The Cairo bulletin., 1904-12-26

A special from Nashville to the
Commercial Appeal has the follow
ing:
No part Of the history of the coun,
fry's development contains more stor-
fes of thrilling interest than that
which has to deal with its naYigable
streams from the time when they
offered a dangerous thoroughfare fer
the daring explorer on down through
the days when steamboating was at
its zenith.
Going to make up the more allur'
ing chapters in these later day annals
are stories OF memorable speed con
tests. when fire boxes were crammed
with infiamables and piston rods
were driven 10 the breaking point;
of disasters, when the wild cry of fire
sent a thrill of horror 10 the souls
of the human freight. of terrible ex-
plosions. sending scores of men, wo-
men and children into eternity, and
not infrequently Of deeds Of inspif-
ing heroiam. such as that of Jim
Bludso. of the Prairie Belle, whose
answering courage and uneonvsn
tional ideas on matrimony have been
psgpetuated in verse.
The casualty lists upon the West.
ern waters. before the railroad train
snnplanted the floating palace as a
popular means of transportation,
would make volumes, and the tradi-
tions of some OF these disasters,
which the river men have handed
down, would afford abundant and am
pie entertainment. The story goes
that the first steamboat explosion.
thar of the Washington on the Ohio,
moved the pulpit to point TO it as
a warning and protest against the
misdireeted efforts of mankind
Many Of the more absorbing Incl
dents OF steamboat history have heir
location. as might well be expected
upon the Mississippi, where the steam
boat achieved its greatest pre- en-
sions. But not without It's proportion
is the chilly. swiftly flowing Climber
land, the efforts to improve the nayi
CATION Of which are now beginning
to show material results.
Historic Cumberland.
No more picturesque stream flows
through any country than the Cum
berland, winding its way along a rock
ribbed channel from the mountains
of Kentucky to the Ohio. draining
with its tributaries the blue grass re
gion of Tennessee.
With the earliest history OF The
settlement. it is intimate
ly connected. Up the steam the fiea
Of the doughty John DoneIson bear
ing the women and children ana the
simple household goods of the pho
neers. worked its way. Down its cur
rent the Tennessee supporters of
George Rogers Clark, IN his projected
expedition against the Spanish front
Ter, drifted and erected a fort al the
rivers mouth. Aaron Burr tloated
with its tide and dreamed impossible
dreams of empire. A Prince of
royal house OF Bourbon, in exile. later
10 be King Of France, journeyed
along its banks. The Prince, after
wards Louis Philippe, whose father
was guillotined in 1898, was In Ten
Ressee in 1907, accompanied by his
two brothers, Count de Montpensier
and Count Beanjolais, arriving in
Nashville on May 10, where, owing 10
the large crowd in the city, II being
court week, they were forced to sleep
three in bed
The river in the olden days was the
most practicable route to Natchez
and New Orleans, parties going down
by fatboat and returned over the his
toric old Natchez trace, When Mrs
Rachael Richards decided 70 leave
her husband and join her family in
Natchez, she went thus with Andrew
Jackson, her future husband, as an
escort to protect her in case Of an
Indian attack.
Early Steamboats,.
The completion Of Lock A. elimin
ating as it does Harpe,h Shoals
marks a new era in The history Of na
yigatlon on the Cumberland. the
shoals being a historic obstruction
The first steamer ever operating on
the river was sunk there over seven
ty.five years ago. and in low wafer
season the shoals have continued
menace to traffic ever since. The
first steamboat to arrive in Nash
vile was the Gen. Jackson, built In
Piusburg andl owned by Gov vii