The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1921-04-06
Good Old Days On Mississippi
 Are Recalled

burgh, Pa, and this city by way of the Ohio.
 Barges have carried freight traffic on the great river for many years railroad competition. In the days of Mark Twain the Mississippi pack cts were celebrated for their ''eats,'' their famous races, their pilots and even for their poker games.
 It used to be no uncommon sight to see from 5 to 30 passenger ves- sels, from the palatial packet to the weather-beaten tramp leave the New Orleans landings daily for up-river points.
 Coming of the railroads with quick service for perishable cargo, many lines almost paral1eling the landings, caused river traffic to lose it's prestige. Shippers began sending cotton and other non-perishable freight by rail and the stops of the as the years went on.
 Plantation landings routed away, planters began to buy railroad tickets instead of steamer passage and made their plans to spend the difference in ttime in New Orleans instead of on the boats. Planters moved to town, social life in the country began to wane-in short. country dwellers became farmers and plantations be- came farms. It was romantic to be a planter, but much more profitable to be a farmer. All of this directly affected passenger traffic
 A river voyage in the o1den days was a pleasurealble affair if the boil CTS did not blow up or the vessel hit one of the shifting sand-bars, mud
 dumps or hidden snags. A com- fortable berth, wonderful meals, dancing at night, watermelon par ties, we11-Stocked bars. stud and draw poker games for 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.
 Coffee in bed was the rule, then breakfast of bacon, eggs, waffles, pancakes started off the day. At noon there was fruit, fish, roast, vegetables, desert the cook had in mind for the meal The feast of the day came in the early evenings with creole gu1nbo
 eff the cook happened to hail from fish roast fowl with baked or can died yams, beef or pork fruit in abundance, desert and small black' coffee with brandy. It wasn't va riety but quantity that made the steamer bill of fare famous.
 In the heat of the afternoon, be- hind shielding mosquito bars the pas senger, if he so desired, could quaH mint juleps or sip corn Whskey cock tails, not to mention the old f1at-bot- tom toddies, made with sugar, water, pineapple.s and orange juice and, Of course, whiSkey. The old timers here, with scanty stocks of liquor and face ing the coming years with visions or nut sundaes, never tire of telling the younger generation of the old ''hard liquor' days of the river steamboats.
 The card games were for big stakes. Veterans vouch for the truth of stories of a planter ernbarking an Nississi ppi worth ca plantation with 200 negroes and disembarking at the 1a, ir1-N NTnxE IT with only some bills of lad1ng for he no longer owned. But those days are gone. If plans of those interested in river traffic bear fruit the modern steamers will ein- mate gambling, carry well drilled crews and furnish modern. meals at modern prices
 In advertising sailings of vessels of the olden days the name of the first mate always was given. The first mates became known up and down the river either as good or bad by the roustaibouts. A meek man did not last long as first mate.
 Saturday was usually the sailing day for up-river packets rom tnls port There was great rivalry be- tween boat owners and crews and usually from one to a dozen boat races were pulled off as the vessels chugged up the river: It was then that boilers blew up with marked ire quency.
 The most famous of these races was run by the Natchez and the Roper packets. So keen was the riValry that early in the seventies It Was planned to have them race from New Orleans to St. Louis. No passengers or freight were carried and for weeks the coming race was the chief topl' of conversation along the river The Robert F. Lee was in command Capt. Cannon while Capt. lleabners
 Nofo were made except for fuel. The tr'7 to St. Louis was made in just te7 hours over three days. an unheard record then with the Robert l.. he the winner by a small margin
 After the war between the state had been perfected to higher degree and river trafhc ce came more important. While mos of the boats used wood for fuel, get ting it from we'll established Woo| wards along the river, still they made good time and business was fiourlsf
 While as a general rule the boat were operated independently by the owners even as early as 1870 thef were several lines operating man large passenger vessels. The larges and best known was the Anchor In which operated between New Orleans and St. Louis making regular sched- uIes while another line was operatInG between St. Louis and St. Paul. The city of New Orleans and City Of Baton Rouge were the larger and bes known vessels of the Anchor line The largest side-wheeler operated on the river was the Republic.
 In addition to the Anchor line there were several smaller compan1es operating from New Orleans to Nat chez. Vicksburg, Greenville and '"The Bends" They usually carried hun dred or. so passengers and large freight cargoes. They were mostly side wheelers. From St. Louis ore line operated as far north as Fort Banton, Montana
 Freight from up the river included flour, pork, beef, furniture, hay, cot ton, rice and sugar. The largest car go of cotton ever brought down was landed by the Henry Frank and con- sisted of 1000 bales. The cotton was not compressed and the record has stood.
 All the old boats were built on the