The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1905-08-17
Scenes BY the Fatherof Waters.
Marengo, III, Aug. 8, 1905

E5hRI4EZEMZb &@NsG%S&
Marengo, Ill, Aug. 9, 1905.
EDITOR NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.:
In my letter of last week Il!
spoke of the beauty aud grandeur Of
the Mississippi but while this remains
there is q glory Of the river which has
almost passed away. Twenty-Five
years ago the river was alive with craft
large and small which carried on a
thriving business, Several lsnes OIL
regular packets we're maintained be,
tween St Louis aad st. Paul and the
local packets were almost n~umteriess
Vast fleets OF rafis wsle constantly
passing carrying lumber and logs to
|thesciiies down the RIVER. The town OIL
Albany Was once u Large shippingl
poaat for Wheat. Du.5ag the season
tosloaing The i:sysshtns Thousands of
sacks ofgsain We're loaded almost daily |
on. hosts and cas1ieU 10 the marked az
s.. Louis. There the cargo was trans
feEied to othes boss plying N the New
dreams srsae and again Iesbippea at
the late. Io.ni for expectation. 1t
was. no uncommon sight to see boat az
ter boat ::come into ST. Louis loaded
down TO the guards with sacks of
wheat, Alltn,s trade has completely
disappeared, The amount of grain
transported by water is SO small as to
be Insignificant. The railroads have
absorbed il.
Rafting which formerly was an inn
portant feature of river life is almost a
lost industry. A few RATS may still be
seensbut ihe-vo!ume of the business Isl
greatly sh.unken. Formerly during
the logging season the rats literally
crowded the river. The raft-boat
which was a small steamboat, accom-
panied by a still smaller boat, called
the how-boat, and a barge of wood OF
coal for fuel was an almost hourly sight
as it either sailed majestically down the
river pushing a raft hundreds of feet
in length aud as wide as the channel
permitted, OF hurrying up stream for
another raft of like dimensions. Raft
ing was at that time Il lucrative busi
ness. 1t was no uncommon thug !OT
a master to clear $500 per trip. $500
per mouth was the regular pay for Il
pilot. Money was easy i'll those day:
and 70 gain q place ia the river aGis-
tocracy was Az honor greatly coveted.
#I'I,1 ,-.-G re -. en-, IS y,,,s ,,o,,,fF.. ~.
Itself. The men made their mct.cv
freely and spent it freely. Captains
WED with each other in giving the.
choicest accommodations. The stew
ards Of The boats We're famous fov tic
delichcies with which they tempted the
app"aifas Of the passengers. No
geHe:atls ard open hearted mel, were
to i5e found than these weHthe" beaten
ca}1&ins. they waDid share yheit last
EIo!laF With their friends and no one
who was unfortunate Appea'ed to them
insvain. They all dfaLk wniskey asa
fish drinks Water and gambling WAS
continually carried on, and III cou.S4-
quence at the emf O.: Il season il which
$1,000 or $4,000 had been niAde they
would have scarcely more THAI eHough
left 70 cary them through the winter.
and solny net eve THAI.
The disappearance ii tie river tr&tl;G
has left many ofll!ese uieu with I;tt!e
or nothing. 1t i pathetic t. sye nle,
who Formerly made thousands OF dot
lars every year tending trnck patches
or small-!1a,t ya"lns y supply tiiein~
selves WIFI Inc necessities lis lie.
The pilots Association :o5i.s after ii,
meN!be?a viz, are TO Ole for sc.,i,,
Supplying them with II gjen5ipa suit
cient to keep th&m from wall, ard
was told that neagly all Of The old pi!5t,
are receiving aid from that source,
Al Clinton, Iowa, I saw 1hc suwui
plant of J. w. Young & &C., wlic.
was oae OF the Target or the upper
Mississippi, being G.snaat.to. j.
trade i. e%ntile'.y yonea ana Tie plant i.
being removed aud sold for old Dricl
and scrap IRON.
One packet liue between 81. Lou.
and st. Paul is still maintained, anC
here and there are local packets that
exc out Il bare existence, and a few
RATS boats are still to he seen. Thes,
are al! that remain to remind us Of the
halcyon days when river life constitut
ed the most important transportation
feature Of the country.
Yours sincerely,
HAYDEN i. UPTON