New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1907-06-12
The Usage MONS TER.
How a Steamboat Whistle At
fected Missouri Pioneers.
STORY OF A HISTORIC HUNT.
Armed For the Fray, the Frightened
but Determined Old Settlers Sought
the Ferocious Beast With the Fear
full, Screening Voice.

the Ferocious Beast With the Fear
full, Screening Voice.
The first steamboat that ever turned
her prov against the muddy Usage wa
tiers was the Flora Jones in the spring
iof 1914. There was no commercial
club in those days to stimulate river
traffic, no telegraph or telephone to her
aid to the hardy pioneers the approach
of the boat-only the unearthly shrill
screech of a banshee-like whistle,
enough to blanch the cheek Of the sim
pie minded folk who had lived far
from the worlds progress.
The little boat went up as far as
Harmony, Mo-, in Bates county. His
tory records the fact that when the
Flora Jones pulled her way along the
st. Clair county shores and the wall of
her siren was tossed back and forth
| by the limestone bluffs many of the
old settlers were not only frightened
figuratively out Of their boots, but lit
orally out of their homes. Matthew
5Arbuckle, a pioneer, tradition tells us,
| from the river when the wall Of that
whistle struck his ear. He unhitched
his horse from the plow, managed to
| get on it's back and, wild with terror,
| struck for the hills. In one hour he
was at Papinville, fifteen miles dis
tant, the horse white with foam, the
rider white with terror. He had bare
~ strength to tell of ian awful ami
mal'' from which he had made his es-
cape He had not seen the fearful
beast, he confessed, but he had heard
| it's voice, by which he knew it to be
monster Of terrific proportions,
Arbuckle's neighbors were brave and,
though much disturbed by his account,
determined upon campaign Of exter-
mination They had defended their
homes against Indians, and they rea-
soned that no wild animal, however
ferocious, could withstand their rifles.
I They gathered at Uncle John Whit
ley's. He had seen service under Jack
son at New Orleans. His home was
up the tortuous stream from Ar
buckles farm.
The next morning a crowd Of hardy
pioneers, with guns and dogs, were
ready at Uncle Johns. The gallant
band numbered among its, memters
Uncle John Whitley, James Brecken,
ridge, Benjamin Morris, William Ba.
con, Hamilton Morris, Benjamin
! Burch, William Roark, Frank Roark
Benjamin Snyder, Snowden Morris
and Matthew Arbuckle.
They were agreed that there should
be undertaken a quest for the mys
terious monster threatening theil
homes and families.
Just before the signal to start was
given Matte, a daughter Of Whitley's
went down to the river, 300 yards dis
tant, for water. In her absence the
Flora Jones, which had tied up fol
the night at a bend in the river below
whistle.
sCharge, men, roared Whitley, seiz
ing his gun. ''Matt went to the river
flor water, and [ reckon she's deat
afore now!'
The crowd rushed to the river, deter
mined to rescue the girl if she was We
alive But Matt, it is hardly neces
sary to state, was met on the way
She was headed homeward, her hail
streaming behind and her face
blanched with fear.
With their weapons ready for instan
action the determined hunters contin
Iued riverward. The crew Of the Flors
Jones, proud Of her whistle, continued
to sound it at frequent intervals, ant
it's reverberations rang from bluff t
bluff increasingly. Each fresh bias
added to the uneasiness Of the band O
settlers. Frequent councils were held
The failure Of the dogs to take TIL
scent nonplused them.
The hunters secured the Usage thick
cts all day. Breckenridge lost faith u
hounds and declared that he woul'
go to st. Louis for Newfoundland
Meanwhile the Flora Jones had pro
ceeded up the river to Harmony, an
her whistle was no longer heard. A
night came on storm broke, and tn
hunters took refuge in cave.
With the return of dawn there bega
again the hideous vail Of the myster
GUS monster. The Flora Jones wa
/ making an early start on her retur
trip down the river. Nearer and neal
er sounded the whistle, until the hun
ers, who had tumbled hastily fror
their cave, could distinguish a putin
and blowing, supposed to be the snort
of the advancing foe.
4 The moment Of decisive action seen
led at hand The hunters rushed to th
river bank. Each selected tree
stand behind and looked to the primin
of his gun.
An instant later the Flora Jone
rounded a bend and loomed into viey
Upon her deck was gay crowd {
passengers watching the early sunris
: flooding the water with rosy ligh
. Uncle John Whitley, Jimmy Brecke
: ridge and their band Of heroes we
: too astonished to answer the friend
n 4 H.