Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1902-05-10

The strain on my sclf-control was
great and ! could hardly restrain my
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 moro coal and woodi
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. n
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
$4,000 to 100000 in a season, and one
or two of them brought their owners
as high as 100000 a year. A single
trip in some instances yielded $4,000.
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 its 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 individuals
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. 1t IL
a 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
Lefty, 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 $3.50 a month.
When, however, the river was in its
full glory, the "crack" pilots who
ranked with Scribe Harris, Smith Har-
ris, Grin Smith, the brothers Ludwig,
Ed. West, and nv own boyhood hero.
Dan Wright, received from $500 to
$500 a month, and lived the lives Of
nabobs. Many Of them We'd 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 plotting, talked
plotting. breathed plotting and knew
no other element of existence.
OF the terrible disasters which at
tended river navigation on the Mis-
sissippi history has made abundant
record. Certainly one of the most dra-
matte incidents which took place on
the river was the picturesque rout
of the Indians by Capt. Throckmorton,
in the Black Hawk war.
After the engagement OF Battle-Ax,
when the warriors were swarming on
the river between the shore and Battle
Island, a 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 1t afforded to
the army and navy of the north.
The first steamboat to thread the
Mississippi to- its 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.
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