The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1921-04-08
(By Associated Press)


NEW ORLEANS, La, April s.
Memories Of old days on the Missis-
sippi when stately packets piled in
the passenger traffic are revived by
the resumption of traffic between
Pittsburgh, Pa, and this city by way
of the Ohio.
Barges have carried freight traffic
on the great river for many years
since the packets were driven out by
railroad competition. In the days of
Mark Twain the Mississippi packets
were celebrated for their leafs" their
famous races, their pilots and even
for their poker games.
| 1t used to be no uncommon sight to
| see from Is to so passenger vessels,
fro mthe palatial packet to the wealth
er beaten tramp leave the New Or
leans landings daily for up-river
points.
Coming of the railroads with quick
service for perishable cargo. many
lines almost paralleling the river be-
tween the most important landings,
caused river traffic to lose its pres
| tige. Shippers began sending cotton
and other non-perishable freight by
rail and the stops of the river packets
were fewer and fewer as the years
went on.
Life is Changed.
Plantation landings rotted away,
planters began TO buy railroad tickets
instead of steamer passage and made
their plans to spend the difference in
time in New Orleans instead of on the
boats. Planters moved to town, social
life in the country began to wane-ln
short, country jewellers became farm
ers and plantations became farms. 1t
was romantic to be a planter, but
much more profitable to be farmer.
All of this directly affected passenger
traffic.
A river voyage in the olden days
was a plea surab affair, if the boilers
did not blow up or the vessel hit one
or the shifting sand-bars, mud Jumps
or hidden snags. A comfortable berth.
wonderful meals, dancing at night,
watermelon parties, we'll stocked bars,
stud and draw poker games Tor the
patrons of that form of amusement,
and last, but not least, the antics OF
the negro roustabouts all combined to
make things pleasant for the traveller.
In the heat of the afternoon, behind
shielding mosquito bars the passenger.
| if he so desired, could quaf mint Ju'
leps or sip corn whisky cocktails, not
to mention the old f1at-bottom toddie,
made with sugar, water, plneapples
and orange juice and, of course, Whls-
ky. The old times here, with scanty
stocks of liquor and facing the COM
ing years with visions of nut sundaes.
never tire Of telling the younger gen
Grafton of the old hard liquor days
of the river steamboats,.
The card games were for big stakes.
Veterans vouch for the truth Of sto-
ries of a planter embarking in Missis-
sippi worth "a plantation with 200 ne
groes" and disembarking at the Canal
landing in New Orleans with only
some bills of lading for something he
no longer owned.
To Eliminate Gambling.
But those days are gone. II plans
of those interested in river traffic bear
fruit the modern steamers will elm
mate gambling, carry we'll drilled
crews and furnish modern meals at
modern prices.
In advertising sailings of vessels of
the olden days the name of the hrst
mate always was given. The first mate
became known up and down the river
either as good or bad by the manner
in which they handled the roustabouts.
A meek man did not last long as first
mate
Saturday was usually the sailing
dav for up-river packets from this port.
There was great rivalry between boat
owners and crews and usually from
one to dozen boat races We're pulled
off as the vessels chugged up the
river. 1t was then that boilers blew
up with marked frequency
The most famous of these races was
run by the Natchez and the Robert +.
Lee, two of the largest of the river
packets So keen was the rivalry that
early in the seventies 1T was planned
to have them race from New Orleans
to ST. Louis No passengers of freight
were carried and for weeks the COM
ing race was the chief topic of con-
versation along the river The Robert
=, Lee was in command of Capt Can
non, while Capt feathers was master
of the NatcheZ. No stops were made
except for fuel. The trip to st. Louis
was made in just a few hours over
three days, an unheard of record then
with the Robert E. Lee the winner by
a small margin.
Disaster Ends Race.
Another famous race between the
White Rose of Memphis and the
Grand Republic ended in disaster.
After racing upstream for hours in
neck and neck" contest the White
Rose struck a snag and sank. Before
the White Rose could clear nearby
bend her boilers exploded, killing a
number of the crew.
After the war between the states,
steamboats, had been perfected TO
higher degree and river traffic became
more important. While most of the
boats used wood for fuel, getting it
from we'll established woodyards along
the river, still they made good time
and business was f1ourishing.
Coffee in bed was the rule, then
breakfast of bacon, eggs, waffles, pan