The Taney County republican. (Forsyth, Mo.) 1895-1992, 1915-01-07
uzsia iDat a0al disappearing

uses OF business or pleasure ior.which
they are designed. In the nor,hlsnd
OF Maine ard Canada, where the many
lakes are connected ny shollow ard
swift streams, ,hsin Is n gtac>la and
bouyant canoe evolved by the Indian.
On the North Atlantic coast the stand
ard small boat for all purposes is
the dory. marvelously sea-worthy an'
slanch. In the sluggish, weed chcked
bayous OF the south there is the broad,
fiat scow. shallow OF draft and clumsy
Of movement. Ard in the Ozark re-
gion OF Southern Missouri and Northern
Arkansas, where the streams are swift
and rocky and crooked, the familiar
type Of boat has been what Marryatt
might have described as long, low,
rakish, piratical looking craft" in ioIm
best suited 10 the environment. The
last has no name other than float
. boat" aud possesses some Of the
characteristics ct the northern canoe,
the salt water dory and the southern
scow. 1t is long and narrow and
.bouyant, like the canoe; it rides high
at stem and stern. after the fashion Of
the dorY, and it has the fat bottom and
straigh, sides o! the scow.
The float boat" is not thing Of
beauty. Il has no graceful lines and is
knocked together in haphaEard fashion
from few iscss of rough lumber,
economy in C, ms ruction probably being
due to the TACT the craft usually is
abandoned alter IN extended voyage
down one Of the swift Ozark streams.
No paint adorns its sides, and it sci
dom is provided with seats. II is pro-
PEELED usually by means Of long
paddle, Or scull, that serves as pole in
working the boat up rapids and through
dense masses Of aquatic negotiations
The Ozark ''fJat boat in appear
ance bears a striking resemblance to
q crudely constructed coffin, gloomy
comparison that is likely to be forced
upon those who learn something o!
the crafts unstable aud reacherous
nature; for the float boat" is as tricky
as a VICIOUS broncho, and always chooses
the widest and most dangerous
stretches OF water in which to upset
and nd 'seH Of rs 5nrien OF passen'
gers anu luggage.
The Ozark craft is perfectly salts
factory to the Ozark native, but its
eccentricities do not appeal 10 the
ever increasing army Of cutters that
seeks recreation there. As a conse-
qucnce, the va, boat IS passing,
and in a few summers more probably
will be rarity where onre il was he
only means Of transportation known
on the White, the Current, the Elk,
and other much irequented rivers Of
the region. In its stead are coming
the modern type OF the Indians canoe,
the ponderouE hu sal Sow, the con
yentioDai s.if, and on the larger water
WAYS, the motor boat Springfield
Republican.
II may be so. 1t also may be that
that the earth does not move, and the
sun does. All we know, and We live
in one section OF ,ha country the above
article refers to, thr Waite river coun-
try, is that the float boat is the only
practical Graf, for any OF the rivers
mentioned in the article above A
motor Doat or a row boat cannot nav
igate these stfaams in ordinary seasons
and that is the only time a boat is in
demand on any of them. The ord
nary float boat, as We use the term 10
this country. is fat botlomyd, straight
sided affair, with both ends eleva'ed
above the water ine, and square. The
paddler sits in the rear END and the
h,herman sta 1d~ on the mont platform,
or If there be It n m. the second
stands tn tu'ddi a me boat,
'..snalls Rstrde ~ tef .t'fdle seat
he VII ter h boats
usnaliy nave no seats. lis IS wrong
The float boat uall, has three. He
seems TO Or talking a7eut what we cal
= "gigging boat" which is long and
arrow and without seats. as it is
Controlled aItogelh BY the gigs in
the hands u the Fl atImen, who usually
work 10 pair, o. Il each end Of the
boat, and ilh handed gigs or
fish spears can navigate the streams In
any direction they desire and over any
current or shoql.
The row y at is i'm racticable on
these streams on account Of the shall
lows or riff 5. ~ e an ordinary row
koa "A Ill