The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-05-17
That the Nation calls you higher. even to
the chair of state"


the chair of state
Late one afternoon the boat brought up
at a lock. 1t requires about twenty min
utes to pass through one of these Ken
lucky river locks. On this occasion many
OF the passengers left the boat and f1ocked
to the well-kept lawn that slopes gradually
from the lockkeeper's house. These houses
and lawns are owned by the government,
and an American flag that swings to the
breeze from a high pole in the middle or
the lawn indicates that the government is
IN active control. A farmer crippled ana
gray and almost deaf walked down the
lawn carrying a bunch of flowers. Il want
to give these to the prettiest girl in the
crowd" he said, and then passed them
over to a slender young woman in styl-
ish red hat. Miss Edith Miller, of Frank
lin, blushed charmingly and accepted the
Offering.
FIVE YANKEE BULLETS.
The gallant farmer said his name was
Vaughn and that he owned a place a few
miles back from the river. II was Con-
federate soldier and I've got five Yankee
bullets in me-" he said. But 1 don't bear
any grudge," he added. ''the wars over
and I've forgotten" He was in the fight
at Shiloh and was captured by Wallace's
division, he told those around him.
The passengers on board the steamer
were interested in the way the locks are
operated The women liked to see the
great, solid gates swing back and they
loved to watch the kissing, boiling waters
below Once the big boat got caught in
shallow pool while entering one Of the
locks and some one said they might not get
away that night There were little cries of
dismay from the women and the men
winked at each other and caused the good
lock-tender to become party to- the plot
and tell awful stories of how boats some
times stayed there for weeks-in the mud.
But the Falls City finally moved off and
the lock-tender and his family waved
farewell. At night the great search lights
on the front end of the boat were turned
on and searched the sides of the hills and
cliffs and lighted the channel far ahead of
the boat Passing through the locks at
night was interesting to the editors. AS
the boat slowly steamed into the pit the
"searchers would light the place with al
most calcium effect. Seems like a scene
on a stage" said one man with an eye to
the theatric. Eyes, something like a tank
drama" replied a facetious young fellow.
The editors were given an idea Of what
steamboating by easy stages really means
in Kentucky the first night out. Way up
the river, in picturesque little spot, few
hundred yards from the bank, stands the
cottage of Pilot S. ]. Preston. There the
wife and children of the pilot lie awake
and listen for the familiar whistle that is
heard twice week. By a rather singular
discovered
Mrs Hazen, wife of G. H Hazen. publisher
of the Boonville Inquirer a first cousin of
his wife The Hazens knew they had a
relative who was q Kentucky river pilot,
but they had no idea they would have the
luck to meet him on this boat. The pas
sengers not being aware Of this meeting,
were at a loss to understand why the boat
tied UP at a fence about clock and why
three passengers, two men and woman.
left the boat and made their way to the
little cottage that stood out plainly in the
glare of the searchlighs. After the boat
had been there twenty minutes the passen-
gers learned that the people who had gone
Up to the cottage were Mr.. and Mrs. Hazen
/ and the pilot. The latter desired to show
| his new-found relatives his home and his
| family and the captain had obligingly con-
scented to wait while they visited awhile.
Imagine said young woman with a
laugh. "a train of Pulmans waiting while
some of the passengers got out and visited
friends who lived near by
DID SOME WORK.
The editors did not forget that the occa-
| sion of this outing was their annual meet
ing, and they worked little now and then.
| One morning the passengers all gathered in
| the saloon and listened TO an entertaining
talk by Col. John L. Vance. of Cincinnati,
| whose cherished scheme for years has been
to see the Ohio river supplied with locks
| that will give a uniform depth to the Ohio
the year around. To illustrate the almost
| boundless capacity of the Ohio river for
carrying tonnage, Colonel Vance said that
in the month OF July last, during a rise of
the river. there was shipped from Pittsburg
| 81, ZOO bushels of coal to Cincinnati and
below. To have carried this coal by rail
would have required $4,000 cars of ordinary
/ capacity. II these had been linked to-
! gether in trains OF forty cars each, Colonel
Vance estimated that IL would have re-
/ quired 1.245 trains and as many locomo-
tives, and IL these trains had been run
without intervening space, a trackage of
So miles would have been required.
At one of the business sessions on board
the boat paper on Cooperation Among
| Indiana Newspapers and Uniformity of
Rates was read. The paper was written
by z. w. Pickhardt, OF, the Huntingburg
Signal ". w. Aikens and G.. H Hazen
discussed the paper. At the same session
NJ c. CARRIER, ]. A Kautz and j. B. White
head discussed the proposition of Machine