Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-06-08

steamboat days. AS the roustabouts
and deck hands respond they chant
those weird darkey melodies which
accelerates the work. The landing
of a steamboat calls the cosmopoli-
tan crowd to the river. Dogs ac-
company their masters. and uneX-
pected whistle from the boat will
elicit a howl and the dog Will tuck
his tail and break for home. The
skiff owner will rush to the waters
edge, holding his boat until the
ground swell has subsided. The
captain through signal communi-
cation with the pilot. has eased her
in and away from the bank, with
out scratching the varniSh." The
porter who dashed ashore for
trunks or hand baggage, has re-
turned and the boat is again in mid
stream slowly and peacefully wend-
ing her way to the next port. Darkies
on the lower deck are conversing in
language of their own. Lii Joe
Don't Fail Me-" Seven Come
Eleven" "Go Get Dress for
Phoebe" come floating up to the
passengers above. A crap game is
on.
The "River Rats
We passed the palatial excursion
steamer, u. w. HILL" night dream
la Aladdin ablaze with electric
| lights, an apparition of Kaleidoscope,
scintillating colors from bow to
stern. A steam caliope bites off q
popular air, the crowd cheers, boats
whistle signals as we pass in the
night. Familiar land marks to me
were the homes of fishermen and
river rats" house boats or floating
cabins, homes of the nomadic We're
tied to the shores, to be cast off and
! floated to any point down the river
offering better fishing or hunting
grounds. "Floaters" in every sense
of the word. They love the shores,
valleys, hills and rocks as originally
constructed and colored by nature.
A line cast in their back yard lands
! cat fish,. A shot fired from the
| front door, is productive of duck
| dinner. Tomorrow with them only
means another day. From the deck
! of n Mississippi river steamboat, /
studied the shores and noted condi-
| tons which accounted for the pass
! ing of migratory birds in this valley.
80, For Duck Shooting Days
In my boyhood days 1 resided at
| Keithsburg, ILL.,, on the Mississippi.
| At that time millions of ducks in
|
river, making boyous and adjacent
! lakes their mecca. From my van
| tage point on the steamer l could
see on the opposite side of the dikes
or levies. fields of corn and waving
grain, where formerly I had punted
| boat and shot ducks galore. Levies
prevented overflow and my duck
! territory has been drained and re-
claimed Many duckS still aggre-
gated above the bridge or rested
upon the sandbars. AS they arost
and flew ahead of the boat, pas
sengers remarked ducks were in
creasing very rapidly" This may
be true in some few localities. where
sanctuaries are established and duck
dom catered to by clubs. When a
duck hunter of thirty-hve years
since, thinks back over the condi-
rounded the vast number of ducks
we then had in every slough OF
available pond. Now view the en-
croachment of civilization and re-
claiming of all swamp lands. it oc.
casions a big smile. At Burlington
Ia, those vast swamps opposite have
! been levied; Keithsburg and
| OquawSa duck territory has been re-
| claimed The Meredosia Bottoms
spillway between the Mississippi and
Rock rivers are levied and every
acre titled. Coopers lake, recently
| formed by the back water occa-
stoned by the building of the Keo-
kuk power dam across the father OF
waters at Keokuk, is the only avail
| able duck marshes on the Upper
Mississippi Encroachment of civil
| lization and reclaiming of swamp
| lands has for "a II tin1a Goundad tho
death knell for Mississippi river
.hA