Show I of Driftwood I uP- uP A uA slight rise in the Mississippi up In Kentucky Kentucky ky said an old river man is aDl a Dl t re of this city A three inch Inch e-Inch rise up above brings down a vast quantity of driftwood driftwood drift drift- wood and at the floating docks at the ferry landings great rafts are formed You Yeu can see the boys every evening armed with long tong poles with a spike in one end and a coil coi of rope at atthe the other end spearing ing the the good pieces of of timber just as a whaler harpoons harpoons-a a whale I They grow particularly expert and I noticed one boy a day or two ago who could hit a log in the center center the first throw and bring it to bank This meant meant a supply of winter fuel Many of th the parents of these little ones cannot buy the fuel necessary to keep them warm quid and ld the he river furnishes it sometimes and sometimes it i does not Much of the timber has been freshly cut and nd cit left lef by the cutters over night when the comes comnes along and lands it here I sa saw w two fine tine ash logs yesterday enough to keep a family going for a week and the water had scarcely soaked through the bark hark Of planks there is a great plenty and also some some barrels and all kinds of things The river Is no respecter of timber or per per- sons for that matter mater and brings bings down downs the farmers farmer's barrel half filled with pork tiled wih t- t tS as S di s a a ad useless trunk of a cypress tree It has often ofen been beep a source of wonderment tome to me how many people do actually live lve from the products of the river I have never seen the figures as to what proportion proportion pro pro- portion porton of the population of ef the valley valley- valey subsist on fish a and d get th their wood v from r the overflows e o I have e eth been from St. St r Paul to New Orleans several times and at all al of the river lver towns you will wi find tind the boys ready for the over overflow ow season This however applies apples more particular particularly ly to the section of the river below St St. Louis But all al along there is the fish tish ing industry less of it I here than elsewhere elsewhere elsewhere else else- where because of the proximity of saltwater saltwater salt saltwater water but above here it itis is a flourishIng flourishIng flourish flourish- ing business Seeing the boys spearing the logs reminds me of ef the case of theman theman the theman man who agreed to pay the negro 50 cents a day if he would collect drIftwood driftwood driftwood drift drIft- wood for him The negro worked faithfully faith faith- fully and the man was selling the tim tm- tm ber at a big profit of course Finally at the end of two years after the white whiteman whiteman man had grown too proud and too well off of to work worl the negro found he had wel Just the the same right to the timber the whiteman whiteman white whiteman man man had and he was the maddest creature in the boundaries of the United States He he is not over It i yet In fact he was so disgusted he will wH not catch wood even for himself New New New Orleans Times |