel crushing their frail craft and creating greater havoc among them than the guns of the enemy.
 The fierce engagements of the civil war which took place on the river and along it's shores may be left to his tory, with the observation that the outcome of that long and bitter strug- gle might have been far different had it not been for this great waterway and the facilities which it afforded to the army and navy of the north.
 The first steamboat to thread the Mississippi tc' It's upper waters was the famous old Virginia, which accom- plished this significant feat in 1923, or 16 years after Fulton had astonished the world with his invention.
 Full Dress.
 A belated traveller who was com- pelled to stay all night in backwoods cabin, says that soon after the frugal S1lDnar of ssCOdv bickitcD and f,.iad