El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-12-15

large, the competition between lines /
not being of such a nature as 20 cut !
into the revenue. This was due to the i
fact that the shipyards could not turn
out boats rapidly enough to meet the /
growing demands of the shippers and l
passengers in a new and booming sec
ton of the fabulously rich river BASIN |
The Picturesque River Gambler.
But the romance and adventure of
steamboat life are not to be found in
the account books of the packet compa-
MES, but rather among the passengers
who gave color and variety to every
trip. The river gambler was not a
mythical figure. He was one CT the
most picturesque characters of our ear
ly history. Few stories of the old south
fail to mention the suave Individual +
who inveigles the wealthy planter into /
a game of @cyardsY when the latter IS
returning from st. Louis or the east, /
his belt laden with $40 gold pieces, |
the yield Of his cotton sacks. And in !
most of these stories one finds the !
planter, stripped TO his last penny fl |
rally stalking his faithful body servant |
or his beautiful quadroon slave on the |
last hand at draw poker.
The upper Mississippi had a class of
gamblers all its own Here the sharp |
, ers were accustomed to work in pairs
The two seldom boarded the steamboat
at the same time nor did they ever
recognize each other. They became
acquainted with their victims individ
ually and were then introduced to each
other by the deluded settler on his way
to the wheat fields of Minnesota with
+, the savings OF a life time in the east.
/ The gamblers Of the SOS were tolerated
! by the steamboat owners because they
| were constant travellers. and promoted
I = = H. r. ~
| they themselves kept their own pri gar-
! bottles CT colored water to be served
| by the saloon keeper instead of rum
! which would have shaken their nerve
and thus destroyed their business
| perspicacity.
Historic Steamboat Races.
Steamboat racing gave variety and
| spice to the life on the Mississippi. One
| of the most thrilling contests was that
/ between the Grey Eagle" and the
| "Itasca' on the upper Mississippi. This
race is intimately connected with in
! ternational achievement as the follow
| ing facts show. In 1856 the first cable
gram across the Atlantic bore greet
! ings from queen Victoria to president
! Buchanan, who was at the time in ST
Paul There was no telegraph line to
| the Minnesota metropolis in that day,
/ but there. were lines to Dunleith,
4
| st. Paul, and at Prairie du Chen, where
the Itasca was about TO cast off. Both
| boats were due to leave at o'clock
( The Grey Eagle was 81 miles further
/ from St Paul than the Itasca but Capt
! Harris determined to be the first to
| deliver the message to the president
! He made only one or two landings dur
/ ing this record run He pitched his
| mail bags to the wharves without do
n mo- =
was running far ahead of his schedule
| the mail bags for points up the river
| were not ready so he did not have to
| stop to take these on The Itasca was
proceeding leisurely on it's way. unc0n-
| scious of the efforts of its rival until
the latter was seen to turn a bend in
| the river only a short distance behind
| Then the Itasca realized that the Grey
/ Eagle meant to capture the honor OF
| being the first to deliver the message
! to the president Then 1t was a race
for the few remaining miles to St Paul,
I the Grey Eagle winning by a bare
/ length.
A broom nailed 10 the pilot house was
symbol of speed supremacy in the
CID days and champion, once passed,
was in honor bound to take down its
sweeper until such time as it could beat
it's rival In these races the captain
! frequently saved barrels of pitch and
resin to be fed into the furnaces on the
last stretch in order to develop a final
! burst of speed from the engines. 1t
was often necessary to station men on
the upper decks with fire hose to play
water upon the smoke stacks where
, they passed between decks, to prevent
the surrounding woodwork from ignit-
ing. On the lower Mississippi cases of
! ham and bacon were sometimes burned
in the frenzy of the moment
Mfrth and Music
One OF the most pleasurable phases
of a passengers trip was the cabin
music furnished There was great ri
valry between the competing lines in
this particular, as we'll as in speed a
string orchestra was highly priced anil
it soon became known which boats had
the best dance music and which gave