Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1906-07-19

was holiday and business houses
were closed, but we saw evidences
of thriving little city-although
famous novelist once said the
Almighty never intended that a
town should be built there. When
we looked at the Halliday House,
the principal hotel, we were re-
minded that it was there where, a
few years ago, one of Ironton's
prominent citizens went with his
lady love and procured the SER
vices OF minister of the gospel.
We were soon steaming up the
Ohio and passed under the great
steel bridge that connects Illinois
and Kentucky. We had not gone
many miles until our attention was
directed to quite number of small
flat-boats floating in the shallow
water near the Illinois shore. They
looked like miniature fleet, and
proved to be pearl fishers. Each
little boat was provided with a
dredge for scooping up the mus
sells found in the sand. AS we
were passing Joppa, ILL.,, swift
little boat, the Geo. Cowling,
pushed out into the river and gave
US very exciting race. She
lashed up alongside of us--so near
that passengers of the two boats
shook hands with each other-and
for nearly ten miles it was neck
and neck rack. Finally our COM
petitor, having landing to make
at Metropolis, ILL.,, which was now
in sight, broke away, gave up the
race and turned to shore. Shortly
after noon we reached Paducah,
KY, at the mouth of the Tennessee,
fifty miles above Cairo. Here we
were given three hours to go
ashore and "do the town" We
ascend the levee and were soon in
the business district, where we
boarded electric cars for a ride
through the city. This, in our
opinion, is the best town we saw
on the entire trip. 1t has popu-
lation of about 10000, and bears
evidence of being progressive and
wide-awake. Judging from what
we saw and heard, Independence
Day is celebrated in Kentucky
about like it is in Missouri. Late
in the afternoon we started up the
Tennessee, and the sharp bends in
that stream soon had us confused
as to the points of the compass.
The sun set in the south, as it ap-
peared to us, and the moon rose
in the north. Before dark we
reached the Illinois Central rail-
way bridge. Boats cannot go
under, but a section of the bridge
is swung open to let them pass
through. BY the middle of the
night such a heavy fog had settled
on the river that our boat was
compelled to float ashore and re-
main there until Thursday morn
ing's sunshine showed that we
we're just below the Louisville &
Nashville r. R. bridge at Danvilie,
Tenn. This is also a swinging
bridge. We tied up here for two
or three hours for supply of coal,
after which we proceeded up
stream. The next place of i'm
portance was Johnsonville, Tenn,
where our boat delivered her cargo
of wheat to the Nashville, Chatta-
nooga & st. Louis R. R. Another
steel swinging bridge spans the
river here. When we awoke Fri
day morning we were nearing
Savannah, Tenn.
Two young people belonging to
the Dexter delegation, after a
lengthy conference in the moon
light of the preceding evening,
had decided to cast their lot to-
gother for better or worse; so up
on our arrival at Savannah a car
riage was in waiting at the land
ing, the telephone having been
brought into service. By the time
they had procured the necessary
license and arrived at the hotel,
where a minister was in wait
ing to pronounce them man and
wife, scores of their fellow pas
sengers had reached the scene with
packages of rice and elder bios
SONS, and when they emerged
from the hotel parlors there was
certainly a demonstration in their
honor. For a few minutes it
seemed as though all business in
the town had been suspended while
the people gathered about the
hotel to find out what was going
on.
Just after dinner we tied up at
Pittsburg Landing, Tenn, and
were given three hours to visit the
Shiloh battlefield. Plenty of horse
less carriages (mules hitched to
farm wagons) were at the landing
for hire. A number of them were
chartered and quite delegation
of us made the trip over the very
ground where one of the bloodiest
battles of the Civil War was fought.
We viewed the site of old Shiloh
church. about two miles from the
river, where the Confederates made
their first attack on that memoir
able Sunday morning, April 6,
1862. The old log church has been
destroyed and a frame church
building now marks the site. A
magnificent monument has been
erected to the memory OF Iowa's
dead. Scores of other monuments
and tablets are scattered about,
marking the positions of various
divisions of the armies. A monu-
ment marks the spot where Gen.
Albert Sidney johnson received