MUBNCHIPTIOS RATES : j
Per year, in advance ♦' 50
Otberwioe |
So aab>fcriptimi will be tincontinued until *ll /
&r.' pai i. J*o6tm*irt©rß to
notiry as vhin «jOr' riber* do not take om ilieii
papers wiil l»e he!«l liabie (or tt.e Mubucnpticn.
Subscribers ron.uvuig from out- jn.c!oiijc«> to
another should tfive as tJie name of the forme:
\» well art the present oUitt*.
.VII cotniuniucatiou. OiiendeJ lot [jßblic.uiu!
n this pa,Hjr iuur( be *c«.'OUj|«nii>-d l>r the rev.
:iam-< of the •mter. uot for publication but a* ,
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and deafli aoticae must be aocompa- (
Died by a reeyomiuble name.
Address
THE 81/TI-KR CITIItS.
BCTLER. PA.
raj||
aam
FOR
MOHMTIM,
Mauralgia. Sciatica, Lumbago,
Backache, Soreness of thi Chest, Gout,
Quinsy, Sore Throat, Swellings and
Sprains, Burns and Scalds,
General Bodily Pains,
Tooth, Ear and Headache, Frosted Feet
and Ears, and all other Pains
and Aches.
No Preparation on earth «jnais ST. JACOB* OIL a*
£ B'ttr. *ure, simple and cheap Kzteniftl Keni€<jjr.
A trial entails but the comparatively trifling outlay
€>f 50 ObU, and every one suffering with pain
can have cheap and poidtive proof cf its clajns.
Insertions in Eleven Languages.
SOLD BY ALL DETJOOIBTB A3TD DEALERS II
MEDicnrE.
A.VOGEJLER to CO.,
Baltimore, Md., V. S. JL
MRS. LTDIi L PiNKH&fiA, OF MM, MASS.,
I
LYDIA E. PINKHAM'B
VEGETABLE COMPOUND.
laaPoeltW^nrj
feral! tIMM Painful Cmlalate amd V»ta«M
HMBBM MMrkWtfmlt l>«p«l»tlo».
It will cure entirely tlx worst form of Female Com
plaints, all orarUn troublea, Inflammation and Cleera
tlon. Falling and Dleplareraenu, and the consequent
Iplnal Weeknecs, aad la particularly adapted to the
Change of Ufa.
I* win dissolve aad expel tumors from the uterus In
sa sari/ stage of development. The tendency to can
eerooe humors there Is clicked rery speedily by Ha use.
II rwaoTM falntneas, flatulency, destroys all era ring
for stimulants, and relieve* weakness of the stomach.
It cure* Bloating, Headache*. Verroos Prostration,
General pabUlty, Sleeplessness, pepreesHm »u4 Indt
gsstioa.
That feeling of bearing down, causing pain, Wsight
and backache, la always permanently cured by 1U use.
It will at all times and omlar all act In
harmony with the laws that govern the female *y«em.
For tha rare of Kidney Complaints of either sax thla
Compound Is unsurpsss.il
LTPIA L PIXKHAMU VEGETABLE COM
POCir»Is prepared at ta and IU Western avenue,
Lyan,Maas. PW-s fl. Six bottles for (6. Sentby maU
ta the form of ptlls, also In the form ol losengea, oa
receipt of price, $1 per box for either. Mrs. Plakhaaa
freely answers all letter* of Inquiry. Bend for pemph
laC lIIIIISSS a* above. Mention t MI Paper.
So family shopld be without LTDU X. PIXXHaIfV
pvET* fllxa.' fhrr rare constipation, biliousness,
ud torpidity of the Uver. M csots per bos.
_ $r Ml by all l>r«»«lsis.
GREAT GERM DESTROYEK
DA KIII 'S
PROPEYLACriC FLUID.
"■■■PittingofSMALL
SMALL POX VOX Prevented.
ERADICATED.
Gangrene prevented and
cured.
Dysentery cured.
1 mjlinsio!. uestriived. _ WdDftds h.-aled rapidly,
hick room* purilied and scurvy cure<t In short
ni;.du J>!e;u«aiit. „ nle .
KevertHf and Sick Per- T( . tter dried up.
join H'Juwl ami re- | r j s perfectly harmless.
fr ft, h 2* sy,5 y , K " r *•» Throat it is a
Propliy actu- Flu- sure , :urr ..
id added to the water.
Holt White Complexion* fBaKBBBBK
secured by its use a 4
in bathing. 1 HtPTMPRIA I
Impure Air inii'le hnnn- 1 Vtt Int nln I
lest and punfled bv I ___ fi
nprliiKliiiK l»arby<s3 PREVENTED.!
Mi'id about. B
To purlfv in • breatli, tmss-mmmaamawmamt
■ pean c tht' Teeth, it
pan'l be mtrpa < f'liolem dl.islpaled,
Ciiiant r iifyeii aiv.l "'iiip I'ever Irevinred by
cured. its line,
Erijsii/ul trfcur' d. In caws of death in the
JSiirtiH r-llev I instantly. hoo-'-,|i -hould always
Hc'irs pacveiit«'d. !>■• 1 > d about the
Removes all unpleasant corpse it win prevent
odor*. any <inpleaNaiit miiclL
An Antidote for Animal
■MMnnߣKasK£aE£r or Vegetable I'oUoiM,
BqCARI FT I "angiTous effluvlas of
I M i/rn I 'lek room, hml IKW
-9 ttV t n I pitals lemovcd by its
I OUBEO v - wr „„
I——l hi urn 11 ■limn* ERADICATED.
In (a<'t it In the great
Disinfectant and Purifier,
PRKI'AIiED BY
J. H ZEILIN «r CO,,
Manufacturing Ohennsta, HOLK I'HOJ'HIKTOHH.
NOTICE TO FARMERS.
Large number ol Kartns lor hale or exchange
at low pricß and *on cany payment* se e,-al
small farma from In JO wren wanted. Also,
ioans furnlithed to farmers having improved
(arms on long time ai d at lov rules. Address
W. J KISKADDEN, Froepon, Pa.,
Or call j»I Office days: Every Monday at
Freeport Kvery Tuesday at No. #O, Fourth
Filf"burgU.
D. L. CLEELAND,
WATCHMAKER & JEWELER,
has just received a fine stock of
BATCHES, CLOCKS, JEWELRY A SILVER
PLATED WARE, FOR THE
HOLIDAY TRADE.
Plena* call and examine his goods before buy
iftj-' J
AGENTS WANTED
We want five first class agents for
soliciting orders for Fruit aud Orna
mental trees. Terms liberal. Call in
dividually, or address,
" WALKEB & BIEDKRMAN,
nlfitf Butler, Pa.
IJniqn Woolen Afill,
* BUTLEK, PA.
H. IUIILEKI'O.V, Prop'r.
Manufacturer ol BLANKET*, YAMNS,
Ac. Also custom work done tu order, such as
carding Kolli, making Klankctn, Fl muels, Knit
ting and Weaving Yarns, Ac., at very low
prices Wool worked on the shares, it de
aired. atyl-ly
VOL. XIX.
KING COAL'S HIGHWAY.
(From Harper's Magazine for Jan. 188?.)
At that most interesting point on
' the coast of the Gulf of Mexicv where,
through a low-walled channel, the
Mississippi pours a fan-shaped torrent
of umber-hued fresh-water into the
azure saltness of the Gulf, two objects
boldly claim attention. One of these,
the Port Eads Light-house, towers
above the surrounding buildings, a
Cyclopean giant whose single eye
glares about the four points of the
compass, and winks once every thirty
seconds. The other is a sloping soli
tary hillock of coal, immobile, dusky,
sullen ; its base set about with great
bleck lumps, its apex irregular in form,
crumbling, uoslightly. A contrast,
truly, to its brilliant vis-a-vis, yet
holding within itself all the elements
of a light as brilliant as that which
pours through the Fresnel lenses op
posite, and representing, however, in
each homely lump a storehouse of heat,
and a magazine of power to be evolved
through glowing furnace and throb
ing engine.
And as the voyage proceeds up the
great river he will find no more light
houses, but at evgry plantation, at
every city, and every tpwn aiocg the
mighty stream he will find a copipan.-
ion to the coal pile at South Pass.
He wil) see coal ashore and afloat, in
transit by water or on laud.
Whence comes it? How coipes it?
These are the questions it is the prev
ince of this paper to answer through
pen, pencil and graver.
Twenty-one hundred milea distant
from the carbon heap at Port Eads its
bulk is represented by a void a3 black
as is the coal itself, deep lieneath the
goodly hills of Western Pennsylvania
that utx' within siffht of Pittsburgh's
pi-rpetual cloud of smoke. Under
these hills a grimy army of men la
bor to dislodjre what nature stored
there countless ages ago: solid carbon
for *he wanning of a million firesides
along the banks of the Father ol Wa
ters, for the driving of wheels in
thousands of worknhops in the valleys
of the Ohio and Mississippi, for the
lighting of busy streets in cities two
thousand miles a way, and for the im
pelling power of river aud ocean
steamers.
Between the subterranean pit of the
producer aud the furnace of the con
sumer there stretches, not the parallel
metals of the railway, nor the terraced
levels of a canal, but the devious chan
nels of two great rivers, the Ohio and
Mississippi. Thousands of miles of
tortuous water-course, a varied gaunt
let that must be run by the coal-trans
porting fleets that issue from the por.
tals of Pittsburgh, aptly termed the
"Gate City of the West."
A gauntlet of shifting "bars," of
treacherous shoals, and whirling and
vexing cross currents, where meau
deriugs aud reversions of course so
rapidly follow one another that the
greater river seems to write its super
abundant S's up and down the land,
and the lesser Ohio seeks to describe
its U's in water loops throughout the
thousand miles of ita length from
Pittsburgh to Cairo. These are but
the spring and summer difficulties to
be surmounted by the inland naviga
tor. Winter multiplies them to a
fourfold degree. Out of the Allegheny,
whose sources lie within sight of Lake
Erie, there pour at intervals during
the winter months swift-moving gla
ciers of ponderous ice-cakes, drifting
southward to their dissolution at the
rate of six miles an hour. Or it may
be that this stream and the Monon
gahela—as well as the Upper Ohio—
are silent under solid fields of ice.
Then let sudden thaw or genial rain
release the imprisoned streams, and
acres of ice break up aud carry des
truction to coal fleets at or near Pitts
burgh awaiting a favorable stage of
water. Then a hundred bea's of a
healthy pulse would mete out sufficient
time for the destruction of enough
coal to light and beat a city for a
month.
So much for the danger surround- t
ing the river coal trade of Pittsburgh ; a
now as to the nature and extent of the t
trade itself. It is, in the tir**t place, a f
trade which the most ambitious rail- t
way can not absorb. Nature's high- r
way is h-re suprenjc, and time loses t
its piogetary value as compared with I
the cheapness of trasportatioc by wa- (
ter. To .send a ton of coal from I'itts- \
burgh along those two thousand miles H
ol waterway and deliver it at New i
Orleans cost fcl.iiO, or about five cents i
per bushel ot seventy-six pounds. f
The freight- hungrier railway could
not afl >id to carry coal more than one- t
tentb that distauce for thtf same price, i
This extreme cheapness it is that has 1
called into Is-i.ig this trade, that has t
caused its growth, and that will |»«;r- 1
petuate its existence though the con- <
tineut be cobwebbed with railways i
The river transportation of coal has j
developed to such an extent that t
whereas in 1844 the coal from seven t
acres of Pittsburgh coal seam was |
floated from that city, there was left, |
yc ar before last, a dark echoing void of j t
720 acres under the smiling farms of t
the Keystone State.
The intrinsic excellence of Pitts- i
burgh coal a? a heat, steam, and light
producer must not be lost sight of P.S i
an element in the building up of the j ,
trade. It Is a fuel as yet without a■ i
successful rival in the Ohio and Mis- !
sissippi valleys, shut out, however, !
from all but river poiuts, only by rea-.
son of the prohibitory bar of transpor
tation charges. These rivers reuder
it possible for the sugar planter of
Louisiana to evaporate his syrup over !
Pittsburgh coal, tbe ocean steamer to
nil her bunkers at New Orleans, and
for that city, Baton Rouge, Natchez,
Vicksburg, Memphis and St. Louis to
light their streets with gas. To these j
benefits must be added the enormous
supply of coal for domestic purposes. I
Many of the consumers are as remote :
from the parent beds of tbe fuel they 1
enjoy as New England is from old
Ireland.
An open map of tbe United States
will show the inland highway of King
Coal to be an inky, tortuous line, ex
■ tending from Pittsburgh to Cairo,
I Illinois, and laltelled tbe Ohio, from
I Cario north to St. Louis, and from ,
i the latter south to New Orleans, fonr
i teen hundred miles alon? the Missis
sippi toward the equator. During the
year 1880 there entered this highway
at Pittsburgh ninety million bushels
of bituminous coal and coke. The
latter article comprised but a few million
bushels. The term ''bushel" is prob
ably not a familiar one as applied to
coal. Twenty-six a&d two-thirds
bushels make a ton, so that the quan
tity given above means about 3,500,-
000 tons.
Of this mnch-sought-for fuel Cincin
! nati mills and homes take thirty million
bushels yearly from the river. Louis
villle twelve million bushels, New Or
leans eight million, Memphis and
Yicksbqrg flve million each, and smal
ler towns and villages along the two
rivers absorb fifteen million more. And
every pound of this coal, from the mo
ment it first rests in boat or barge at
the Bhute or tipple at the pit, until it
leaves the water at New Orleans, or
strews the bed of a great river, is sur
rounded by the dangers out
lined—vicissitudes such as can only be
found in this trade ; dangers that call
forth the peculiar characteristics of the
navigators of this treachirous highway.
Moreover, the coal consigued to the
care of a single steamer frequently
amounts 2P.OQU tops—enough to
load five of the largest ocean steauievg
to a dangerous depth. And the men
in charge of this mass of fuel are ex
pected to successfully overcome diffi
cultiec that would appall the most ex
perienced navigators of pepper yatefs.
This hazardous and peculiar paturp of
the trade has develojied a race of nayi
gators whose dominant traits are pluck,
fertility of resource in times of disaster,
and promptness to act at all times,
united with an all-pervading disposi
tion to take evils a« they come philo
sophically.
Let a suddeq rise in the rivej-s pwell
ihe waters of the Ohio. At an hour's
notice the cables must be slipped and
the huge boats floated off on the crest
of the rise. Else the chnuces are in fa
vor of stranded boats and coal scattered
along the bed of the stream.
It is this capricioueness of the Ohio,
engendered by the vagaries of the
Weather, that renders the experiences
of the coahchipper unique. The east
ern navigator, who revels in a pleuti?
tutle of water, can form no just concep
tion of the skill necessary to guide a
fleet of cumbersome coal craft of seven
feet six inches draught through tho
windings of a channel where the uner
ring marks show there is just seven
feet eight inches of water Nor can
the eastern or other mind unfamiliar
with this coal-shipping trade know of
the brain and muscle and machinery
and skill which must go hand in hand
iu order that a solid mass of coal afloat
longer than the "Great Eastern" by
two hundred feet, and as wide as a
city park, may be steered clear of be
setting dangers, and safelv borne along
a route nearly as long as that traversed
by a Cunarder. To tow, iu North or
East River parlance, is to pull. On
the Ohio and Mississippi, and al) west
ern streams, towing means pushing,
The acre of floating coal craft must be
bound in solid rigidity, and must lie in
front of the propelling steamer and the
pilot's eye, before the dangers of the
rivers can be met and overcome.
In this connection it is appropriate
to refer to a step recently taken by the
general government to lessen the dan
gers of the Ohio, Mississippi, and Mis
souri Yivers. This consists in the esr
tablishment and maintenance of the
"beacon-light" system on the rivers
named. During the nights of inky
blackness of sky, when even the con
tour of familiar bills or clearings or
bluffs escapes the keen-eyed pilot, the
steady, clear radiance of the "beacon"
indicates bis whereabouts, and marks
the ripple, or scantily*.covered bar, or
the point at which the boat must aim
in "flanking" around the
loops of t|ip prratip streams The es»
tablishment of these lights, a few years
ago, was looked upon with iudifference
by nearly every every pilot etraged up
on the tow-boats. Some went so far
as to oppose the beacon on the ground
that the pilots' duties would be simpli
fied thereby, aud thus the value of
their labor reduced. But, as night after
night, in storm or palqi, these calm,
steadfast rays lent their aid to the pi
lot's strained faculties, their mute elo
quence asserted itself. And to-day,
when a fierce gust, or caving bank, or
sudden flood, extinguishes a light, a
mightv growl goes up from the frater
nity of the tiller-rope, the missing
star is restored.
Every three months, or oftener, a
trim swift steamer sweeps tq» and down
the rivers, repairs damages to the
lights, changes their location to suit
the unceasing shifting of bar or bend,
pays the light keepers their well-earned
dues, and supplies each with the oil
needed. A beacon-light is simply an
inland light-hoyse of modest propor
tions. A short wooden post, braced
to withstand wtud, and bearing a small
hooded platform at its top, eight or
twelve feet from the ground, forms the
support of a lantern of siqxirior con
struction. In general appearance the
way-side shrine of the Old World is
reproduced in the beacon-light of the
New.
Aad in this connection it seems emi
nently fitting that Pennsylvania oil
should light Pennsylvania coal on its
way to market. 111 the 800 lights on
rivers uamed, elaine, a special prepa
ration of petroleum, is used altogether,
as being fully equal to lard-oil for light
bouse purposes. The Ohio has 324 of
these lighu, and the Missouri and Mis
sissippi 480 more. 'lhe pntire system
is one whose benefits become yearly
more apparent.
Within the past few years the growth
of the river coal-handling trade has re
ceived* fresh impetus by reason of the
success attending the completion of the
Eads jetties at the South Pass outlet
of the Mississippi. New Orleaus, here
tofore a mud-blockaded port for vessels
('rawing over fifteen feet, is now easily
approached by sea-going vessels of
twenty-eight feet draught, and requir
ing a thousand or twelve hundred tons
of coal to stock their capacious bunkers.
Originally, aud before the present per
fectly appointed tow-boats were drijam
-led of, coal, to a limited extent, was
BI TLER, PA., WEDNESDAY, JANUARY K 1882.
floated from Pittsburgh to New Orleans
and nearer ports in boats whose only
means of propulsion were huge oars,
"sweeps," actuated by the muscles of
the easy-going crew, whose patience
was commensurate with an average
speed of four miles an hour for weeks
at a time. These primitive craft jour
neyed in pairs, and the owner aud nav
igator who succeeded in bringing one
of these safely to New Orleans was
fully reconciled to the almost inevitable
loss of the other through perils by the
way.
Coal-towing by steam to southern
ports dates back about a quarter of a
century. The civil war interrupted
the young and promising trade, but
with the cessation of hostilities, Pitts
burgh capital aud enterprise found a
profitable field in supplying the cities
already named.
To meet the increased requirements
of the trade there was called into ex
istence a class of steamboats not found
elsewhere in the world. The boat de
signed and built for coal-towing along
this high-way must of necessity pos
sess qualities difficult to combine in the
same vessel. There must be immense
power of engine, backed by enormous
steam-making ability, to cope with the
force of the mighty currents. There
must be lightness of draught to enable
the craft to hep home port during
seasons of low water, and there must
be tremendously powerful steering ap
paratus, four times AS much as that
possessed by the largest oceangoing
steamer. The latter quality is indis
pensablp by reasoq of the inprtio. and
momentum of the fleet of coal craft,
which must be guided by the power of
two men at the tiller. Speed is an ele
ment in a measure lost sight of in the
construction of a coal tow-boat. What
is required is that the completed craft
shall be a good "pusher;" and supple
menting the best work of builder and
mechanic muse come into play the cool,
clear heads of the men whose duty it
is to handle the boat aud h«*r tow, and
with these to thread the aqueous mazes
between the foot qt the AUcghauies
and the Gulf of Mexico
Such a boat is the "Harry Brown,"
that will pu.-li 20,000 tons of coal down
the two rivers at the rate of nine miles
an hour Her hull, of the best white
oak. pipages jjfto feet in iength, fifty
in breadth, aud siif in depth. Machin
ery aud boilers occupy the greater por
tion of the first deck from stem to stem.
The propelling engines are at the stern,
aud act directly upon an immense pad
dle-wheel revolving on a steel ehaft
from the hammers and crucibles of
Fred Krupp. These engines turn the
wheel with the combined power of
000 horses, and draw their potent va*
por from seven steel boilers that evap
orate ten cubic leet of water every min
ute over furnaces that devour 1,200
bushels every twenty-four hours. On
the second or boiler deck are the com
fortable and even elegant quarters of
the officers and crew—a pretty cabin
and state-rooms for the one, and home
lier comforts for the other. Cleanliness
and good living are enjoyed by the in
land navigator, and to this end is pro
vided a table comparing favorably with
that of a first-class hotel, and a bath
room with a huge tub and a limitless
supply of hot and cold water. Paint
ings, Brussels carpet, and other luxu
ries of furnishment give a home-like air
to the cabin, and are in a measure con
solatory to men who must be absent
from home for months at a time.
The cabin of a tow-boat is at all times
a comfortable place, and a favorite re
sort for the officers. It is the realm of
the chamber-maid. In this particular
the lady was known as Violet.
'ls your name really Violet ?'
'No, sah; 1 tink my real name's Sal;
but, law! Sal wouldn't p'serve de dig
nity ob my position for four days."
Therefore Sal became Violet, and Vio
let reigned like a dusky queen over a
kingdom of equally dusky deck liandi.
Then there was Augustus, a table
boy, whose mouth expressed every im
aginable phase of grin, and whose per
ennial good-nature it was impossible
not to admire.
In the forecastle, or forward part of
the cabin, the pilots are wont to con
gregate when off watch. Their memo
ries, especially the older members of
the fraternity, tee u with anecdotes of
hair-breadth escapes from hidden guer
rillas, who during the war seemed to
have a special weakness for perforating
pilot-houses, and the veteran who can
not add a blood-curdling yarn of a boil
er explosion beneath him would be re
garded by Ids fellows as having passed
a too pastoral existence.
Above this deck is a structure which, j
seen ashore, would b«: taken for a con- j
servatory. or queerly-shaped green- 1
house. Three of its sides are formed \
of sliding glazed sash, and surround
what may be termed the seat of the
brains of the b4at, the boilers being
lun<js t and ougiues heart In this
apartment is found a steering wheel
twelve feot in diameter, upon whose,
intelligent handling depends the safety
of boat and tow. Odd-looking levers
are within reach, and serve to send
along two hundred feet of wire the
message, interpreted through bell and
gong in tho realm of the engineer.
Through the floor projects an object
a huge pedal af a great organ, and
the pressure of a foot upon it lets loose
a flood of indescribable roars overhead;
for this is the whistle lever, and your
Western river whistle is a many-voiced
demon, composed of a number of whis
tles, great aud small, bunched on the
a|>cx of the steam-pipe, and blending
in a most lusty bowl—a blast distin
guishable for up' 6B . a, *d known to all
boatmen as men recognize the voices of
friends. The front or fourth side of
this crystal-walled structure, the pilot
house, is opeu—a great eye protected
by swinging lids that droop in storm
and lift in sunshine. Through this
open space is viewed the double pan
orama of passing shore, of bend and
hill, and all that goes to make up the
ever-changing scene most familiar to
the pilo.t's gaze. In the immediate
foreground rise the black columnar
proportions of the lofty "smoke
stacks," pouring graceful festoons of
jet-black carbon cloud iuto the air.
Further off, and midway between
these tall cylinders, rises tho graceful
"jack-staff" from the bow of tho boat,
the slender index that serves the pilot
as a guide and pointer. Ahead and
beyond, stretching into the distance,
' extends the fleet of coal-laden boats and
j barges—a peninsula hemmed about by
I the river's bright surface during day
! light; at night a blackness merged into
[ the surrounding gloom for all eyes save
the marvellously trained organs of the
men at the wheel. Aft of the pilot
house the twin "'scape pipes" rise from
the engine-room, and cough responsive
ly, mingling their snowy breath with
the inky torrents that roll from their
big brethren the smoke stacks.
From the pilot-house lead the tiller
ropes to a lever thirty feet long, swing
ing under the ceiling of the engine
room. This operates other levers that
actuate the tour massive rudders under
the stern of the steamer. Two ot these
extend through the water thirty feet,
and their shorter fellows are fifteen feet
long. All sway in unison, and are |
moved at the will of the men in the
pilot-house. Such a boat costs $65,000,
and of this, SIO,OOO represents "outfit."
Under the latter head may be mention
ed 20,000 feet of ropes in coils of 1,000
feet each, and of all sizes Seven tons
of ponderous chains, ratchets, blocks,
and tackle come into play in binding a
score of coal craft into a solid mass,
making this mass, in fact, a part an*)
parcel of the steamer itself. And such
is the strain brought upon the steam
ers in this trade that the life of one of
the fleet rarely extends over twelve
years. And if by reason of strength
tbey be fifteen, their added years are
only gained by constant repairs, CRCjiqg
in coljapse and wrecking-
Pittsburgh is the home of a fleet of
140 tow-boats of the "Ilarry Brown"
pattern, but varying in size, power and
finish, from the harbor tug of modest
proportions, costing about $3,000, to
lioats of the dimensions of the 'Brown.'
And of the luttef tfjere pre at lya-it
fiftv.
Important but humbler adjuncts of
the traile are the homely craft whose
only office is to receiye poal at the
I'ittaburgh mines and retain the same
until the distant market is reached.
These are known as coal "boats" and
"barges"—model and square. The coal
"boat" is a most primitive-looking b"X
shaped affa|r, f'rai| in make-up, and ap->
pareutly as illy adapted to stand rough
usage as a bandbox These craft
measure 180 by 26 by 9 feet, 'draw'
feet of water when loaded, bold 22,-
000 to 24,000 bushels (740 tons), and
cost SI4OO a pair. Their pine sides
are only inches thick, and once
strained in swift water, go to pieces,
aud scatter their contents along the
river.bed. The coal 'barge' is a stur
dier, smaller comrade of the 'boat,'
is 160 or 180 by 24 feet, and feet
deep, drawing 6£ when loaded, is
'raked' fore and aft, and will safely
carry from 12,500 to 14 000 bushels
(530 tons), and costs SIIOOO each, be
ing made of heavy pine timber. There
are other coal carrying craft in use,
but those described are the moat iiu*
portant forms used iu longdistanco tow
ing. After being unloaded at their des
tination they are known as 'emptiers,'
and are towed back and refilled;
and so on until their life is ended,
gradually through successful toil, or
suddenly through the dangers that
lurk on all sides. From the earlier
stages of their journey to the very
latest these clumsy boats and Uarfcea
peem thp victims of uutoward circum
stances. In the sluggish pools of the
Monongahela, during tho winter
months, ice surrounds and threatens
them, and the coming of the spring
thaw is certain to bring destruction.
Further along their southerly tour, the
jierils of tho Upjter Ohio surrounded
them. A "lump' may break through
their bottoms while gliding over a hid
den bar covered with just enough wa
ter to float the craft, or a snag piereea
the boat's frail shell, and vicious wa
ters ripple cheerfully over her gun
wales. A loaded boat sinks to within
eighteen or twenty-two inchces of the
surface of the surrounding water, and
the care and skill brought into
play in order to guide and propel fleets
of the»e deeply laden cruft become ap
parent to the dullest observer.
Just at thp point where the wedded
streams Monongahela and Allegheny
create the Ohio, a motley assembly of
boats and barges are herded together
during the greater part of the year,
awa'ting the pleasure of the clouds
and the dropping of the rains, which
must fall lilierallv in order to release
the waiting erat. At adjacent land-j
tng the tow-boats are also grouped |
during the waterless or icebound
months—the steamers, great and small
whOse duties are comparable to those
01 the shepherd's collie. They must
gather together the coal -bearing flock,
keep them in solid phalanx, urge them
along the devious highway, and re
strain «.heir desire to follow seductive
cross currents, and finally aid in hand
ing them over to the waiting purchas
er. And most faithfully do these
boats fulfill their mission. A stran
ger who chances to visit Pitts
burgh on a day when the message,
"Rising at head-waters," gladdens the
heart of the coal-shippers of the Smoky
City, may note in tho looks and at the
landings near the city scenes of stir
ring, often of surpassing, interest. 1
These locks of the Monongrhela aro
all too small for tho wants of the coal
men, to whom an hour's delay may
mean a fortune lost. One by one
the laden craft are dropped to the
lower landings, where the tows are
made up. Little tugs cleave the mud
dy water with one, two, or lour bar
ges, and transfer these to tho waiting
monsters. Smoke and steam roll sky
ward, voices hoarsely issue orders
from the "hurricane-deck," mingling
with the bang of gongs and tinkle of
bells in tho engine-rooms; capstans
creak, big ropes swash across the swel
ling tide,Jand,the di'i keeps up until the
last tow-boat of a procession fifty
miles long steams slowly out into the
Ohio.
Such sights and sounds are familiar
to every Pittsburgher when the marks
show a rise in the rivers making a
depth of anywhere over eight feet;
aud on such an occasion the writer
and the artists liegan a two thousand
mile voyage, whose gathered results
are here laid before the reader.
The first spring month of 1881 was
but a few hours old when the "tow,"
! already made up and "hitched" to the
' steamer, lay in the deep shadow of
t "Coal Hill," awaiting the coming day
; light to be, with others, started on its
; long and hazardous jobrney. With
J the coming of keen, frosty dawn the
j signal bell sounded, and the ready
1 steam filled each cylinder. The mons
trous wheel, as big as a country church
minus the steeple, churned the water
and $40,000 worth of coal and $60,000
worth of boats and machinery swung
out into the current.
At the first sweeping bend the pro
cess of "flanking" excites admiration,
and shows what can be accomplished
by a wonderfully skillful co-operation
of engines, tiller, aud propelling wheel,
acting as accessories to the force of
the current. To retain boat and tow
in the current, as is done when the
river is straight, is found to be folly
on a huge scale. The momentum of
the mass would drive the fleet ashore
at tjie toe of
To "flank" is to so handle the fleet
that its onward march is checked be
fore entering the curve, and so steered
that, at the center of the bend, boat
and tow lie almo6t across the stream,
with the forward barges exposed to
the force of th° carreut as it sweeps
around the outer edge of the semicir
cle. The resultless tide, bearing
against the distant end of the fleet,
swings the mass around as if on a piv
ot, and the pilot, promptly seconded I
by the engineer, hrin£s the full power
of engines and rudders into play. |
Thus the solid fleet is headed down !
the lower half of the curve, and so on
to straighter shores. Where the ]
curves succeed each other until the ;
river is a huge ox-bow, boat and tow
seem waltzing sideways down tho
river in tv Uiauuer incomprehensible to
tho.se unfamiliar with the mysteries of
' flanking." From th»- pilui-hotise the
feat possesses absorbing interest f<ft
the Qhserver. TUis process must be I
repeated at every bend between Pitts
burgh and New Orleans, and iri a
method peculiar to the handling of
these cool fleets. Iu comparison the
steersman's work on an ocean steamer
is bqt child's play, and to be a success
ful tow-boat pilot on the Ohio or Miss- i
i*»ippi calls for the exercise of rare j
judgment and the prompt co-operation '
ol ready brain aud trained muscle. A !
wrong interpretation of one of the 1
thousand signs of water, shore, bar, or i
ripple, means the grounding, and often
the loss, of a poatly boat...
The ooming of night multiples tho
pilot's difficulties, and usually unless
water and weather are extremely
favorable, the floating island of coal,
wood, aud vibrating mechanism must
'tie up.' This is an operation full of
difficulties, and requiring extreme ca£e. >«
Slowly the forward motion of the mass
must be checked, and on nearing the
selected spot along the shore the most
agile of the yrew must laud with ca
blet), and make fast 'breast' and 'stern'
lines. These are tied to some conven
ient and sturdily rooted tree. Then
comes a tug of war, the more exciting
if the current be pretty Bwilt. It
is .steam and good hemp and Manila
pitted against the might ot a river.
The ropes grow taut as piano strings,
the smoke curls from the m&give 'check
posts' in the boats as the coils are
eased to check the fleet's headway
gradually, and the ruddy light from
the coal-burning torches lights up the
weird scene. Finally boats and tow
lie immovable, and silently await the
coming of another dawn. And when
drifting ice-cakes pile against the boats,
or a howling wind adds its strength to
that of the river, 'tyiug up' is a labor
full of danger, presenting a scene of pe
culiar excitement, uot unfrequently
ending in the swamping of thousands
of bushels of coal, or the crippling of a
'deck hand' by the untimely snapping
of a cable.
AH the voyage continues down the
Ohio, tbo banks between which glide
river and boat and tow fall further
apart. Side stream# add their quota of
muddj- water impregnated with soils
of divers hues. Day and night the
big boat with her charge of black
diamonds continues her course, unless,
indeed, the nights are starless, moon
less, and blustery. Towns and cities
drift l»y on either hand, tor the south
bound coal fleet recognizes but one
balling.place—busy, pretty Louisville
—ami only halts at thin lair Kentu kv
city wln'ii the water does not oermit
bo«t and tow to 'run the tails.' and forces ,
the fleet to pa>s through the narrow j
confines <>f the Louisville and I'ortlaud
Cunal, or when th- size of the low
must be increased by adding the tows
of suuller boats which follow the large
lower river ste tmers to this point.
Lot a New-Yorker imagine all the
wheeled traffic of Broadway obliged to
pass through two pairs of country 'bars'
and obliged, moreover, to await the
putting up and taking down of these
bars before and behind each vehicle,
and he can form a pretty good idea of
the adequacy of the Louisville Canal
to the wants of the river coal shippers.
The Ohio at Louisville, six hundred
inilos from its source, is three fourths
of 11 mile wide, and a bold ridge of
transverse subaqueous rock gives the
stream a fall of twrnty-seven feet in a
distance of two miles, and a current of
of twelve miles an hour dashes among
bowlders iu such a way that a flood of
over thirty feet stage is necessary Lo
enable river commerce to lie independ
ent of the thalldom of locks. This stage
of water in the fickle Ohio is by no
means common. During the 366 days
that dawned in 1880, but 103 days saw
"falls water," and during the 263 com
paratively waterless days coal-carrying
craft representing half a million tons
passed through the well regulated but
tedious little ditch. A coal tow will
measure from 500 to 800 feet by 200,
while the capacity of the canal is limi
ted by its available space in the locks,
which are 340 feet by 80, so that the
descending tow must be pulled apart
and marched at funeral pace through
this canal, two miles, to its lower end.
Hero deep water and a convenient shel
ter for re-arranging tows for southern
ports are found. Very often, when
falls water is not, there may bo noted
at Louisville a solemn, immobile line
of great tow boats awaiting their turn
i to pass the narrow portal that comes
' between them and distant ports. And
! the cabin of these craft as well as the
: levee at Louisville will on such occa
sions be haunted bv rueful-visaged
i men whose boats are far from the head
of the line, and from wbo3e unwilling
pockets each day of delay to each
steamer draws two SIOO bills, to which
are added the neat little bills of harbor
tugs for towing. And this is not all
Right at the gateway to the canal,
. where on the one band there is the
crest of a foaming, roaring dam, draw
ing all floating things to destruction,
and on the other the encroaching shore,
there is permitted by the municipality
of Louisville a half-dozen clumsy
"floats" or coal-landing platforms, these"
also flanked and made more obtrusive
by barges and other coal craft in pro
cess of emptying at the wharf. To
make use of simile once more, it is as
if New York city were to allow pea-nut
i stands to block the junction of Fulton
Street and Broadway. The govern
ment has abolished tolls, and has done
much to improve the Louisville Canal
of late years. It can make the work
complete by condemning and absorbing
that portion of the Louisville wharf
extending from the mouth of the canal
up a distance of one-quarter of a mile.
Tow-boat life is au odd existence,
and in a measure soothing to those who
by good fortune are the recipients of
tow-boat hospitalities. In the pretty
cabin there uxuU an air of perpetual
i hush, broken only at meal-times— 6 A.
M., 12 M , and 6P. M. The tow-boat
i man takes his slumbers and labors in
! equal portions of six hourß each, and
j between meals (when the "watches"
I change) half the crew sleep the sleep
j of the weary, and the other half respect
their rest. Only the pilots enjoy a less
than six hour subdivision of the twen
ty-four. Their day consists of two six
hour watches, u five, a four, and a three
hour watch, so arranged that the
kuigbts of the tiller wheel do day aad
; night work alternately.
And so lb' IT rout boat and h»*r crew
of forty men aud the mass of fuel move
ou, the river growing wider and the
air milder as the Ohio approaches the
Mississippi The stalactites of ice that
lent the wheel and "fan-tail" a novel |
beauty fall off or melt away. Snow
appears only here aud there in shaded
places among hills that grow less bold
in outline. Then the willows that
make lieautiful the waste places on
i either hand show a deeper and more
definite verdure. And as the low-lying
roofs of Cario are sighted, the forest
oaks give way to cottonwood, with
buds swollen to bursting. The tow
which at Louisville had grown to a
mass 800 feet long and nearly 200
wide, swinga into the Father of Waters
a fortuigbt after leaving the landing at
•Pittsburgh. There are still a thousand
miles of water ahead, with an unknown
of fog and wind to be met and
overcome in tbis distance. Fog proves
a subtle, swift foe. The ice-cold waters
of the Ohio and upper Mississippi and
Missouri are swept by a warm, moist
air from the south, and lo! there springs
up on all sides fog—fog everywhere;
thick, penetrating, and shutting out
the nearest shores, and even the tow
from view ; an opaque wall of shifting
mist. The pilot-house seems to its oc
cupants tbe car of a cloud-riding balloon
floating miles above anything tangible
Such a visitation, coming wben the
tow is flanking around some grand
bend in the noble river, is fraught with
danger. The floating island of fuel and
boats seems suspended in mid ocean,
with only clouds of whirling vapor for
companionship, and nothing to recall
earth save the flash of unseen water.
The solid vertical bank may be five
feet front tbe head of the fleet, or it
may be five hundred—who cas tell?
Overhead, the vernal sun sheds bright
but ineffectual rays. Underneath, ten
fathoms of turbid water or one ? Not
even the wily pilot can tell. The yawl
must be hastily launched and sent
ahead, the engines stopped, the lead
heaved—every precaution taken These
are moments of deep anxiety, subject,
happily, to a speedy termination, for
the watery veil lifts or drifts away as
rapidly as it came.
In some cases,however,speedy landing
is tho only salvation for boat and tow.
Another terror to the tow-boat man is
a high wind. Such a wind sweeping
over the mile-wide Mississippi converts
its surface into a yellow prairie where
on myriads of muddy-wooled sheep
seem disporting themselves. Every j
sheep is. however, <lll augrv wave th;it J
s«'<;;us bi-nt upon leaping I h<- low wood*
en walls that guard the coal, and send
ing boat and contents to the bottom.
At the same time the wind bearing
against the towering form of the steam
er complicates matters by making it
almost impossible to properly guide
the boat and hvr charge. Happy is
the pilot, and equally happy the cap
tain, who can, on meeting such an im
portant breeze, find tho friendly shelter
of an island or calm eddy, there to se
renely await in the lee of tall cottou
woods the abatement of the storm.
In less exciting hours the boat is
herself the object of tho voj agers'
greatest admiration. Sho is the em
bodiment of prodigious power. Her
steel boilers are seething over roaring
tires that keep the needle of the steam
gauge to 165 pounds, and the twin
monsters that turn her vast wheel
known no such words as rest. Tho
engine-room is a place of polished
steel, gleiuning brass, curved pipes—
beauty of a Titanic order. At tho
throttle, the heart of tho engines,
stands a quiet, intelligent fellow, to
whom one shining lever near at hand
means "back her," another "stop her,"
and another, "go ahead," and whose
ear is ready to interpret the tinkle of
tho hells as the pilot intends ; and the
engines know his touch, and obey it as
trained elephants follow the slightest
motion of their master. Other engines
are grouped about, aud still others
are found in various parts of the boat.
In the dead hours of the night, if one's
ears are greeted wiih a horrid sound,
as of the grinding of coffee in a mill as
big as a burn, it means that ono of the
"nigger" engines is suddenly called in
to service to tighten a two-inch rope,
or wind up a discarded cable. Open
an iunocenUlooking closet, and you
vyill aw, aot« skeleton our a naughty
! ADVKKT!BI!«« It AT JEW,
One sqnare. one insertion. tl ; each sube*
quent insertion, 50 cents. Yearly advertisement
•xcce<lint,' one-fourth of a column. f5 per inc b
[ Furui* worn «ionl>le these rate*; addition!
■'barges where weekly or monthly changes are
[ma le L\-.-al advertiseu.ents JO cent* per lint
for iir-t in-ertion, and 5 cents per line for each
v'. l.tionr*l insertion. Marriage? and deaths put
-I,r d free «>f charge. Obituirj i.oriees cLaiged
a- advertisements, and i arable*vrhtu handed in
An lit .™'Notices, 51: Kiccntors' and Adminia
;n;or»' Notices. #3 each; Est ray, Cauticn &u4
Dissolution Notices, not exceeding ten lines
each.
From the fact that the CITIZEN is the oldea*
established and most extensively circnlated Be-
Sublican newspaper in Butler county, (a Reput
c»n county) it must be apparent to busineah
men that it is the medium they should use ixi
advertising their business.
NO. 9
; boy, but a fifteen-horse-power engine
i on end in ibe narrow space, and ready
for service at the turn of your wrist.
In other dark nooks the mecbauism of
a powerful pump or a "donkey" engine
can be noted. In the engine-room a
quaintly named machine, the "doctor,"
is constantly at work pumping water
into the boilers. The "doctor" is pos
sessed of diguified slowness of motion,
and baits not day or night wbila the
fires roar in the furnace. If it did, the
good steamer would be in danger of
ascendiug skyward piecemeal. The
prettiest occupant of the engine-room
has the power of half a dozen horses,
and possesses owl-like traits. Ita
strength goes forth at night only, and
its whirr is the signal for a stream of
lurid, intense light to pour from the
locomotive reflector on the "hurricane
roof," two hundred feet away. It is
the radiauce of electricity, that shames
the brightest glare of the furnaces, and
pales the gleam of the ordinary lamp.
Workmen far out on the tow go about
their labors as in mid-day, or are as
sisted in their arduous labors when a
landing i- made as no other light has
yet been able to assist them. In fact,
the entire boat is* a magazine of pent
up power, a floating arsenal of energy,
and it is not to be wondered at that
owners aud officers learn to love their
boat as one docs bis home.
As indicating this trait, as well as
the more important one of fertility of
resource possessed by tow-boat men, a
single instance may be cited. One
pleasant day in April; 1879, the tow
ing steamer John A. Wood, of Pitts
burgh, was comiug up the Mississippi
twenty-five miles below New Orleans
in fine style. Then came mishap the
first. Iler ponderous wrought-iron
shaft cracked, and disabled wheels and
engines. Swinging out of her course
she struck the iron works of a sunken
war vessel, the De Soto, which tore a
great hole in her hull, ana she sank im
mediately. Able engineers pronounced
her case a hopeless one, for no boat
ever sarvived twenty-two feet of Mis
sissippi water ami resultant deposits of
heavy mud. The owuer and godfath
er of the ill-fated steamer, Captain
John A. Wood visited his pet a few
days afterward. Ilis §90,000 beauty
was iu a serious plight. She leaned
toward the great river at a far more
desperate angle than the famed Tower
of I'isa, and her upper works and chim
neys alone were visible above the
whirling water. The man made up
his mind to save his boat, and he did
it. She had 200 tons of coal on board
weighing four times that much besides,
and mud was eettliug in every nooV
and corner. A thousand yards of cir
cus canvas and fifteen thousand feet ol
good plank, fashioned into a water
tight box or caisson, were built about
the entire boat, and the most powerful
pumps in New Orleans set agoing. j\>r
four weeks the work went on with
varying success. Such was the inter
est felt in his unwonted wrestle with
the river that ocean-going steamers
slowed their engines in passing the
spot, that no waves might add to the
trials of the divers, and dipped their
colors in token of their recognition of
pluck and energy. Three times the
river reclaimed its prey and the boat
sank. But the fourth effort resulted
in the triumph of man's ingenuity and
perseverance To-day the resurrected
boat is one of the best steamers in the
trade, and her rescuer considers the
$20,000 devoted to the work as well
spent.
As the days roll on, and Northern
chill and fogs give way to balmy skies,
the labor of the tow-boat man grows
less irksome. His fears of shoals and
bars diminish as the river rolls a mile
wide and there is fifty feet of water
under his keel. As his deep-laden
craft nears the Crescent City he feels
that his coal, worth $2 per ton at the
start, will be eagerly sought for at $6
per ton by ocean steamers and waiting
planters, and the reflection is a sooth
ing one, au offset against the grim tact
that every day of his voyage implies
an expenditure of S2OO.
At length cottonwood andcanebrake
give way to moss-draped cypress and
broad level acres of cotton plantations.
The verdure of the distant shores is
that of full, joyous spring, and finally
there drifts into view the forest of
masts that environ the levee at New
Orleans
At vc.rious points boats and barges
have been dropped from the tow to
replenish the wasted stock at different
landings, and when the last day of the
voyage dawns, but a fourth of tho
original fleet remains. The greater
portion of this remnant goes to eoaling
ocean steamers, and some slips by,
and nt tlx- river's mouth evolves steam
f<>r the work going on at the jetties.
And from a thousand chinr.ieys in the
Cr« scent City ascends the smoke fa
miliar to Pittsburgh ovos, leading to
the reflection that the chill and gloom
in store lor all, should the sun bo blot
ted out, would in a measure he the lot
of New Orleans, and other cities, were
Pittsburgh's coal to bo annihilated, or
the rivers permanetly obstructed.
[Oalve»ton News.]
The Madison, (Wis.) Democrat, in
endeavoring to treat the wounds re
ceived by the candidates for the presi
dency, wisely prescribes St. Jacobs
Oil. Of course we could not expect
our worthy contemporary to do other
wise than recommend that famous Old
German Remedy,— which "heals all
wounds but those of love" and soothes
all pains,—save those of political dis
appointment.
Tho debt of the city of Pittsburgh is
nearly equal to the entire debt of the
State.
Had very sore eyes, almost blind.
Pcruna cured me. A. Pender, S. S.
Pittsburgh, Pa.
Mr. P. W. Carville, of ClintoD,
Mass.. last season raised sixty-seven
mid one-half bushels of Clawson white
winter wheat on one and a half acres,
or at the rate of forty-five bushelß per
acre The quality of the wheat is
said to equal the best Western white
wheat, the kernel being plump, large
ann very bandsomo.
For three years my son was sore all
over. Peruna cured biin. J. Neuon
»cbwaader, S. S. Pittsburgh.