Pilot Levi Williams, an old-time steamboat man, and one whose reputation for skill and carefulness has never been questioned, was at the wheel when the "Dubuque" struck. The point is at a bend one mile north of Johnson's Island, and the channel runs close to the Illinois shore. The boat was running at a high speed when it struck a sunken stump at a point in the hull on the port side, just forward of the boilers. A great ragged hole was torn entirely through the hull for a distance of 142 feet, and some six feet wide, through which the water poured in as a flood, sinking the boat in less than one minute. It is believed that the hull is damaged beyond repair, and it is doubtful if the "Dubuque" can be raised. In this case the boat is practically a total loss. The opening runs diagonally through the boat to the starboard side. She is valued at $50,000. General Manager John Killeen will arrive at the wreck this afternoon and will determine whether it is practicable to raise the sunken steamer.

Captain Killeen, upon arrival at the wreck, with the aid of his divers, decided that it would be possible to raise the vessel. Tools, machinery, and material were brought from the yard at Dubuque, and within thirtyeight days the big boat was on the ways at the Dubuque shipyard. A description of the manner of raising her may prove of interest to the layman. Ordinarily in the case of a small break, especially if it is on the side of the hull, it is possible to patch it from the outside, and by bulkheading the boat it is a short job to pump her out and float her. In the case of the "Dubuque," with a six-foot rent reaching over half the length of the ship, this was impossible; and in order to save her resort was had to the more expensive and slower coffer-dam process. In response to a request Captain Killeen has supplied the following explanation of the method of procedure employed:

In regard to placing a bulkhead around a break, for example ten feet long and two feet wide. The first thing to do is to send a diver down to clear away around the break. Then

spike a two-by-eight the length of the break, and away from the break some four or six inches. In from that twelve or fourteen inches spike another two-by-eight. Do the same on the other side of the break. Then on the inside of these newly placed floor stringers place two-by-ten or two-by-twelve grub-planks, on end, all the way around the break. Use floor timbers at the end of the break for stringers. These grub-planks must be carried above the water. In case the water goes above the deck, the opening in the deck must be made a neat fit so that the deck will brace the plank. These planks must be fitted around the floor timbers. Now we have the two tiers of plank reaching above the water all around the break. These planks should be well braced with side-stringers and shores. The next thing is to hunt up a good clay, and fill up the ten or twelve inches between the two lines of grub-planks. This should be extended a little above the water-line. That will stop any leak from the break. Then place a bulkhead around the boat. On a sternwheel boat the stern bulkhead and the side bulkheads are used for that purpose. Next stop all leaks about the rudders, siphon, and blow-off pipes. Then canvas around on the outside of the bulkhead. I generally place the suction from the pump at the after end of the boilers. Just as soon as the pump starts throwing it draws the canvas up to the bulkheads, and if the work is done well there will be little trouble. I have never had a bulkhead constructed in this way that failed me. As an example of such work I will mention the steamer "Quincy," sunk above Trempealeau. The water was almost up to the top of her sidehouse; yet we raised her with a little ten-inch pump in four hours.

The "Dubuque" was thoroughly repaired and was back in service in September, 1901. With four boats the Diamond Jo Line continued to run out of St. Louis, covering both the Keokuk run and the St. Paul run with a weekly service. In 1903 the "St. Paul” — old, was rebuilt at the Dubuque shipyard and continued to run under the same name, although very materially changed as to shape of hull and cabin arrangement for the better accommodation of the passenger trade to which the line

particularly catered. In 1906 the "Gem City" was dismantled at Dubuque and rebuilt as the "Quincy."

The history of the line may be briefly stated so far as the following years of its service are concerned. Jay Morton continued as president, John Killeen, general manager, and Isaac P. Lusk as general freight and passenger agent. Four boats were in service every season until 1911, when the property of the line was sold to the Streckfus Steamboat Company. The boats thus transferred were the side-wheel steamers "St. Paul" and "Quincy," and the stern-wheel steamers "Sidney" and "Dubuque," all as fine boats as ever operated on the river above St. Louis. In the transfer to the Streckfus Company were included these four boats, the wharf boat at St. Louis, the shipyard at Dubuque, and all the warehouses and other property along the river between St. Louis and St. Paul, the name alone excepted. This title was retained; and whenever in the future historians shall mention the Diamond Jo Line the name will recall the man whose genius built it up from the day of small beginnings in 1862, when the little "Lansing" was built, through all the years that witnessed so many changes in upper-river steamboat ownership, until, at the end of half a century, it remained the only organized steamboat line between St. Louis and St. Paul. Its title and its history constitute the greatest monument that can be erected to the memory of its founder-"Diamond Jo" Reynolds.

RURAL LIFE IN THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VAL

LEY ABOUT 1803

BY WILLIAM O. SCROGGS

Early in the nineteenth century, when it became known that Napoleon had regained the province of Louisiana from Spain and had determined to revive the French colonial empire in the Western World, the newly restored territory became an object of lively interest to the people of France. As a result, soon after the treaty of retrocession became known a number of French travelers came to Louisiana to study the people and the natural resources, and to record the results of their observations for the enlightenment of their countrymen in Europe. Through the eyes of these travelers we may now get a more or less accurate view of the civilization of the lower Mississippi Valley in the last hours of its domination by European influences and just before the process of its Americanization had begun. The unique social life of the city of New Orleans at this time has already been portrayed by various writers,' and at times in considerable detail; but for some reason the manners and customs of the people dwelling outside the limits of this municipality, though equally distinctive and interesting, have received hardly a passing glance from the historian. From such statistics as we have it appears that in 1803 the population of New Orleans was about one-fifth of the total number of inhabitants then dwelling on the Mississippi and its tributaries below the settlements at Natchez. Any description, therefore, of the civilization

1 See George W. Cable, The Creoles of Louisiana, 135-140; John B. McMaster, History of the People of the United States, III, 15 ff.

of the lower Valley, which overlooks the rural population, is necessarily incomplete. It is for the purpose of filling this hiatus that this paper has been prepared.

In 1803 there were twenty distinct zones of rural settlements within the limits of the present state of Louisiana. Two of these districts - Balize, or the Lower Coast, and St. Bernard, or Terre aux Boeufs — lay below the city of New Orleans. The first of these, with a population of about 2,500, of whom one-half were slaves, included all the settlements below the city on both banks of the river. The St. Bernard district consisted of settlements along the bayou for which it was named, extending eastward from English Turn toward the Gulf coast. Its inhabitants, estimated at about 600, consisted for the most part of colonists from the Canary Islands. Between New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain lay a third district, designated as Bayou St. John, in which there were between four and five hundred inhabitants.

Leaving New Orleans and proceeding up the river, the traveler would first pass through the section known as the Upper Coast, or Chapitoulas, which lay along both banks for a distance of fifteen miles.. The population of this region then consisted mainly of slaves, whose masters dwelt in the city. Above the Upper Coast, for about ten miles on both banks, lay the so-called First German Coast (sometimes termed the St. Charles Coast) and adjoining this and extending fifteen miles further up the river lay the Second German Coast (or Coast of St. John the Baptist). The earliest settlers in these two districts were Germans who had migrated to America at the instigation of John Law and had established themselves at first upon the banks of the Arkansas River, but after Law's downfall they abandoned their holdings there and had secured permission to settle on the lower

2 These and other districts in southern Louisiana were sometimes designated by the ecclesiastical names that had been bestowed on church parishes within their limits.