The Paducah evening sun., 1910-02-21

w. Love when they say they did so
at the risk of their lives. The SER
vice may reasonably be worth $40,
and the men are entitled at least to
compensation of some sort.
Sun, proceedings of just this
character are OF exceeding rare oc-
curence-except in Paducah. There
they are as common as dirt. More
queer news of river craft and river
men is afloat in Paducah than in
any other city. The river round is
the biggest Job on the local end Of
the newspapers. Any day when there
Is not big story at the wharf. the
marine ways. the dry docks or in the
floating colony of shantyboat men
In the willows, the boys know that
the hoodoo is working.
Made By the Rivers.
For Paducah-big. hustling. wide
awake, progressiye-is a river town.
But for It's magnificent advantages
in this particular, II would neve,
have grown beyond a few hundred
houses. Aside from this. there is
little In It's surroundlngs-flin
gravel beds and scrub oak thickets
to support "A city. They can't head
Paducah now. It's got the lead
With its big wholesale interests, its
shops. its manufactures. It's rail-
roads. II is the center of a wide
commercial territory. But the rivers
made itl Even now they contribute
20 its support much more largely
than any other factor.
And those riversl No other city
is so superbly situated. Nashville.
with those advantages added to It's
Others, would number half a million
souls today. The Ohio bends around
tho town in a horseshoe. Two hum
dred yards above the foot of Broad
way the Tennessee flows In. stand
ing at the top OF the bank, where
the old boat store is. one catches a
view OF the broad curves of the Ohio
above and below. and OF the Ten
nessee. between lowlying banks, till
Il Is lost from sight in range OF
hills some miles TO the southeast.
II is a beautiful view.
when the writer was connected
with a family of Kentucky news
papers, he induced Mr.. II. j. C. Mil |
Ter, now OF California. but for many |
years one of the best known of Nash |
'ille's newspaper men. to accept a
position on the Paducah News-Demo-
rat. Mr.. Miller did not love Padu-
,ah, and tarried only a little while. |
But he did love that view of the |
'ivers. On summer afternoons he |
Used TO plug away at the telegraph |
iesk and as the time drew near foN |
he reports TO close. he used to say |
i wish they would hurry up and |
give us 'good-day'; | want to go see
my rivers. lie used to sit, after the |
paper had gone to press and the
lays work was done, on the deck of |
4 little houseboat below the wharf,
harmed by the myriad sounds and
lazy dip of a skiffman's
bars. the putting of the steamers at |
he factory landings. the pounding
)f ship carpenters hammers on the
Nays. and the shimmering, broad ex-
panse of the waters. When he was
ready to return TO Nashville. he paid
\ last visit to his favorite haunt,
and finally turned away with a
sigh. saying, II hate to leave my
-ivers."
Grand Rivers Boulevard.
A few miles above. the Cumber-
and pours the waters of the noun
aims and the middle basin into the
great stream of the Ohio. A little |
way back, it comes close to the Ten
lessee and then coquettishly flows
lway to the north to mingle with
he Ohio twelve miles above. AT
he point where the Cumberland |
learly meets the Tennessee, Thomas
". Lawson spent many of his copper
iollars In trying to make iron ones.
lie established a furnace and a town, |
md built a boulevard from river to |
''ver and named the place Grand |