Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 November 1893 — IN MISSISSIPPI DAYS. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

IN MISSISSIPPI DAYS.

AGE OF RIVER SUPREMACY BEFORE THE WAR. VVben Time Wasn’t as Valuable as It Is Nowadays Magnificence of the OldTime Packets—Dally of the Voyage. o Down the River. That indefinite expression, “before the war,” to the minds of most men of the present generation represents ■a period of time about as far removed from the thoughts, business methods, *nd ways of to-day as the period of Homer, and particularly is this the •case when reference is made to the old-time life on the Mississippi. The iron rails have made a revolution in ■every part of the country, but have •change nothing so much as the river traffic. In fact, they have practically abolished it, for neither the business nor pleasure of the present can tolerate delay, and the saving of time by the railroad over the river route between this city and New Orleans has taken the passenger and freight from the waterway and transferred them to the parallel steel lines. But what has been gained in time has been lost in sentiment. There is ■no romance about the railroad. The roar and rattle of cars, the smoke, •the dust, the intolerable screeching of the engine, the busy employes who are concerned about nothing so much as getting the fares from the passengers and seeing that the movements of the train are properly controlled, the haste, the anxiety to reach the final destination at the earliest possible moment, form a striking contrast to the method of travel in vogue as late as forty years ago. Tfcere was no hurry then, says the •St Louis Globe-Democrat, and travel

on the old Mississippi was the ideal of poetic journeying. There was plenty of time, no one felt hurried, And so pleasant was the voyage from St. Louis or Cincinnati to New Orleans that it was often made purely for the sake of the travel and the ffieasant company certain to be found •on board. Comfort and Luxury. For comfort and even luxury in traveling no style ever surpassed that of the first-class Mississippi packets, which in all the splendor of their Appointments were scarcely excelled, •even by the ocean racers of the present day. Of course the latter have many appliances which were unknown to the former, but where electric lights and electric bells and telephones are unknown they are not missed, and the travelers along tae great inland waterway were just as well off without as with them. The staterooms were ample, the cabin a poet’s dream. The numbers of the Mississippi fleet were as imposing as the sight of the most elaborately painted boat. There are men still young in this city who can remember when the levee was a scene of the most exciting activity. At the bank, in a solid phalanx, often four or five deep, the ■steamers were moored, awaiting their turn to be unloaded.

The levee was then a great place. For twenty blocks up and down it

•was piled as high as a two-story &ouse with boxes and barrels and packages of all kinds, covered with tarpaulins to prevent injury from accidental showers, while the deckhands, urged to haste by loudmouthed and ingeniously profane mates, ran up and down the gangways with barrels and sacks and packages, with wood and coal and shay, with bags of corn, with furniture. with all the varieties of freight *nd supplies that a rich and liberal Southern community desired to buy. Such times have never been seen «ince the war, and probably never will be again, for haste has supplanted every other consideration in travel, and most men and women would regard a week spent on the stiver as a week wasted.. Quite otherwise was it back in the *4o’s and ’so’s. The week of the voyage to New Orleans was regarded as the best part of the visit, for one was almost sure to find acquaintances on hoard, and if not, the officers of the beat considered themselves in duty hound to see that their passengers •enjoyed themselves, for this was considered to be a part of the business. "The trip was, in one sense, a round ■of festivities. Many of the boats carried bands,and on approaching towns a landing was to be made the ha ad would assemble in alkjtbe glory rof brass buttons,and, taking its place -on the hurricane deck, would thxnnp and blow uptjl every man. woman, and child in w bosro had assembled at the la&dihgJX) sea what tbe noise abokt. Tire passengers crowded la phe Aides to lookup, the paob on the landing, with much ceremony the gang--44*. \ • '

plank was out by the musters, merchants and factors came bn board to transact their business with the captain and. clerks, the boat's agent went on shore to attend to necessary affairs; til was burry, for the boat’s stay at landing was generally brief unless there was much freigh t to come on board. Loading the freight and bringing oq wood were the occupations which presented most .attractions to the passengers. Perched on the railings or oomfortably seated in easy chairs on tile cabin d#ck, they surveyed the operations going on below with lively amusement. The ordinary business of freight handling was not always of thrilling interest, but when live stpck was to he brought on board every traveler jpt once secured a position where bf could command the whole situation, for mules and Texas, steers were as contrary then as they have been ever since, and clubbing and tail-twisting were then recognized as perfectly legitimate

methods of inducing a refractory steer to walk tbu plank, just as they are to-day. t Bn— Inilamnta But there were numerous other excitements to relieve the daily routine of the journey besides tbe band playing and the evening dance in the cabin to music furnished by an amateur band among tbe waiters, supplemented by a collection taken up for their benefit. In times of high water a crevasse was of frequent occurrence, and the passengers were regaled by ti)e sight of a hundred filling bags with sand and hurriedly placing them in position to stop the break. In times of low water the boatoften got aground. When this happened, and much ringing of bells and hacking and going ahead of>jhfiengJ«*B failed;. to 1 get it off the bar, she spars were got into position and a vigorous effort made to get off by sparring. Sometimes even this failed, and there was nothing to do but to lighten the boat or wait until some other craft came along whose captain was good-hu-mored enough to lend a helping hand, when hawsers were stretched, and with a pull altogether tbe boat came

off with a grating, grinding sound and went on her way. From time to time during the day and sight sounding was resorted to by the pilot A rouster on each side of the bow would sing out in doleful tones the stage of the water he had just ascertained with the lead, and bis gibberish, unintelligible to an outsider, was translated into the vernacular by an officer of the boat, who took a seat on the hurricane deck and repeated to the pilot tbe cries that came up from the lower regions. But no event of any voyage gave such general pleasure to crew and passengers as a race. The racing of the antebellum dajs was tbe feature of Western river life. When two boats chanced to leave a landing together a race to the next was almost a certainty, and such pride was felt in their respective craft by all concerned that often no little money changed handß on the result. No means, legitimate or otherwise, were left untried to forge ahead, and when wood became scarce or did not produce the requisite steam little hesitation was felt in throwing into the

furnacefc sides of bacon, firkins of butter, packages of lard, oil, or other quick combustible in order to gain the advantage. The waste was reckless, but pride was at stake, and tbe owners of the boat woeld cheerfully pay for tbe loss as long as it insured success. The excitement spread to all classes, and even the colored deckhands would bet their dimes aDd quarters on the result as recklessly as the feentlemea above risked their hundreds. Speaking of risks, however, the betting that was done oath*boat

racing was trifling -compared with that which was done at the card tables. A regular brood of gamblers for many years infested the river boats, and though occasionally detected and set ashore by captains on sandbars and .similar unfrequented places, they could not be compelled to quit their nefarious pursuits. Young men with more money than brains, a common combi natien, gentlemen who firmly believed that they knew how to play poker, and similar innocents, were their favorite game, and on the turn of a card thousands were sometimes staked. Card playing, and particularly poker, was then regarded as the accomplishment of a gentleman, and he was the most thorough-paced sport who most coolly could see his fortune disappear at the card table. Many are the stories told of the scenes of excitement, sometimes bloody excitement, for these were days of dueling as well as gambling, which were witnessed during the famous flush times in Missis-

sippi and Louisiana, and many were the quarrels which, began at the card tablb in the gentlemen’s cabin, were ended by a quiet burial on tha river bank.

DEALING OUT “LICKER."

BACON MAKES GOOD RACING FUEL

AN UNWILLING PASSENGER.

REPAIRING A CREVASSE.

POPULAR PASTIME IN THE SMOKING-ROOM.