The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1907-10-02
an INSATIATE RIVER.
HOW. THE MISSISSIPPI SOME TIMES
EATS UP REAL ESTATE.

Al oAS &SAsA
"No use talking, the Mississippi river ID
the most contrary thing on earth, re-
marked Captain 8. II. King Of G~reenville'
Miss. During the civil war, It will be
remembered, there was q double bend,
much in tho shape Of the letter S, OF the
river at Vicksburg. General Grant, yos
know, wanted to change the course Of the
river By cutting a channel through Ne
Soto peninsula, thus cutting of the upper
bond and causing the river to flow straight
soross below Vieksburg and leaving the
town high and dry. Grant could then
have sent bis sunboatD by Vicksburg and
ssoaped the shelling from the upper bat
tories Of the ~Confederates north OF the
town. He put General McClernand M
several thousand men to.work at cutting
this channel across the peninsula In front
Of tho town, and they worked for some
time. Notwithstanding the harassment
from the lower batteries Of the enemy.
6ut the contrary river wouldn't show the
least desire Of accepting such An artificial
channel anyway. The plan was finally
abandoned and Grants gunboats had to
make the run before both the upper D
lower batteries. But In 1875 the M1ssisF
sippi river, of it, W accord, cut its way
scross Do Soto peninsula below Vioks
burg, but farther up than Grants artificial
channel was started. De Soto peninsula
n now De Soto island, and the body OF
water In front Of Vicksburg Is now known
as Centennial lake, taking the name from
the year. that the Centennial was held at
philadelphia This is only one Of many
instances showing how the Mississippi re
fuses to submit to the dictation OF OWL
engineers and how 1t follows is own stub
born course, winding and washing Ito
Wal here and there at Its own will
"By tho way, the Mississippi washed
several thousand dollars out Of my pocket
In one night about 10 years ago. At that
tdms I ovnsda row Of houses which began
sunost three blocks AWAY from the river
III Grsenville, Miss. One day q govern.
msnt engineer said to me, The river WIN
some time wash away Its bank here, and
your buildings Will tumble In
"Well, I laughed at him. The bank
vas rs feet high, and, besides, tho river
was quite low. One morning I aWoke to
harm that there had been q big cave In OF
the river bank the night before, and that
q couple Of my buildings had been carried
away. I Joined the crowd Of people that
rushed TO the river bank 70 see this de-
struotion, and, / tell you, I never ap'
prSotAted the terrible power OF the Father
d, Waters until ] witnessed this scene.
| while I was standing there talking with
| friends another big slice Of land, q block
In width, orumbled away and fell Into the
| river, carrying with 1t several more OF my
buildinaa You can imagine how ! felt,
because I had been drawing an income Of
Al, 900 q msnth In rentals from my build.
ina. Now over hall OF them were q mass
Of debris floating down the river, and my
real estate was only so much dirt IN ths
| bottom Of the channel.
"As I stood there watching my build
inss and ground slip away into river
sttisen approached me and said, Cap
tain, I'll give you $1,000 for the remain
der Of your property
"'Na, III not take less than $4,000
satdL
"The words had no more than left my
| tongue when there was another cave In,
| and two more Of my lots and buildings
tumbled into the greedy river. The citizen
then remarked to me, Captain, III give
you 81, 600 for your property now.
II refused to entertain this proposition,
wAioh, Of course, was q pure speculation,
a. NO human. agency could stop the cave
In. Pretty soon another one OF my lots
and Its building went into the river, and
| my speculative friend then offered me $500
| for the remainder Of my property. By this
| time I had concluded to trust to luck and
stand all losses, and I refused to sell at
any price. Irnow had one lot and one
building left. During the excitement an
old colored woman came up and said to
mo:
1880 heah, oap'n, will ye give me dem
btok whats In dat cellar under yer
housei'
IL told her she could have the hrtok. I
had . pile Of new brick In the cellar under
my suiy remaining hotse. The old col.
cred woman gave her husband s6 cents
10 hire O team and wagon to haul away
The brick. Now, upon my word OF honor,
what I am now going to say Is true
While the old oolored man was gone for q
wagon another cave In occurred, and my
last house and lot, brick and cellar and
All. tumbled Into the river. Che cave In
ssms 20 suddenly that the crowd Of people
| Standiua on tho bank had to fee for their
Hvea After tho excitement had somewhat
| suhstdsd the old colored woman exclaimed:
"'Laws o. massyl Dess's my brick In
u bottom O. de ribber, an Idone los' my
luAtah.'
"Of course, while the old woman was
out % oents, I wal out another $1,000.
During this series Of cave ms that day
efforts were being made to place q long
frame store building on rollers and move
10 10 q place Of safety. But before the
building could be raised it began to tilt
and Ae mon were compelled to desert 1t.
Soon the store building slid into the river
and went kerchug to the bottom OF the
channel, a. completely out Of sight as II IL
bad been the only pebble on the beach,
I'm my opinion the Mississippi river 10
ell rIght-when ID doesn' t oome my way. ]
built q nice residence In Greenvilb several
Bears ago and had q beautiful flower be.
deoked lawn between the house and the
river, which was . block away. That lawn
has long sincs been swallowed by the 70.
sacioua NAV Of the Misaisaipp. and today
my residence stands on the edge Of q. bank
that 10 Is feet high. st. Louis Globe
Democrat.
Medieval Lynch LAws In Bavaria.
II II curious to note that In some parts
Of Hayafia q method Of procedure which 10
called Haberfeld treiben still prevails and
Ii, practiced By the people IN a 8 Of
oRsnses which do not come within the
pais Of tho ordinary law. Neither person
nor property Is injured. People assemble
WITH black or masked faces In front OF the