The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1916-11-15
AAAAAAAAAAAAA
On the Beautiful
River
An Episode of a
Century Ago
By WILLARD BRAKEMAN
By WILLARD BRAKEMAN
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.

thoroughfare for emigrants moving in |
that direction. and the llatboat was |
their conveyance. Flatboats were built
Of boards, their propelling power being
the rivers current, and when the emf
grant reached his destination tie lum
Der was used to build his house.
The great danger of the earliest voy
ayers on la belle riviere (the beautiful
river was the Indians, The scum OF
civilization Is always washed toward
new countries, and mingled with the
redskins were white men who assist
ed their native allies to plumber the
emigrants by acting as decoys. The
renegade would call to the tatboat-
man to come and take him aboard;
that he had been captured by Indians
and escaped and if recaptured would
be tortured and killed. If the voyager
yielded to the call he would be am
pushed by the savages.
With the beginning of the nineteenth
century the Indians had largely been
eradicated. but the low grade whites
remained The river from time to
time was infested by pirates. who,
though they did not always murder,
robbed their victims.
1 1t was during the second decade Of
the nineteenth century that iioatboat
| was carrying a number of passengers
| between Cincinnati and Louisville.
There were an Irishman. Scotchman
| and q Frenchman, all of whom had
been born in Europe. BESIDES these
| were several native Americans, includ-
ing carpenter, a gambler and a land
Spectator.
When the boat reached turn in the
river, called South Bend, about twenty
miles south Of Cincinnati, while pass
ing near the Kentucky shore, it passed
log cabin before which stood wo-
man waving a white cloth and indicat-
ing by her gestures that she wished
to speak with them. The sweeps
which were intended to increase at
times the boats velocity and were
needed to give steerage way, were
manned, and the boat headed for the
shore. AS soon as it came near enough
for the men on 1t to hear the woman
said:
| "Kin you thar take me down to Lou
eyville Uouisville)? Eff you're goin
that way pull in hyar and throw I
| line"
] IT do not like" said the Frenchman
ito go to re bank of re riviere | hav
heard that those who go to re bank o
la belle riviere on call for help new
aire return to re channel"
Nonsense, you bloomin' IDIOT" SAT-
the Englishman. You're thinkin' o
! the last century, when the Indian
used renegade whites for decoys
That's all in the past now"
The Irishman accorded with tn
i Englishman (the only case on record
[ The son of Erin declared that to dc
Il cline to listen to the call of woma
would be dastardly and no one exceT
coward would do such thing. Blu
ton.
II 81 would ma go in too far" he sale
without inquirin what she want
wi us"
The commander of the craft paid n
attention to these suggestions, but SUI
veyed the woman and her surround
ings with critical eye. But he CAV
no order to make for the shore.
That's low down trick" cried th
woman, "for to leave a pore woma
who wants to goto her man"
With this the Englishman, backed b
the Irishman. threw out so many II
nuendos respecting the captains actio
that he gave in, but with bad grace
"By the time you all" he said, "hay
navigated this yere river as long as
have you'll larn that there's only OF
place in it that's safe-the channel.
you git rid o your money by tn
maneuver don't blame me. ! hahn
got nothin' to lose Jim. head inr'
The helmsman turned the fore pa
of the boat toward the shore and whe
sufficiently near swung the stern i
~ from which a stout rope was throw
caught by the woman and made IA
to a stump BY the rope the stern
the boat was pulled in so that the W
man could he taken aboard Takir
up a bundle tied in bandanna han
kerchief. she unwound the rope fro
the tree and slipped aboard the boa
which the current took down the rive
There were no separate rooms aboaI
the boat. but the stern was partitions
off into cabin. This the men gave I
TO the only woman passenger, betakir
/ themselves to the deck for in all ne
countries there is a singular deferen,
on the part of the men for the fe
women they have among them, ar
, this woman, who was about twenty-fi1
u years old. was for a denizen of Ke
lucky at that time not bad to loo
upon. True, she had no sooner settle
herself on the boat than she produce
corncob pipe with a reed stem al
began TO smoke, but In those da,
many southern women-unless it we
in the longer settled portions-not on
smoked, but dipped" which meal
they chewed upon snuff balls. 81
proved an attraction for her fello
passengers, who swarmed about b.
ike flies to a sugar barrel.