The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-04-24
TALE OF A FLOOD
Eugene Field, in the Chicago News of August
 4, 1885.

f. 1885.
 We have received letter from gentleman at Mound City thanking us for the deserved attention we have given to that distinguished patriot, Col Phocion Howard of Barataria frog farm. He says that the charming incidents we have published about this worthy gentle remind him of an occasion when the colo nePs valuable services came near being lost to the state and country.
 Tt was during the great floods of 'S0," says our correspondent, 'when the Mississippi over flowed it's banks and at this point, and farther south, the billowy expanse extended from bluff to bluff. The havoc wrought by the waters and the sufferings of the inhabitants were terrible. True to his humanitarian instincts, Colonel Howard was among the first on the scene of destruction, thinking, forsooth, to aid the suf- fering people and to relate their woes in the columns of the Chicago press.
 Colonel Howard came to Mound City on n Illinois Central train, which landed him on 8 high point of ground about two miles from the city. The colonel had within him several drams of cinchona and spiritus frumenti with which to combat the subtle malaria influences of our climate. He desired to reach the city at once, and, being an old soldier, he engaged stutter- ing, one-egged veteran who owned skiff to him to town. Possessed of but one leg, this boatman had the peculiarity of getting into his craft by rolling in and getting out of it in similar manner.
 "A bargain for the trip was struck, the stut- terng boatman rolled in and seized the oars and Colonel Howard sprang lightly abaft and grasped the tiller ropes. It was evening. The air was balmy The moon was but slender sickle The fires of the stars burned dimy holy calm had spread over and settled down upon the dark waters. Colonel Towards soul sweled with heroic emotions. The chuck, cluck' of the oarlocks was music to his ear and to it's rhythm he crooned softly his favorite ditty, The State of Illinoy
 "As the boat neared the town the white mon ument of the national cemetery came in view Colonel Towards eye caught sight of them and the latent patriotism under his vest pattern rose above the poetry that was swelling in his soul For extra quarter of dollar he induced the stuttering, one-legged boatman to row him up and down the long avenues of stones which marked the resting places of dead heroes.
 "How it happened will never be known, but while trying to read the inscription on monu- ment, Colonel Towards ponderous form slipped from it's moorings in the boat and sank beneath the murky waters. He fell with a sickening splash-a splash like that made by all his pet bullfrogs leaping at once from slimy log into the Roman purple depths of the his toric Vermilion county horse pond. The splash displaced so much water that the river rose six inches.
 "I have often heard from Colonel Towards own lips 8 recital of the experiences of that dreadful moment When I came to the sur face for the first time says he, I spit out more water than I ever drank before in all my life and shouted to the boatman for help. In the momentary- glimpse had of him I saw that he was trying to say something, but as he gasped and stuttered I sank again before he could utter what he wanted to. I went down, down, down, oh, my God! how far
 "'My mind seemed to be canvas in front of a magic lantern on which were reflected all the few wicked things had ever done. After what seemed an age of mental torture and physical pain again came to the surface like bottle in a whirlpool. Again I cried for help and again I saw for instant the agonized face of the one-legged boatman trying vainly to speak.
 "'Again I felt myself sinking, and in the anguish of my soul thought to myself, "You internal old chump! Have you lived life of toll and hardship and braved every danger safely, only to come down here in Egypt and be drowned in little one-horse country grave yard?" For the last time came to the surface and cried in an agony of horror: For Gods sake, helpv'
 "Like an explosion from bladder came the words from the one-legged boatman's lips: Stand up, you cu-cu-cu-cussed fool" clutched at the. suggestion as if it had been lifeboat and stood up. So help me Bill Nor rison, the water was only three feet deep.'"