Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-03-18
STARTED THE BOAT
Capt. Blair Back From South At.
ter Putting Megiddo in
Operation.
RUNNING ON THE TENNESSEE
Plans OF Brethren In Christ Not Sue
cessful and They Have
Gone East.

Capt. Walter \. Blair is back from
the Tennessee river. whittier he went
TO purchase the steamer Megiddo for
Chattanooga parties. to Superintend
the remodeling of the boat. hire her
crew and see her well installed in the
long run on the Tennessee river. be-
tween Paducah and Chattanooga, in
which she will cut an important fig
ure in the future.
The Megiddo was the big h0useboat
built for the peculiar sect known as
the Brethren in Christ. which had
several members in the tri-citieS at
me time and came into collision with
the authorities in a way that gave it
considerable notoriety. Capt. Blair.
however, has only good words for the
Brethren in Christ.
Il lived with them for 10 days on the
Megiddo,' said the captain. and new
er saw more cOntented. harmonious
ana healthy lot of people than they
seem to be. They have lived on the
Megiddo for over two years, and have
been in the south most of the time,
where northern people are likely 20
get the malaria. But they have not
had il. and have taken not n bit of
medicine or drugs in all that time. /
attribute the fact to their remarkably
clearly way of living. They eat II"
pork, drink no whisky or coffee and
use no tobacco; eat lots of fruit and
nuts. boil all the water they drink,
and drink lots of it.
Tired of the Life.
They were tired of living that way.
L I 81
for Rochester, y. Y, where they
bought four acres of ground with a
good house on it. and will make it
their winter quarters. while building
probably three commodious house
boats to cruise on the canals and
streams in New York state and
preach their faith to the people along
their banks. They had not been able
to reach the people from the Megiddo
as they had expected to. and that was
one reason they Sold
The Megiddo was a wide and roomy
boat. with large 9X12-foot staterooms,
quite a number on the main deck, and
a texas for the crew. After securing
the boat Capt. Blair had her extern
sively remodeled, removing all the
cabins on the main deck to permit of
handling plenty of freight. He adj
vised her new owners. however, to
follow the plan he h;ts successfully
followed here, of developing the pas
senger trade. which has been rather
neglected on the Tennessee. The boat
has a run of $50 miles en- the Tennes-
see river, through as pretty scenery
as can be found in the country.
Crescent in the Water.
The Silver Crescent was launched at
Quincy Thursday, after having been
out of the water all winter, undergo
ing a thorough overhauling of hull,
machinery and cabins, so that she is
as good as new. She will reenter the
.Quincy trade. while the Helen
Blair will take care of the Rock ISL
and-Burlington business. The Blair
went into Kahlke's yards last fall in
good shape. and has needed only the
usual cleaning and painting to make
her shipshapc. Both boats will com
mence their runs as soon as the ice Is
out of the river.
River Notes.
Thomas Glenn. of Dubuque. captain
of the Winona, arrived in the city yes
terday.
Zach q. Suffer, of lie Claire, has
been engaged as pilot on the steamer
Winona the coming season.
The ice just below LeClaire for
two miles and a half the width of the
river broke up yesterday.
1t is reported from La Crosse that
the Mississippi is rapidly rising.
Should this rise continue it is thought
by rivermen that the ice in the entire
river viii go out by the middle of next
week.