Mexico weekly ledger., 1902-03-20


Law over until next morning and have
the mud cleaned out Of the boilers
Just below our boat lay the bones o.
the old Salunda that blew up In MD
stream the previous year, killing 2oO
people. Il was the most terrible accr
dent that eyer occurred on the Mis-
soufi. Coming around the short bend
Just above Lexington the current runs
as swift asa mill race and the Salunda
was unable to stem H. After failing
in two attempts the captain swore
that he would run the old boat around
tie bend or blow her TO hell. Tar,
pitch aud bacon was thrown into the
furnace to get up the necessary steam
and when she made the third attempt
she blew up, and 50 terrible was the
explosion that the iron safe and the
captains body we're blown onto the
shore.
We rounded the bend, after a hard
struggle, the next morning, and when
the beat attempted 10 land at Yelling
ton The swift current near the shore
caught her bow and threw her broad
side onto an immense raft ofdriftwood
that reached from the shore to an
island ia the river, a short distance
below the landing. The butt-end Of a
big sycamore log stuck out OF the drift
about ten feet above the water, and
this struck the boat just forward Of
the wheelhousc and tore a hole big
enough to drive a wagon through
The end OF that big log went right In
to the boats kitchen ana such a crash
ing of pots, kettles, pans and dishes
had never heard before. The boat
then swung out into the river and ran
far enough up to make the landing safe
ly. The three young fellows, who had
swan the creek and had sat on the
doorstep OF a warehouse all night,
afraid to go TO sleep for fear that the
boat might passand leave them, came
on board and sneaked of to their state
rooms. AS they had had neither sup
per nor breakfast, they were both
sleepy and hungry, and, as it had
rained on them during the night, they
we're not very dry. | think that 1t
was at Lexington that Hite left US and
returned to his old home In Paris, Ken
lucky. He was a printer in the old
Citizen office, now the KentuckidR-
Citizen. In 1861 he joined the Con-
federate army and was a gallant sol
der during the war, coming out OF IL
a captain. After the war be returned
to his old job in the Citizen Office and
he vas bale and hearty when ! met
him there thirteen years ago, After
we left Lexington the river began TO
rise rapidly and there was much drift
wood floating down the stream. Some
times in the night the boat would run
over a floating tree and nearly JOLT me
out Of my bunk, and the next thing
she would do would be to run onto a
sand-bar and then the mate would do
lots Of c%usslng before he got her of.
On the morning Of the eighth day
from ST. Louis we left the boat at
Liberty landing and that night she
struck on q snag Just below Weston
and her whole bottom was torn of and
, she sank to the hurricane deck, but nc
lives were lost. Two barrels Of whisky
that loated 10 the shore were ishec
; out by the Sac Indians and for twC
weeks they were on one continuous
: 'heap big drunk and several Of then
: were killed in bloody drunken fights
: before the DEVILS broth gave out. II
> was In the following December that
met young Reid Oh the levee ont
: morning in Sacramento. He was very
. pale and thin and when l asked him Il
he was just recovering from a bat
: spell OF sickness, he said no, but tina
he was not feeling very well at tina
time. He told me that he had made
very quick trip across the plains
= reaching Sacramento the middle 0
Z July, and that he had got a job In thl
State Journal Office the next day. HI
{ said that be got $50 a week and wa
Z paid ever Saturday night, but he dit
y not tell me, as l afterwards learned
& that on the following Monday morn
" ing he never had a cent In his pocket
y In the spring OF 1855 | vent to tn
I mines, but one night shortly before
left the city, l went into the blI
: gambling hell, near the foot Of
: street, to hear young Charley Rhodes
: who afterwards became a famous ne
u gro minstrel, sing. As / was passing
! big faro table l saw Reid sitting at /
? with his hat pulled low down over hi
J face and be was losing his money a
y fast as he could place 1t on the cards
9 and a more haggard, wretched anl
( woe-begone face than his I never saw
The Legislature had just passed a Law
prohibiting all banking games in tn
! state, and the law was to take efec
! on the first day Of the following June
I After working a month in the mines
! had to return 10 the valley on accoun
Of an injury to q Of my hands. j
I was about the middle OF May when
left the town OF Nevada for Sacramen
to and when the stage stopped for din
ner at the halfway house on BeaI
river | picked up a copy Of the Sacra
mento daily Union that the up-bounG
stage had brought up, and the hrs|
thing that met my eye was an account
of the suicide Of a printer. The papeI
! stated that Reed, on the previouI
morning, had left his case where ht
was setting type in the State Journa
Office, and gone across the street t.
Morrill's drug store. He bought
bottle Of strychnine, paying $3.50 fo|
! 1t, and returned to the printing Office
where be emptied the contents Of tn
, bottle into a tin cup, and after pour
some water into the cup, he drank th,
I whole Of IT, He then laid down on
one Of the composing tables and tolt
the boys that he had taken poison
and was going to die. The printer
thought that he had only taken a dos,
OF salts and was trying TO fool them
but as he appeared to be so earnest
about It one Of them picked upthe cur
and seeing some white crystals in th,